The web is using us!

After watching this video, it inspired me. It made me realize that this generation is changing drastically. We depend on technology for everything now-reading, writing, watching movies, playing games, or even socializing.   Technology is affecting us in every way even when we don't realize it. One important change it our literacy; I have witnessed friends using online terms in their school work, which although may seem like a careless mistake is actually a large problem. It shows that teenagers of this generation are spending too much time on the web and we forget how to properly read and write. This horrible habit is very hard to change because teens spend more time on the computer than on work, therefore computer language overcomes the language we all use to know-English.

The message behind the video above is very inspiring. It is encouraging us to change because we are spending too much time in front of the computer screen. Near the end of the video they tell us to rethink many things like love, family, friends, and most importantly ourselves. We should be taking this seriously because it is true that we do not spend enough time with friends and family. What we use to do face to face now becomes on the computer. For example, instead of stepping up to do something, all we do is talk about it on the Internet like this blog; instead of playing with friends, all we do is play video games online etc. We should really rethink our daily lives.

This music video is called Nothing On You by B.O.B ft Bruno Mars. The song uses many programs that emphasize the characters in the video. My first thoughts of the story behind the video is that B.O.B was telling the girls that they are pretty and that no matter what people tell them, they are the best in the world. I thought that the meaning of "Nothing On You"  was that the society had nothing on the girls to say they were ugly. It was evident that photoshop and other media programs were used in this video. The image presented was that the characters and the background were made of paper and magazines. The white boarder surrounding the actors in the video were used to emphasize them and telling them apart from the background. They also used this paper effect because it could represent a magazine, a source of media where models and other beautiful women can be found. By using this magazine effect, it supports the fact that they are pretty . I also found that the overlap of faces interesting. It could mean many things, but I think that the the musicians wanted to say that no matter what they look like, they are beautiful. Over all, the theme of this music video is telling women that they are pretty no matter what other people say. It is possible that there were many personal problems with B.O.B relationships that inspired him to sing this song. They might have also wanted to use the magazine idea to promote their idea. There is also the possibility that like most other songs, are written about love. The performance that stands out the most in this video is again the paper like effects. Stop motion animations is also added and together, it seems like drawings put together to make a stop motion video. This effect in my opinion made it confusing at first because it was hard to understand the point of it, but after looking deeper into the lyrics and pictures, it made much more sense. Finally, this music video has changed my perspective of the song when I first listened to it. It added more of a beat to the song and made things more clear lyric wise.

Fotoshop

Advertisements are some of the worlds most powerful messages. They can change the way people dress, act and feel.  Sometimes, producers take photoshop way too far and change even the ugliest of people into slim, fit, model like women. Companies and magazines change these men and women for their own benefits. The companies gain money while 'regular' people like will have low self-esteem. There is no other reason that people are portrayed like this in media besides from gaining money. They change people's appearance of people to advertise products and to exaggerate what the product is capable of. People like me will see these images and will want to be more like them, whether it is to be more beautiful, handsome, stronger, taller, or more skinny. For some people, this is not very healthy because they will do what they need to in order to look like those they see in the media. For instance, a friend of my sister began to starve herself just to look skinnier. She looked as if she had not eaten in weeks and although she looked skinnier, she also looked a lot bonier and 'dead.' I believe there are ways that we can reduce the number of teenagers that are negatively affected by the media. The first is that companies should reduce the amount of editing done to people on covers of magazines or advertisements. Second the media could advertise those not as pretty as those we usually see. For example, a nerd who becomes very popular. This way, people will have their confidence increased. So what would this world be like if people on the cover of magazines were not glammed up? I think that people across the whole world will have more self-esteem without question. At the same time, companies and magazines will go bankrupt. I don't think that the society can withstand this because when a large company goes bankrupt, it will end in a cycle when workers don't have the money to buy other things.