Blog Post #4: Minorities and Social Media

After this week’s readings, I was inspired to look into the extent that minorities use social media. Many minority groups have turned to social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to voice their thoughts and opinions, becoming a major influence on the media. According to MSNBC, over 69% of African-Americans between the ages of 18-29 use social media on a regular basis, 6% more than white Americans. With such a significant majority, minorities (women included) have found a unique outlet to speak their minds without worry of criticism. I have seen this first hand with my use of twitter. Often times when I log onto Twitter, I notice that some of the topics trending in the US are fueled by tweets from minorities, which is very neat to see.

The Twitter trends from 9/20/12. The third one down, "Tamar & Vince",  links to tweets about African-American singer Mary J. Blige

Minorities have also begun to use social media sites for advertising and promoting their causes. According to a study done at Georgetown University, over 50% of minorities believe that their causes are benefitted from advertising on social media.  By tapping into a media outlet Caucasian Americans scarcely touch, minorities have found a way to foster involvement in their causes and to promote community interaction. Social media has opened up a new avenue for minorities to make their voice heard and spread the word about their causes, creating a stronger community and breaking some of the racial barriers in today’s media.

Link to video

Link to Article

Blog Post #3: Women in Advertising

Women were portrayed as housewives, as seen in this 1950's shirt ad.

As the times have changed, so has the portrayal of women in the media, specifically in advertisements. In the 1950’s, women were mainly seen as stay-at-home, housewife type personas and the advertisements of the day reflected it. Women were shown staying at home, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children while Dad was away at work, the true representation of the middleclass nuclear family. On the rare occasion women were shown in a rather risqué manner, it was much milder than the ones today. As you can see in the example below, her one-piece swimsuit makes the man in the background go wild, but it is nothing compared to some of the ladies seen on TV today. Overall, advertisements in the 1950’s portrayed women very conservatively, preaching the ideals of the middleclass housewife.

This "liberal" 1950's swimsuit ad doesn't hold a candle to some of the ads in today's age. 

Today, things have changed. Women are no longer seen just as stay-at-home housewives, but rather an important part of the work force. However, their duties involving children are still there. Women are portrayed to be a jack-of-all-trades, someone who can handle a full time job, kids, cooking, and more (as seen in this video). Also, women are shown in much more risqué fashions. Advertisers utilize a woman’s sexuality to sell their product, which has been successful over the past decade. All in all, the portrayal of women in advertising has changed drastically over the past 60 years. 

Very Risque Go-Daddy Commercial

Link to article

Blog Post #2: ESPNW: Is it Good Enough?

ESPN, considered by most to be the “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, covers men’s sports every day with extreme vigor. But what about women’s sports? In 2010, ESPN introduced ESPNW, a special section of their website dedicated to “connecting female fans with the sports they love and follow.” Finally, fans of women’s sports had a steady source of journalism dedicated to representing the side of sports that is normally rejected. But was it enough?

            After thoroughly investigating ESPNW, I believe that the massive sports media site has not done enough to accurately represent women’s sports. First of all, it was extremely difficult to find the link to ESPNW from ESPN’s homepage. After a few minutes of careful searching, I was able to locate the link at very bottom of the homepage, under the section “More Sports”.

espnW is hidden all the way at the bottom of the ESPN worldwide homepage.

 After clicking the link, I was taken to the ESPNW homepage, where the headlining article discussed a player from the NFL. Really? The homepage for ESPNW is covering men’s sports? Something doesn’t add up. 

When I finally found the espnW homepage, I was greeted by a headlining article discussing an NFL player.

Although I read a few well-written articles and discovered a very good system of feedback (people are only allowed to comment on articles through their Facebook accounts, thus limiting the amount of anonymous sexist comments), I still believe the site is too hidden on the ESPN homepage and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. 

The beginnings of espnW