Kendall's Blog

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My First Blog Post

Hey guys!

My name is Kendall and I’m senior graduating in May. It’s crazy that it’s only about two months away. Time does really go by in the blink of an eye. The plan is to work at CBRE in Bethesda where a lot of my family (cousins, uncles, etc.) have worked or currently work and then I’m hoping to transfer to another location within the company after I do my time in Bethesda. I’m looking at states with a lot of sun and palm trees!

Media Criticism stuck out to me when registering for classes for a couple of reasons. One, I needed another comm elective and this fulfilled that requirement. And two, I have never taken a mass comm class and thought I could learn a thing or two about mass media.

Mass media plays a very powerful role in today’s society. Personally, I believe the most important way that it does this is by influencing viewers. Whatever is seen on and in media (styles, music, brands, views, attitudes, etc) people jump on board. It’s important to look at mass media through a careful and critical eye. This is called- media criticism. Media criticism is very important for developing media literacy skills. Media criticism isn’t always negative but more of an analytical stance that helps understand the media that is being served to us.

There are many tv shows you can pull from. One tv show that might influence our perceptions and shape our values and culture is Friends.

Friends is a 90’s sitcom that centered around six friends living in New Yok City as they go through their young adult life. Due to the nature and age of the characters on the show, many are quick to assume that the audience demographic is between 18-30. However, the show has proven to reach all ages.

The show taught many lessons- you can always rely on your true friends, don’t give up on your dreams, don’t be afraid to take risks, and that the best way to move a couch is to PIVOT!

Those values are just a few of the ones projected from the tv show. But they are values that influence us and shape us as we watch the show. Everyone wanted to be like the characters or at least mimic some part of their lives.

So why is it important to critically examine media texts?

The answer is that it will better help understand the text and its affect on the audience and culture.

Thanks for reading!

Featured

My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.