Folk Devils and Moral Panics

In this week's reading, we were assigned to read Charles Krinsky's, Moral Panics over Contempory Children and Youth (2008). In this reading, Krinsky takes a look at Stanley Cohen's work on the subject of Moral Panics in the media. Cohen's work, (entitled Folk Devils and Moral Panics, 1972), gave an insight (or foundation if you like,) to the whole subject of Moral Panics. A Moral Panic is defined as, a reaction based on a false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behaviour or group is a threat. As a result of this, society then targets a social group or activity (for example, the swine flu pandemic or the London Riots 2011), as a threat to society.

Mods and Rockers

Back in the 1960's, a Moral Panic was not as drastic or threatening as they are nowadays. An example of this would be the idea that homosexual or bisexual relationships in the 1960's. It was seen as improper. Cohen then led into the idea of the teenagers of the time as a threat. This was known clearer by Cohen's example of 'Mod's and Rockers'. Cohen then touched upon a definition for those in society who defy the social norm and labelled these as 'Folk Devils'.

PANIC!!

From when Cohen's theory was originally written, there have been different types of Moral Panics, some al lot worse than those back when the the theory was written. A good example of this is the idea of Mods and Rockers, (who, at the time, where just a social group), verses the 2011 London Riots. Krinsky (2008), suggests that most outcasts had to define themselves due to mass media attacks; most aimed at the British Youth. This included, homosexuals and the homeless.

The idea that technology can cause
a lot of trouble.

Krinsky agrees with Cohen's theory of Moral Panics but then also touches on the idea that a Moral Panic is not just a group of unsocial teenagers, but also events or threats that could massively effect society. For example, The war in Afghanistan, Bird Flu, Swine Flu and even the London riots of 2011. However, the London riots of 2011 can be seen as quite contradictory as it was youths in which had provoked the riots. Through some evidence we can also say that the ideas of new technology has also become a moral panic as there are devices used in which provoke ideas and influence society, for example the Blackberry scandal.

A message sent via BBM during the
London Riots 2011

During the time of the London Riots, Blackberry messenger (BBM) was disabled throughout the country as youths were sending messages to attack specific areas of the country. This caused havoc for every user, including those who weren't involved in the riots. This was eventually seen as a bad idea as more rioters has joined the cause due to the fact that they were unable to use the function on the phone.


In conclusion, a Moral Panic can be caused by a number of reasons, whether it is due to a specific social group being aimed and harassed until they are pushed to the limit, (London Riots 2011), or whether it is something that can effect the whole of the nation (e.g. swine flu). 

Moral Panic??

Nothing to worry about guys...

Networks

This week's reading was from the text book entitled Web Theory: An Introduction written by Burnett and Marshall 2003. We were asked to read one chapter, entitled: 'Information and Networks'. I found this reading to be something out of the obvious, that is of course when you understood the term 'Network'. The definition of network has 2 key terms within it, 'connecting' and 'operating'. A network allows users to 'operate' and also 'connect' to it. This allows us to come to grasps with the general forms of networks. Another idea of networks is the idea that people can connect with each other (through social networking sites), and are able to function, 'operate' in a specific manner.

Idea of Cyberspace being secure.

In the reading, Burnett and Marshall link to another theorist on the idea of networking. William Gibson wrote the intricacies of 'Neuromancer' (1984) and suggested the idea of cyberspace and how it has been morphed from that one meaning into countless of others. For example, 'cyberworld' and 'cyberculture'. From this we can ask ourselves what the meaning of 'cyber' is, as the prefix can be added to many words. Gibson defines 'cyber' as the culture of computers, information technology and also virtual reality. In terms Gibson relates to, 'The Cyber Age'. Due to the inventions of new technology, the cyber age has developed and grown into a major aspect of todays culture.

Burnett and Marshall also look at the history of the word 'cyber' and come to a riviting conclusion that the word 'cyber' derives from the Greek word meaning 'to steer'. This idea suggests that due to the invention of new technologies (and also the age of the internet), as consumers, we are able to choose, (or even 'to steer') ways of receiving information and media content. The idea of networking fits in with this as consumers are able to connect to different media content and in some cases can operate it.

Rethinking Interactivity

This week's reading consisted of a chapter called 'Rethinking Interactivity' by Yuping Liu and L.J Shrum. In this chapter, the two writers also look at other theorist's work and sum up what they find interactivity to be. I found this reading to be very interesting as the topic of 'Interactivity' is one that I found most fascinating. I find it interesting that the progression of technology allows us to reach out more with others.

As in earlier blogs, I will define the subject in simple terms and then expand on what the author's (and in this case, other theorists) have said. For me, Interactivity is the connection that occurs between a human and a piece of technology. For example the interactivity of XBOX Live and an XBOX user. With the idea of XBOX Live, users are able to connect and 'interact' with others around the world and create a sort of 'online community' or even, 'online culture', just as long as the users are connected to the Internet. The use of the Internet also creates an online community with programs such as 'Facebook' or 'Myspace'. The idea of 'interactivity' does not just appear to be the connection between a human and a piece of technology, but can also be defined as the connection of humans through a piece of technology.

According to Blattenberg and Deighton (1991), 'interactivity is facility for persons and organisations to communicate directly with one another regardless of distance and time'. In simple terms, new technology is not the only of 'interacting' with one another. According to Liu and Shrum, users like to feel as though they are the ones with power and that they have choices with matters that effect interactivity. From this, they also want to feel safe whilst interacting. This could also link to Liu and Shrum's idea that interactivity must contain a 2 way communication between producers and consumers so that if any problems occur, the producers can fix it to the needs of the consumers.

A huge section of this chapter is named 'Active Control'. Active Control refers to a recently selected control such as a command button with a specific focus. The Internet is remarkable in ways that there are gatekeepers who monitor what users search for and we are always being surveillanced by gatekeepers. According to Hoffman and Novak (1996), there is a network of linked contents. Active control also refers to the linked interests for a user who researches them. According to Liu and Shrum's writing, active control is positively related to user cognitive involvement and user satisfaction. In simple terms, it is related to user's involvement with specific topics and also related to topics that users find satisfying. Liu and Shrum also refer to Ariely's (2000) idea that active control is also related to user learning; meaning that users can remember specific researches as their search history will still be active. This links to Hoffman and Novak.

I found this reading extremely interesting and very rewarding as some of the previous readings. It explained (and not from just one source of ideas) a deeper meaning into the topic of interactivity. I found the reading straightforward (unlike McLuhan) and very fulfilling.

Advertising

Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context
Long, P.; Wall,T.; Bakir, V. and McStay, A.

This week's reading was 'Consumer Society and Advertising' by Andy McStay. Fortunately, McStay is the tutor for the Media and Culture module at Bangor University, so his reading was self-explanatory. Literally. The week's work was looking solely on the subject of advertising as McStay's main point of study is advertising. The reading is a chapter from Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context by Long, P.; Wall,T.; Bakir, V. and McStay, A. This reading, personally, was quite easy to grasp understanding of because as he is my tutor of Media Studies, he explained his thoughts on the subject very well and also very clear; so reading on this topic came very rewarding and straightforward.

Idea of Advertisement

The definition of 'advertising' is one in which is quite tricky. McStay's definition of advertising consisted of the idea that advertising is a paid for media space. In other words, it costs a company or organisation a huge sum of money to advertise products, beliefs and concerns in a certain amount of time. (Hence 'media space'). The advertising industry uses persuasion as a tool to persuade consumers to purchase or to follow specific beliefs and this also enhances the connection between consumers, product and organisation.

Idea of Free Advertisements

McStay also describes the idea that as there are more new technologies, there are different types of advertising and with many different types of advertising, comes many aspects also. Aspects of advertising consist of branding, trustmarks,symbols and even, (to some extent) postmodernism and how nowadays there are different platforms in which one can advertise. Sometimes it can even consist on advertising to a specific niche audience. For example, the idea that consumers become producers crops up quite a lot in this topic as it is possible for people (and companies for that matter) to advertise for free. (Facebook). Take Coca-cola for instance, they advertise to other Facebook users by creating groups and users can access these advertisements before they end up on the broadcast platform.


Due to some advertisements, it can cause some viewers to become influenced as some advertisements have a narrative in which consumer/producer can create their own 'spoof' reenactments or own versions using similar themes. A good example of this is the Hieniken walk in fridge advert.

Original Advertisement

Spoof

Old Advertisement

History of advertising is also a key concept to this topic as it shows differences and similarities of advertising then and now. Before television and the birth of the Internet, most advertisements where printed on posters, billboards, in news papers etc. Although there were less ways of publishing advertisements and advertising to the community, the purposes of advertising were still the same; to persuade. During World War 1 and 2, posters where printed to advertise recruitment for the armed forces, this is slightly different to advertising a product for profit. However, nowadays there are still advertisements like this today. There are also some advertisements in which show bias opinions. So it is safe to say that there are also propaganda issues with advertising, and not just general advertising or advertising products. 

Newer Advertisement

I found the reading very straight forward and understandable. It was very rewarding being given a reading in which a tutor of the subject had written themselves as it gave a great insight into the topic and all questions in which needed to be answered were solved. Advertising is a very large topic in the media and due to the invention of new technologies and more of the consumer>producer content, it is an aspect of the media in which is always growing. These reasons gave me a larger interest in the subject and more reason to study the subject in more depth in further reading.

Imagined Communities

Benedict Anderson:
'Imagined Communities'

This week’s reading was a little less ambiguous as opposed to the later two; however this week consisted of a shorter abstract. This week’s reading was about ‘Imagined Communities’, written by Benedict Anderson and the short abstract known as ‘Cool Cymru, Rugby Union and an Imagined Community’, written by John Harris. The Cool Cymru text was an example of Wales being asserted as an ‘Imagined Community’. (A little more on this later on in the blog.)

As in other blogs, I will look at the most intriguing of the reading and give my own opinions on the matter. One of the main thoughts of the term 'Imagined Communities' is how ideologies or identities can create an imagined community. An example of this could be an English person defining themselves as English as opposed to British. Quite similarly, the German nationality is separate from French. This is an obvious notion, however this links quite nicely into the idea of Wales being a 'imagined community'.

From Anderson's work on 'Imagined Communities', he defines a 'nation' as 'an imagined political community and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.' In a way, this is correct as due to current politicians of nation and their beliefs as they shape the nation as the public begin to listen to those with power. However, this notion can be argued with more relevant features that have helped to shape nations. A prime example for the UK, is the fact that it is built up on many years of history. Many foreigners find the UK very interesting and therefore want to learn about the culture(s). Anderson clearly suggests that nations are built up on cultures of a nation and laws that are enforced. This is completely different to other definitions. 

Wales can be seen as an 'Imagined Community' as it has its own language and it is part of the law that their language must be taught within all schools. This is a lot different to Scotland and Ireland as not all schools learn their nation's language. In other words, their national identity is kept pure as all road signs are in Welsh and then English, for the non-native speakers. These ideas are given in the 'Cool Cymru' abstract. Harris pragmatically delivers the ideas that the Welsh have pride and a passion for being Welsh. He states how the Welsh rugby teams and Welsh culture have had a massive effect on the fact that the Welsh society to being proud of their homeland. Personally I find this very fascinating as the Welsh culture is celebrated quite a lot, in comparison to the English. That said, the Scottish and Irish culture is celebrated just as much as the Welsh. However, there is rivalry between all countries in the UK but it only adds to the competitiveness. The 'cool' feature about Britain, is the fact that there are so many different cultures and it is very diverse.

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer: 'The Culture Industry: Enlighntenment as Mass Deception'

Adorno & Horkheimer

This week's reading consited of Adorno and Horkheimer's ideas of 'The Culture Industry: Enlighntenment as Mass Deception'. This reading was a lot difficult than the last, (McLuhan: Medium is the Message, (See last week's post)), as it was very long and loquacious. Before reading, it was important that we understood the background of both Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer as it would help with the analysis of this reading. The two writers were part of the Frankfurt School, along with Walter Benjamin, Herbert Macuse and Erich Fromm. It is vital to remember that the Frankfurt School consists of Marxist theories in which main are study is Social Development.

From what I have learnt in the past about Marxism, it is clear that the Marx's are influenced by a number of different aspects, consisting of; the relationship between people who own the means of production and the rest of society, (Producers V.S. Audiences) and the concern about culture in which is colonized by capitalism, (Manipulation V.S. Enlightenment).

Diagram from Fredric Jameson's Late Marxism

For this reading it was important to understand the definition of the world 'Culture'. Culture, as a definition is a society in which follow the same norms and values in a community. This can mean that they all share the same fashion style, music genres and/or even similar beliefs. The norms and values need to come from somewhere. But the question is; where can they come from? This question links to the idea of ideology. Ideology is the ideas or manners of a thinking group, individual or social class. So from this it is clear to see  that the ideologies from certain cultures need to come from a powerful source. A relevant idea of a 'powerful source', are political leaders. They pass their ideas/beliefs to society in order for the public to decide whether or not they are good enough to lead the country. The political leader's ideas/beliefs then become what society dwells on. This can also link to Antonio Gramsci's idea of Hegemony.

Antonio Gramsci

Now that the theory behind the reading is cleared up, let me begin by briefly explaining the reading. In brief terms, Adorno and Horkheimer noted the main topic of the chapter was the 'industrialisation of culture'. According to what I had learnt in lecture and from further reading, i found that industrialisation is when social and economic change occurs and then transforms a human group from an agrarain society into an industrial one.


An aspect of Adorno and Horkheimer's studies suggested that the media can change a culture's mind and sometimes pragmatically state what beliefs that culture should follow or abide by. This can be seen in some advertising materials. The more we see the same thing over and over again, the more likely we will see this as correct and therefore, changing our views on society (and media). In a way, this is on the equivalent with politics as we are persuaded to vote for political parties.


I stand by my first feeling about the reading as I found this reading extremely difficult at first, however when I had finished the long strenuous text, I felt, myself, some 'enlightenment' as what Adorno and Horkheimer was trying to sa had finally clicked. In the words of Adorno and Horkheimer; 'To standardise media is to standardise people'. In simpler terms, if we continue to believe in dominant ideologies, and what the media says, we will all begin to act similar and therefore producing a 'standardised society'.

Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message

Marshall McLuhan

This week’s reading consisted of Marshall McLuhan’s idea that “The Medium is the Message” in which is the first chapter of McLuhan’s book, “Understanding Media”. I will be looking at specific aspects of this chapter and interpreting what I find the most intriguing about his statement. Personally, it was a very complicated text, however I found some aspects of it to be very intriguing and I wished to find some actual definition of his statement.

“We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.”

McLuhan, M. (2001 [1964])

The medium more important
than media content

In the first chapter, McLuhan describes how the medium is more important than actual media content. He makes several relevant points to make this point stand out. Actual media content can not tell us how the media works or how we are affected or how we respond and or act due to the media. McLuhan believed that, ‘the reconstructing of human work and association was shaped by the technique of fragmentation that is the essence of machine technology’. McLuhan here suggests that the use of new technology has shaped society and by doing so has also affected society. This could also touch on the idea that due to the changes in modes of communication in which shape human life, (i.e. from the uses of print (Print Age), right up to the Electronic Age and then to the invention of social networking websites (Facebook)).  Due to the addition of new technology, it has helped shape society and human life.

Artful Communication

Another way in which McLuhan looks beyond the idea that media is something that connects and also has to do with the relaying of information is the fact that the media can be seen as an amplifier. This is an extension, (according to McLuhan) of some human faculty. He refers to these types of mediums as “Technological Extensions” in which amplify our senses and allow us to find deeper meaning. A number of examples are, the camera being the sense of sight; the phone a sense of hearing etc. Technological extensions allow us to enhance our senses. (In other words ‘amplify’ our senses.) McLuhan also formed four laws of extensions in which describe the different types. I was able to recognise different types by following his four laws.

Technology as extension to ourselves

From the idea of Technological Extensions, we can refer to Harraway (1991: 150) idea that human beings are cyborgs. A cyborg is hybrid of machines and organisms. This idea was very complicated to get my head around, but through tuition and the breaking down of ideas, it became clear that the simplest of things in actual fact suggest that we, as human beings, could be cyborgs. For example, a hearing aid to help someone with a hearing impediment is seen as a machine, therefore does that not make that person a cyborg? At first, I was not convinced by this idea, however looking into the subject in a little more depth helped my understanding.

I stand by my first point that McLuhan’s writing was somewhat unclear; however being able to write about it was the harder part. With the process of studying deeper meanings of what McLuhan was trying to say about the idea that ‘the Medium is the Message’. I personally agree with most of his points that he was making, however I do think that there was some irrelevancy about the topic.