Desperate for Contact

Social media is an addictive substance. Being constantly connected with other people has become a ‘need’ in our society, especially in our generation. It is also a staple of the social organization that I am a part of, called Alpha Chi Omega. Alpha Chi Omega is a social fraternity that has recently stripped me of all access to my social media. Yes…this SOCIALLY based organization, that itself has a facebook and twitter account, just said to me, “Hey Alexa, deactivate your social networks….now”. Why you may ask? Well it is for the same reason so many people on campus are currently wearing matching T-shirts and acting like crazy people: its recruitment season.

During the three to four week period before formal sorority recruitment begins, the members of chapters are asked to put aside their social media addiction to prevent distractions and dirty rushing for the good of the community. It is at this time every year that facebook looses about 2,500 users all belonging to the ‘Ball State University” network and #UghRecruitment becomes a trending topic. In my opinion it is a little bit of a social media phenomenon on this campus. You’ll start hear many a conversation start between two women saying things like this; “I sooo was going to post it on your wall but…” or “I wanted to tweet that at her so bad but...” or “I can’t wait to be able to tag you in this...”. Women in my community get so desperate for their social media fix that fake twitter and facebook profiles pop up everywhere. I’m not kidding. Alpha Chi Omega had to deactivate their facebooks Sunday 28th, today is Tuesday the 30th and I have pending friend requests from sisters (who I am already friends with on facebook) under aliases. Our Twitters are to be gone Sunday the 4th and I can’t wait to see what happens then.

I know that this sounds silly (trust me) but I never realized how addicted my peers and I are to social networks until I wasn’t allowed to use them. I will find myself accidently going to facebooks homepage even though I currently don’t have an account. Once my twitter is gone- I am almost certain I will try to accidently tweet. I guess because blogging is a form of social media, and isn’t outlawed during this time of organized chaos, this is how I will have to get my media fix. After writing this blog post I feel a little bit better about being cut off from society. At least I have you Communications 322 counterparts, at least I have you.

Insert Clever Title Here

I thought that taking this class as an elective would be a good time. I want to enjoy the classes I’m allowed to choose on my own and not dictated to me by the university. Let me start with a caveat, I don’t think the American obsession with pop culture is in, anyway, healthy. That then begs the question, why would I take this class? Well, I think it’s important to have an understanding of something I’m going to disagree with. I think all too often people hold beliefs or opinions that they can’t back up with information and facts. They instead rely solely on emotion, which is an argument easy to deconstruct. I think if more people took this class that there would be a wider understanding of a healthy balance with pop culture and everyday life. Let me put in a second caveat; I don’t disregard pop culture all together. I use twitter, am Facebook savvy, and watch certain television shows. However, I think that some people do take it too far, and at a certain point it becomes almost scary the level of obsession. As with all things in life, there is a certain balance that must be struck between the glitz and glamour of popular culture and the mundane (at times) life of a college student in Muncie, IN. With all these convictions and thoughts I thought it would be perfect to take this class. I have a certain expectation that I will be shown extremes on both ends of the spectrum, and that I’ll come away with a better understanding of what popular culture is to me.

What is Popular Culture And Why Study It??

Going into this class I had no clue what Popular Culture was and why we studied it. To me Popular Culture is what is trending in society at the time, this could be anything from fashion, TV shows, movies, food, and so on. Personally I thought that popular culture was nothing different from the regular definition of culture. They are somewhat a little close, but there are some differences. Now After reading Chapter 1 I have a much betting understanding of what Popular Culture really is and why we study it I didn't realized that Popular Culture is comprised of a variety of different things. I think that it is a great idea that we do study this topic, its because we can see why TV shows, movies and commercials put why they really put some of the things into the scenes. I find this topic very interesting and now that I know a lot more about it, I think that I am going to look into movies, TV shows and commercials a lot different. I think the reason why we do study it is to go more in depth and figure out what the subtle and hidden messages do really convey to the audience. Popular culture is something that will be around until the end of time. Everyone will keep up on what is trending to make it into the media or to become popular. Even though sometimes popular culture gives a bad reputation on something. For example being skinny and under weight for all of the TV stars and celebrities. Having this image of these people makes other people want to be this way. This is one down fall that I think popular culture has. I am very excited to learn more and go more in-depth with popular culture this semester!

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog. The blog will be a place for us to gather virtually, reflect on course content, add our own thoughts and opinions to that content, and post our work. Please check the blog regularly!