Social Networking (week #14)

Social Networking sites are everywhere these days and you are probably a part of two or three of them. Whether you belong to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter, you are engaging in an online platform that offers modes of self-presentation and sociability. On any of these sites there is a convergence of public and private boundaries, because let’s face it your sharing your life with more people than you think. But these places are also a place to contribute to topics in more ways than just having a conversation face-to-face with someone. You can chat with people you never will have the chance to meet on a topic that is happening all around the world. In doing so, you can gain a perspective on the topic that you never thought you could have gotten. That is pretty cool if you ask me.  

Let us dive a little deeper into one of these Social Networking sites, Twitter. "Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to send messages of 140 characters or less ("tweets") to people who have chosen to "follow" them..." (Florini, 2013).We all know about Twitter and how Twitter is famous for their use of the hashtag, right? Well if not, a hashtag is something used to organize everyone’s Twitter posts under what they put next to “#”, which used to be called the pound sign but now it is the hashtag (side note). Organizing ‘tweets’ based off of the hashtag that they are associated with is a great idea, because it allows anyone to do a search for ‘trending topics’ and gives anyone access to what people are saying about a particular show, a song on the radio, a celebrity, the list could go on forever. Honestly, the possibilities are endless when it comes to what you will find is ‘trending’ on a particular day.

Sometimes what people put next to “#” is funny or sometimes it is something that is happening in the world like a news event or if the day is a significant day in the month. Today for instance you can search what is trending on Twitter and the “Top Trend” is #EarthDay. As of 5pm on Wednesday April 22, 2015 there are 686k hashtags out on Twitter about Earth Day. #UnpopularActionMovies also comes up as a “Top Trend” coming in with 14.9k people using this hashtag. There really is a lot of diversity when it comes to what is a “Top Trend” on Twitter.
The thing that still baffles me is that people from all over the world can join in on what is trending by just using a hashtag. That way everyone’s voice is heard on a particular subject and the conversation can continue to grow based on everyone’s input. Maybe if in real life, as in life not spent in front of a screen, you are a shy person who does not really push yourself to join in on a conversation, with Twitter or any other Social Networking site you can get your opinion out there and get your voice heard. Social Networking sites are without a doubt a way to present yourself in a way that in real life you cannot. 

As much as Twitter can bring people together over topics, it can also create closed off communities based off of language used in the 'Top Trend'.  "Black users are most visible in the 'trending topics', a real-time list of the most tweeted about subjects. Twitter's trending topics list frequently features topics in which Black users are the majority or that have a direct association with Black American cultures" (Florini, 2013). Even though Twitter is open to everyone, sometimes words used in a particular community such as the Black community, people outside of that community do not really understand terms or phrases used within that community. "Signifyin' is a genre of linguistic performance that allows for the communication of multiple levels of meaning simultaneously, most frequently involving wordplay and misdirection" (Florini, 2013). 'Signifyin' is a way that the Black community on Twitter can use the space to "express Black cultural knowledge" (Florini, 2013). It is a way to create cultural difference and make a 'special group' on an otherwise open forum. Although Twitter is indeed open to everyone with access to the internet, it really is not open to all through the use of language. 

Public Service Announcements (week #13)

      Every time I get in my car and start it up this loud beeping occurs, BEEP BEEP BEEP!!! I look down at my dashboard and read the words "Buckle Seat Belt" and if I, the driver, or my passenger in the front seat, does not buckle up, my car will continue this beeping with about 30 seconds between each set of three beeps. Most of the time my friends get annoyed with this beeping, especially because my car does it within seconds of me turning the key in the ignition. I just tell them, "You better do it or she'll (yes my car is a girl) will continue beeping the entire time we are driving".  They are reluctant, but do it anyways because wearing a seat belt is the best and safest thing to do, to stop the annoying beeping. 

       For those of you without a bossy car to remind you to put on your seat belt, there are Public Service Announcements every where about wearing a seat belt or just general safety when you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Public Service Announcements for vehicles are one of the most prominent PSA's in our society. Everywhere you look on a major highway there is a reminder to "Click it or Ticket" or "Buckle up it's the law". These PSA's are friendly reminders to help us use our seat belts.  

The Ad Council is also responsible for Seat Belt Ads that also help us remember to do this.  

     

      My high school even has a campaign for wearing seat belts called REMEMBER after one of our fellow classmates lost his life in a car accident because he was not wearing a seat belt. Our school even made glow in the dark REMEMBER bracelets so that whenever we got behind the wheel and looked down to start our car, we would REMEMBER  to wear our seat belts. This happened 11 years ago and every time I get in my car, whether I wait for the BEEP BEEP BEEP or not,  I am reminded to buckle up. Wearing your seat belt will continue to be a safety precaution that you can take before you begin driving in your car. 

      Even though wearing a seat belt is very important in the car, it is also important to put your phone away when you are behind the wheel. As technology seems to increase in our society, there seems to be more campaigns out on the road that tell us not to use our phones while driving. At least while driving on major highways in Colorado you can see multiple campaigns running on the digital highway signs telling you to basically get off of your phone and drive.

These campaigns are quite catchy with their use of "Get Your Head out of Your Apps", this statement is sure to make you look and think twice about what you are doing behind the wheel of your car. This campaign was started because last year in Colorado 480 people died on Colorado roads with 142 because of people driving under the influence. 

      But, texting and other distractions from cell phones are causing a new category of deadly dangers to emerge. Sending a text does not need to happen right away, whoever is on the other end of the text you just received can definitely wait until you are no longer operating your car for you to respond. The Ad Council explains that "texting while driving isn't multitasking, it's essentially driving blind". The Ad Council also says that, "34% of teen and young adult drivers said they never text while driving, increasing from 28% in 10 months" following the launch of their campaign. That is not a lot of people who say they are not texting and driving, which leaves a whole bunch of people who believe that sending that one text is worth their lives and possibly your life on the road. Are you one of those people who believes sending a text while driving is worth endangering your life or the lives of the people driving around you? I encourage you to think twice next time you reach for your phone while you are behind the wheel of your car. 

Public Relations (week #13)

         Favianna Rodriguez is a print maker and digital artist from Oakland, California. She is known for her use of high-contrast colors and vivid figures. Most importantly, she is known for her art that,“reflects literal and imaginative migration, global community and interdependence”. She brings new audiences into the art world by refocusing the cultural lens”. Favianna Bio  This is not a post about just art; this is a post about how art from Favianna Rodriguez has become a publicity campaign for undocumented people.

        “Migration is Beautiful” the campaign that is pushing towards social change about immigration. Rodriguez explains in a Huffington Post Article, “The anti-immigrant movement has successfully been able to dominate the immigration debate by pushing out messages about migrants that are inhumane, racist, xenophobic and hateful. But those of us who fight for migrant rights are not only fighting back, we want to reframe the way migrants are viewed, artists especially. We want to expose the tragic losses that have resulted from unjust immigration laws, and we want to inspire and challenge people to re-imagine migration as something beautiful and natural -- something we all do.” Huffington Post

          This campaign can be considered Social Justice PR because it is a publicity campaign that advances the voices of advocates who are working toward a more equitable social policy. It has purpose driven communication, such as a particular design, like the butterfly, that accelerates social change. Alright, so you may be wondering how Favianna Rodriguez fits into this campaign, she is the creativity behind the movement. She has chosen to use a monarch butterfly to be the symbol for this campaign. She states, “The symbol of the monarch butterfly has been adopted by various migrant rights organizations, artists, and lovers of justice. It was not my idea, but an idea that’s been circulating for years -- throughout the country and in Latin America as well. I was drawn to the butterfly because of the transformative nature of this creature. The monarch butterfly represents the beauty of migration and the right that living beings have to freely move.” Huffington Post 

         "Migration is Beautiful" is meeting the needs of a marginalized community or group that is otherwise disenfranchised in the legal or political system. It focuses on the big picture and daily lives of the undocumented individuals, while looking at access to resources, power and privilege to help make a change. In the Huffington Post Article Rodriguez was asked if she anticipates a shift in immigration policy she replied, “Yes, this is definitely starting to shift. You can see this not just in the polls, but in the ways that people are understanding the complexities of just how bad our immigration is. This is thanks to the amazing work that has been done by organizers, artists, cultural workers and most importantly, undocumented youth and their families. The strategy of undocumented folks coming out was not just a brilliant political strategy, but an important cultural one as well.”  

If you are interested in learning more about the "Migration is Beautiful" movement, check out these videos from Favianna's documentary! 

     Part 1 

Part 2 

Part 3