Q: "media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward." How far do you agree with this statement in reaction to the collective group (youth)?

In relation to more and more music videos becoming more explicit and complex, the Prime-minister David Cameron recently stated "some videos are now helping to create a culture of youths that are more appealed to anti-learning".
This here in relation to the question can be looked at as a way of arguing that media representations are simple and straightforward (in terms of how they are either negative or positive in the way they affect people.)
However this is wrong and in truth media representations are complex, they can have many affects on people such as making them change the way they act, making them positive, negative, depressed,happy ect.


In terms of media representations i am here talking about music videos and the press (Such as newspapers and the news on t.v).
in terms of music videos it can be seen that over the years they have become more explicit and have been given more free will as it were, this being that they have been allowed to be more creative and more appealing to a larger audience, examples of this would be "super base" by Nicki Minaj and another being, "S&M" by rhiannah.
These two videos alone show how media representation is complex, firstly with S&M and how the video has gone to great lengths to show many conventions that have so far been viewed as too explicit, in relation to the question however it can be said that the media representation (the S&M video) affects the collective group of youth in the way that many young people are now watching more older viewing videos due to it being harder and harder to regulate videos with the help of web 2.0 making sharing information easier and also the power of youtube allowing many viedos to be seen without parental consent.
also witht he concept of regulating links in with regards to  "super base" by Nicki Mina and how even a video that is clearly giving of provocative and sexual images cannot be regulated and when viewed on youtube not even a login to confirm your age is needed, this relating to the questions of how it relates to the collective group of youths by how many females may look at this and start to think that this is the correct way of going through life. 


Another point mentioned relating to music videos becoming sexulized would be form the BBC news website on the 11th November 2011 stating in its headline "sexualization can lead to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as depression and eating disorders" - this here relating to the question with how it implies that media representations are complex as they can have many affects on just females alone. 


Recent media representation can link with the theory of collective identity and how it can now be seen that more and more people link together because of there music tastes and how with recent media becoming more and more   complex it can be said that it is affecting youth in more ways now as there is more diversity through music in order to place people into there own "collective identity groups" 


in conclusion i can say that i do agree with the statement that media representations are complex, looking at evidence from the news and recent music videos it can b e seen that they are complex in how they affect people (mainly youths) in many ways and it is not just a divide between liking the specific product or not but now by how it affects people and there own personality completly. 

Key terms glossary

collective identity: sense of "one being" as a membership of a social group that has a sense of togetherness

moral panic: to blow things out of proportion and igniting fear within a group

mediated: changed/challenged

stereotype: fixed view of a particular type of thing or person

ideology: system of ideas and ideals that forms the basis of a group/organization

 subculture: identifying an individual through the classification of there group

hegemony: ruling class that dominates the publi throught the media

counter culture: a groupo that run counter culture to rebel/subvert against opression

archypal: very typical of a certian type of person or thing

"the media has replaced family and society as the main source of collective identity" - discuss

Q: "The media has replaced family and society as the main source of collective identity" - discuss

A:   David Buckingham once stated that "a focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences both for individuals and social groups."
This meaning in a nutshell that in order to understand today’s collective identity the media and technology has to be suited in order to see the change within collective identities.
In relation to the questions it can be seen that today’s youth identity stems from online media such as Facebook and twitter and with the power of web 2.0 (user centred sharing) it has become increasingly harder to regulate the information that this generation is receiving.
In relation to the opinion within the question that the media has replaced family as the source of collective identity you can look at the social networking site of Facebook and how easy it has now become to change and shape your personality/identity. an example of this being how it is even gives its users the option to choose their own family members, this can be seen as the new way of affecting collective identity due to the theory in accordance of mallows hierarchy of needs and how by shaping and creating our ideal "would be" family through online media then you as an individual are fulfilling your self-esteem and in doing so altering your other friends around you making it more appealing for them to do the same., this making the social networking sites the main source of collective identity in relation to your own family.

In relation to the question and how it states that society is being replaced as the course of collective identity you could look to the theory of post modernism and how it creates our reality (and thus our society) through the media, and also relating this to the hypodermic needle and how we as a society are constantly being injected by the drug that is the media. And so through this it can be seen that the media is inescapable and is constantly shaping the reality around us.
Another way that our online community is replacing society is through the now common belief that it is more sociable to go online and talk to many friends than it is to meet up with only a few. This can be seen within the daily mail on 25th August 2011, when asked for their opinion on Facebook and online commenting the majority stated that "it's better for me and my friends if we're online to talk to each other whenever we need to rather than wasting time getting ready to go out and meet up. This way I can talk to them in my pyjamas!" this proving that online community’s and web2.0 is taking over society’s role in being a source of collective identity.

In conclusion it can be seen that through the use of media, including newspapers, the internet and web 2.0 that family and society are now being replaced as the source of which collective identity is made.

questions regarding happy slapping and london riots

1)      How does the internet provide an enormous challenge for regulators?

2)      How does the internet provide a post-modern version of identity?

3)      How dose webs 2.0 present a change for rioters since the Brixton riots?

4)      How has online press affected us in today’s society?

5)      How does it present an area of control for today’s society?

1)      How does the internet provide an enormous challenge for regulators?

When happy slapping was popular it was usual for most cases to go viral and thus it became more widespread and more known.

This caused a problem for regulators as the more posts that were surfacing online the more it was happening and so it was a challenge for regulators to try and censor and stop the posts of happy slapping altogether.

2) How does the internet provide a post-modern version of identity?

The internet provides a postmodern version of identity due to how it allows us to constantly gain new information on nearly any topic, thus shaping our viewpoint of the world. This can be related with how popular happy slapping used to be with how when posted they would be portrayed in a comical and humorous way and so it added to the general opinion that happy slapping was a good thing and made you more popular.

3 - How dose webs 2.0 present a change for rioters since the Brixton riots?

Web 2.0 presents a change for rioters due to the intensity of the way how they can now share information, compared to the Brixton riots in which information was mostly shared through word of mouth however it is now easier to share information.

An example of word of mouth being used is during the Brixton riots a member of my family was waiting for a bus going past Brixton and was told my passers-by that there would be no buses due to the riots that they at the time were oblivious of. However if the same scenario was happening during the London riots the chances are that there would be no need for passers-by to inform them as they would have already found out the information, whether it be through text. Twitter or Facebook posts.

4)  How has online press affected us in today’s society?

With relation to happy slapping it could be seen from the case of how A teenage girl fell to her death from an attic window while trying to escape a "happy slapping" girl gang.

 This can be seen by how shortly after this time happy slapping incidents started dying down, this could be theorised that due to the aid of online press more people were aware of the incident and were able to realise how serious the offences were. Due to this is can be seen that with the power of the online press happy slapping eventually became a thing of the past.

5) How does it present an area of control for today’s society?

 Online press presents an area of control in today’s society due to how it is on the top 3 ways of which people receive information about the world around them, due to this it can be up to online media to choose what their readers are informed about and so it presents some sort of control for them over today’s society.

An example of this could be from the daily mail online where after the London riots in order to make more people feel guilty and try to help clean up the mess it posted such articles to make people feel guilty even though they did not participate within it.

slideshare link - ignore last page as that is expanded in post below

http://www.slideshare.net/TinyDestruction/youth-identity-construction-10110577

Identity is complicated, everyone gets one – agree or disagree?

Q:

Identity is complicated, everyone gets one – agree or disagree?

A:

Personally I would have to say that I agree with the above statement and do think that everyone has there own personal and unique identity, this is mainly due to the fact that there are so many groups of personally and that in my opinion everyone has there own specific way of life and there own quirks as you will that make them and there identity unique.

It can be argued that with so many people within the world that the chances of everyone’s personality being different is slim however I believe that due to everyone’s preferences, yes peoples personalities can be the same however here identity can always be different and everyone has at least one little thing that is different and unique about themselves.

Another reason why I believe that everyone’s has there own identity is due to the similarity between identity and personality and how many people can argue that your personality is who you are, yet however personality is just the way you act and the reason I feel that identity is always unique is due to the fact that your own personal life experiences  (weather good or bad) contribute towards your own identity and unless someone has experiences your life completely symmetrically with the same choices, the same days taken and the same words used for each day of your life then it is highly unlikely that someone could have the exact same experiences that make you who you are which in turn makes your identity unique.

In conclusion it is my personal belief that identity is complicated due to how everyone has different opinions and thoughts and even those who agree with the same things can agree on them for different reasons and thus life itself makes our own identity and yet everyone has there own one that is formed through there day to day life. 

Exam question - “The media dose not construct collective identity, they merely reflect it” – discuss

Q:

“The media dose not construct collective identity, they merely reflect it” – discuss

A:

From first look a normal person would disagree with this statement, saying that the media dose not construct collective identity and that it is really reflected through different forms of media such as radio, TV and newspapers.

However on closer inspection it can be viewed differently and in actual fact the media itself dose construct a collective identity. One way this can be seen is though the constant creation of stereotypes by the use of the media, for example with the media constantly stating that all politicians are useless, then it dose seem to press that view into society and become the one opinion that everyone has of them.

In relation to youth this could be seen with how the media is always referring towards hoodies as un-educated, lazy trouble making teens and now it seems that from the power of the media that this is the only opinion of them within today’s society. Some may argue that however the media is merely reflecting the already built up idea that surrounds teens and hoodies and that it was already the opinion of the public and today’s society before the media even published it.

However a counter argument to this could be that the only people’s opinions of this were the medias writers and so by default it is the medias fault that this view of only a few peoples opinions has been so widely speared due to the influence and power of the media over the people.

The opinion that actually the media dose construct collective identity can also be explained through the theory of moral panic and the opinion that with one negative event exposed through the media will result in the opinion of the nation that it is happening everywhere and is not just one isolated even, and it is more likely to happen more often and thus eventually create a stereotype such as the ones before.

An example of this would be how over Halloween one event happened in which an elderly man was injured by a group of youths, and from looking at recent articles it seems that this is now caused a general opinion that every Halloween more and more dangerous things happen involving youths and that next Halloween it will be more likely to happen again.

The opinion that the media constructs collective identity is closely related to the theory of “post modernism” and that the media actually constructs our own reality due to how it is up to the media to determine what stories are “news worthy” enough for the general public to read about.

However more recently over the past few years it seems that writers and journalists are only interested in publishing stories that they deem “interesting” and not stories that would appeal to the publics concern. This being that the media now dose not choose stories that it thinks its readers ought to know but what stories it thinks will be most interesting for the viewer to read thus making the paper more money.

An example of this would be where a group of youths had started rebuilding a community center in order for them and there friends to do something rather then be stuck in all day after school bored or having the only option of hanging around on the streets. However when the news of this got wind to journalists who then went to interview the children they presented the children with questions relating to gun and knife crime and there opinions of this, and when one of the youths stated that they were not interested in that topic and wanted to talk about there project the journalists replied that it was not interesting and news worthy enough for the readers to be interested before turning away.

This example alone showing that the theory of post modernism is a much to true and that the media dose construct our reality as it alone is the source of information that we have in order to learn about the world, once again showing that the media doesn’t just reflect reality but that it truly dose construct it.

How dose the representation of a particular social group change over tine? Refer to at least two media texts in your answer

In this essay I shall be referring to the two films “rebel without a cause” and “kidulthood” and will compare how representation of youths has changed between “rebel without a cause” (a old film), and “kidulthood” (which is a more recent film).

The first thing that strikes you when comparing the two films is the difference in language that is shown through out the films, as within rebel without a cause the language is very light and hardly ever bordering past our PG film ratings, however when watching kidulthood straight away you notice a dramatic rise in the language used and the frequency of it being used.

It seems that as time has progressed so has the image of youths through the medias eye and it appears that they feel that youths seem to use much fouler language and in more common situations, with rebel without a cause swearing at only certain points and yet there is kidulthood swearing just for the sake of it.

The second most noticeable change between the two films would be the violence within the films as within kidulthood the amount of threatening and abusive language aimed at people is so much higher then that presented in rebel without a cause.

As within kidulthood they use gun’s and baseball bats and knives and within rebel without a cause they only seem to use switch-blade knives, and yes this can be seen as a dangerous weapon but no lasting hard were meant to come from them, showing how over time the portrayal of violence and how violent youths have become has grown.

One of the main changes over the years has been the representation of class in association to youths and how within rebel without a cause the teens all seem to be from well raised backgrounds, and yes they were seen as the trouble makers of the day they still spoke with upper class language and around most adults showed respect and a sense of pride of being well educated people.

However when you compare this to the film kidulthood then you see how instantly the view of young people have changed and that most youths are now under educated, poorly dressed and always using constant bad language, as within rebel without a cause they did not need to wear uniform but they still kept themselves looking smart, if not casual smart. However in kidulthood they are made to wear a uniform yet try to make themselves look as un-appealing and scruffy as the possibly can, showing that over time the medias view of how youths see themselves has changed.

The only time within rebel without a cause aims to make its characters appearance more underdog like is where the main character puts on a red leather jacket, yet however if someone was cast to wear that within kidulthood they would stand out from the other characters and be regarded as well dressed.

Another noticeable change in the view of youths is pride and respect, for example within rebel without a cause James deans character accidentally steps on the schools crest on his first day and is scolded by another student about it, this can be related to henri tajfells theory relating to in and out groups and this scenario would make James dens character be seen on the first day as someone from the “out group”, which could be related to why he then tries to hard to fit in with what he would perceive as the “in group”. However within kidulthood the students seem to have no respect and pride for there school and apparently do not give a dam about it. This is seen where students will just fight within the classroom pushing each other up against the wall and in another scene you can see them spitting on the floor giving the image that they do not clear for property of any sorts. Yet at the same time relating this to tajfells theory one reason why all the students would do this is so that they feel that they as a collective identity would be part of the “in group” and anyone who did not act in the same way would be seen as the “out group” which could support the theory that the reason the girl at the beginning of the film is bullied is because she did not conform to the social standings of the so called “in group”/ rest of the school.

Another change within the medias view of youths would be family values and how within rebel without a cause the parents do seem to play some sort of role within there children’s lives, yet within kidulthood very few of the parents are seen within the film.

Relating to this is seems that the view of parents involvement within there children’s lives had also changed and how within rebel without a cause his parents are very much interested in his social life and yes they do allow him to do what he wants yet at the same time they do seem to show some sort of concern for his well-being. However within kidulthood the bullied girls parents at the beginning of the film do not seem to take an interest and left her upstairs in her room for hours without any social contact with her, although saying this on a spin it seems children’s opinions of there parents have also changed however this time in not such a negative way, in how within kidulthood Sam is outraged when the youths charge past his mother and almost hurt her, yet within rebel without a cause there seems to be no return f love or concern for the parents form the children and so in this view it dose seem that although the media give the representation that children’s morals and image should be decreasing there are some things that still matter greatly to the children of this generation.

Another change within the representation of youths would be the amount of technology that is used by young people of today and how it has grown so much in recent years, this can be seen mainly in kidulthood and how most of the characters are on there mobile phones or taking pictures and calling each other to spread the word easier, however looking at rebel without a cause it doesn’t seem like any of them used any bit of technology and thinking back a few problems could have been solved without the film if it was set just a few years later and if the characters has mobiles.

This can be related to Henry Jenkins theory that people create there identity through the use of uploading images and customizing themselves with the use of technology and this can as already stated bee seen within kidulthood and how they were constructing an identity of themselves through the use of taking pictures of each other ect.

Overall it seems that the view of youths has changed dramatically over the years and that when viewed in today’s society rebel without a cause seems almost lighthearted and almost fairytale like as in if this was the worst that kids of today got up to then there would be a lot less trouble within society.

However if people from around rebel without a causes era were made to watch kidulthood im sure many if them would see it as a horrific almost post apocalyptic type of film in how the scale of representation has soared over the years and made kidulthood into a film that way out-pasts rebel without a causes idea of the term “rebel” 

Exam question - How do young people form their collective identity through reality T.V?

Q: How do young people form their collective identity through reality T.V?

A:
Reality T.V tries to represent the real world by documenting real life events for the viewers entertainment. Over the years these have become increasingly popular within the lives of young people and as such they start to relate to the shows.
Some of the most popular reality T.V of today would be big brother and its style of seeing how ordinary people confined within a large house will act over continuous time spent together, this popular show is one of the best examples of how young people relate with reality t.v in order to form their collective identity.
this is u sally done though personality and how the members of the show are portrayed in order to let the viewers relate to them, for example people who are loud would relate more to the loud and active members of the show, while the viewers who consider themselves to be more quiet and observant might relate themselves to another member of the show.
Due to these shows becoming more and more popular among young people it is usually a topic of discussion and it is here that most youths begin to form a collective identity by relating each other to the members of the house and thus acting like them in order t form one collective identity of all the people of a specific type e.g. the loud ones.

Apart from peoples personality on reality shows people form collective identities with people due to there gender, age class and sexuality, another example of young people forming an identity around a reality t.v show would be with made in Chelsea and how the show portrays the life of looked after upper class young adults living in Chelsea. this show helps youths to construct collective identity due to the class they are placed in and how the audience will then have a certain opinion of that class based on the actions of the actors and the viewers will then in turn decide weather they belong within that class system or not depending on their personality and comparing it to that of the actors in the show.

Within t.v reality t.v shows, youths also seem to form collective identities within the shows, for example in the case of misfits they all group together due to their similarity of having ASBOs and being on the wrong side of the law, however at the same time forming there own unique identities within that group at the same time, for example Kurtis and Simon relating due to them not actually being seen as the bad people in life and Nathan and Kelly grouping together due to how there personalities are similar.

Another way in which youths form collective identity is through there "style" and how they act around other people, this can be seen within made in Chelsea and how they all form a collective identity together due to there upbringing and thus personality and view of things, this is shown with how the characters talk and what they wear compared to the normal clothing of everyone else around them in order to make them selves stand out and appear more "elegant" then others.

Collective identity can also be formed with how peoples opinion of others is similar to there own personality, such as within geordie shore and how all the characters seem to give off this portrayal of loud crude and obnoxious people and yet at the same time they all seem to have goes at one another for acting this way, thus it shows how they tend to form a social group of people who have similar personalities in order to be able to relate to them easier thus forming one collective identity.

In conclusion it seems that within reality t.v young people tend to form collective identity through similarity's between each other, weather it be due to there dress sense, the way they behave around others or just there general opinion of others. It seems that people within t.v and outside it form collective identity through some common cause of similarity between them which in turn allows them to start to relate to each other thus growing stronger bonds.