#BCM310:: Media’s Hold on Poverty

Laura Zanatta:: #BCM310:: Blog 2:: Poverty Porn

When looking at images in the media, it’s hard to recognise those which have been edited or skewed, to those that have not. It bars viewers from being able to understand the totality of a problem. Media is completely concerned with grabbing attention, and poverty porn is one way they do so. In skewing stories it detracts from essential meaning, just to become more marketable.

 

The classic image “Napalm Girl” by Nick Ut, is a clear example of how images can be skewed to gain maximum effect. In the original photo a man to the side filling his camera roll has been cropped out. He’s more concerned with capturing a good image than helping the poor people fleeing from their home town. It makes you wonder why they couldn’t have spent the time to help, well i guess the image wouldn’t have been so important otherwise.

The show Struggle Street is a classic example of poverty porn. Poverty is being re-framed as entertainment (Threadgold 2015). Media has skewed the families lives and made false representations of their self. Media takes joy in doing this, getting ratings and only partially documenting these people’s lives. People from the show were outraged to see how they were portrayed.

One participant (or is it victim?) said:

“It is sending the wrong message about Mt Druitt. It makes us look like bogans and that’s not who we are. If I knew I was going to be portrayed like this, I wouldn’t have agreed.”

(Threadgold 2015)

 

Though, that’s what viewers like to see, drunk, swearing, classless people. A study showed reasons why people use poverty porn may be that is “resonates” with false perceptions already held by the public and as such is a relatively easy sell (Hasan 2015).

One big step forward for media, and its showing of poverty and hardship, would be the boy washed up on a turkey beach. Though it didn’t gain much traction in Australia, all the English newspapers featured the image on their front covers. This is important, because many times newspapers are too scared to show true images of what’s really going on in the world. Though this image spoke to the people, and finally gave true insight in what’s happening in the world.

This raises a question, what if we extend our search, and look at less regulated and less popular platforms to gain information. Photographer Matt Black, seems to capture a new side to poverty, not one typically portraying a poor man sleeping outside (Brooks 2014).

He brings to light the:

“Disparate, often bleak, realities of everyday life”.

(Sullivan 2014)

“Throughout his career, Black has focused on telling the stories of individuals in impoverished communities, personal stories that are underrepresented in the mainstream media. Conceptually, his work doesn’t directly dwell on drugs or violence, unlike most coverage of poverty. Instead, he focuses on the economic forces that might perpetuate it” (Sullivan 2014).

 

In looking at his artworks, compared to more common and mediated items, it feels like he captures a more raw expression of the world. His images don’t seem to be skewed, or biased, which is quite refreshing.

It’s important to be aware of these external issues. There’s always a reason to why some news gets more coverage than others, and ratings are a big influence. In the end,  people seem to be drawn in by poverty porn, and sadly many still believe the media is giving us the whole picture, which it rarely is.

 

References

http://www.mattblack.com/

https://smogranch.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/photographer-to-follow-matt-black/

http://www.cleveland.com/agentorange/index.ssf/2011/01/the_vietnam_war_ended_but_a_si.html

http://www.cleveland.com/agentorange/index.ssf/2011/01/the_vietnam_war_ended_but_a_si.html

http://www.smh.com.au/world/image-of-drowned-boy-washed-up-on-turkey-beach-highlights-plight-of-migrants-20150902-gjdwvu.html

http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/future-fundraising/2015/04/expanding-definition-of-poverty-porn-means-more-ineffective-fundraising.html

Truth or Charity? The Lure of Poverty Porn for Nonprofits

#BCM310::Reality vs Likes

Laura Zanatta::BCM310:: Blog 1::Selfies

In the last few years social media has increasingly become a substantial part of users lives. It’s becoming more common for people to wake up in the morning check their social media profiles, and continue to check throughout the day. This heightened use of media drenches users into a surreal alter reality, and people can lose sight of themselves and their place in the real world. Life becomes a fight to gain the most likes and views, while enhancing images to portray a materialistic self.

“The ‘self-image’ is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self image and you change the personality and the behavior.”
(Maxwell Maltz)

Marwick (2013) describes how social media sites have formed “status affordances” which signal greater social status. He signifies that online societies, unlike in the real world, have a way to rank one another, and have a higher status compared to other users. Marwick establishes that these online communities are characterised by entrepreneurship and wealth, which may crate unreasonable standards.

Working at David Jones over the 2015 Christmas period, I realised lots of “famous” Instagram users were wearing Calvin Klein crop tops and undies, and an unbelievable amount of parents came in asking about these for their young teenage daughters. However, when they saw the price they were flabbergasted, and were skeptical about spending so much. Though when the youth came in themselves, they thought nothing of the price, and went straight ahead and bought them. All they could think about was looking like those girls on Instagram. This signifies how powerful social media can be in influencing peoples purchase decisions and sense of style. They feel that if they replicate those online, their offline personality will flourish(Rainsing Children Network).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social media has greatly impacted how people perceive their sense of self, and are constantly judging oneself based on photos they see online. Harper (2011) describes,

“(especially for women) your profile picture had better look good, because how good you look defines who you are, and if you’re not naturally beautiful you have lots of work to do.“

This is how real women, and men, feel once being subjected to the alter reality online.

 

Ursula Goff, a rainbow colour hair stylist, has a domineering amount of followers being 61,000 Instagram followers, influencing many on beautiful hair styles. She, as many others, have realised how deceptive online images can be. She took 2  photos only 2 days apart to show that glamour and perfect hair and makeup just isn’t a realist outlook. She describes its important to take note that lighting, facial expression, make up and angles can dramatically change a photograph (Goff 2015).

 

 

Social media will continually influence peoples outlook on oneself and others, however photos can be adjusted to obtain unrealistic standards, and it’s important to take note that its unreasonable to continually look photo perfect. The online society placing higher status on one or another may not actually reflect a person’s offline personality, which is a key factor to note.

References

Marwick, A 2013, Leaders and Followers: Status in the Tech Scene, Yale University Press.

http://www.people.com/article/hairstylist-makeup-free-selfie

http://www.self.com/trending/body-img/2015/12/this-womans-selfie-is-going-viral-for-the-best-reason/

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/media_influences_teenagers.html/context/1106

What Do You See in a Mirror??

As usual I’ve written a bundle of blogs for my BCM assignment. This semester entailed writing as a researcher. Having only finished my last blog a few minutes ago, I can tell you, I know my blogging strength has grown, and I can appreciate how important blogs can be. I think this has been my most beneficial semester yet, which is quite refreshing. Being able to connect with my mum and connect some dots has helped me open my mind, and engage with a wider blogsphere.

When I started blogging again this semester I looked at lifehack.orgs post most influential bloggers.

I looked at some of these top bloggers and took note on how they write and what they write about. The two people I thought were most inspiring were “Meet Andrew Sullivan” (thedailydish.com) and “Harvey Levin” (tmz.com).

In research it’s important to know your topic, and it was evident within these blogs. Because they knew so much about their topic I felt like it helped them write their blogs easily, and concisely. They were straight to the point, making it easy to read quickly, which I feel is a good quality in blogs.

I then looked at other bloggers from my BCM course, to take note on how they wrote their responses and set out their blogs. This helped me see what sounded good, what caught attention and what didn’t look so good. It helped me understand that being too formal sounded a bit dull, and having interesting pictures was a good way to lure people into the blog.

I also looked at tips for writing blogs:

http://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/- this website had some helpful hints how to write successfully.

My favourite thing it said was tip 3: you don’t have to work work work and give 110%. I think this was my greatest block to writing blogs effectively in the past.

I decided to take it slowly and then things suddenly came to me. Instead of thinking about what things other people might like to hear, I wrote as if I was talking to myself.  Beforehand, I had been trying too hard to write my blogs, sounding smart, how I can be better than the others. Whenever I think, funnily enough, things don’t come to me. So instead I’ve just been myself, and voila!, things just came to me. I may not have beaten other people, but I’ve bettered* myself.

* (Bettered is highlighted because it sort of looks like battered, I did not batter myself in this process, promise).

Looking over all my blogs there were a few things that stood out:

• I understand more about mum. My favourite blog “Hidden TV Love” really connected me to mum and helped me understand how important little things can be in life. It showed the different perspective that being a researcher can have on how I understand things. Instead of assuming things, asking questions can gain a deeper knowledge of things that I have never thought of asking.

• Technology was referred to within practically all my blogs, from this session and others. It’s clearly a very important part of today’s society connecting the whole world and how virtually everything is done in today’s society. It impacts how we do things, jobs and everything!

• Google is my best friend: this is possibly one of the most important things learnt from this task. Since our blogs were a research task, I think every single person who did this assignment would have to agree, that if we didn’t have Google, we would not have much to say, and what we would have to say we wouldn’t have any evidence to back it up.

This semester of blogging I feel was an important revolution to my blogging world. Firstly, I actually don’t hate blogging anymore. The topics given were things that were relatable, which made it easy to talk about and those personal touches made it interesting to research. I was Googling how to be interested in researching and stumbled upon another blogger in my position. http://hypervision2.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/how-to-enjoy-your-research.html . I thought it was funny, because this shows how we Google everything, and that possibly this lady’s answer, is that she isn’t emotionally connected enough to her research topic.

The biggest help (besides Google) was looking at other student blogs. They helped me form meaning and give pointers about how to go around what I needed to say. I usually have a good idea, but never know how to express it correctly. I also looked at how they structured their responses, what looked good and what didn’t, such as font and making words stand out. This influenced me to use bold words to highlight what my main points are.

Looking at other blogs showed me that in my opinion, writing too formally is quite bland. When I read a blog it’s not fun to be baffled with an abundance of boring words.

Though this was a research assignment, I feel like there’s no point doing a bunch of research if the physical appearance of the blog isn’t fitting and boring. So I tried harder to make my blog more accessible by adding a “Media/ Audience/ Place” tab, making it easier to reach my blogs.

I used a simple image and heading of “Something to Talk About”, making it easy to understand what I’m trying to convey.

By the end I tried to convey my points more clearly with bold words, and easy to read paragraphs. Using more references and referencing other bloggers was also a way to bring people in, and gain a better understanding of where my ideas were coming from.

Another feature I added was “categories” which I previously hadn’t had in my blogs. I feel like all together my blog site has grown and matured.

All together I’ve established a stronger blog. It looks and reads better. And the topics I wrote about were interesting. I put in effort to research and connect to my own ideas. Research isn’t just about what others say and choosing a side, it’s also about adding ones input, and I feel like I’ve grown to accomplish that.

My Helpful Sites:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/top-10-most-inspirational-bloggers-the-world.html

http://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/8-things-every-blogging-writer-should-know

P.S: The answer to my title is “Reflection”, since it’s my reflection and all.

You’re Funny Looking *Takes Photo*

There’s so many times in my life where I’ve taken photos of people just because they look funny. The person doesn’t know I took a photo, like why would I ask them for permission?, what if they say no?, then I’ll have to get rid of my photo which I think is hilarious. What guidelines do I actually need to follow? Are there even guidelines? I researched into this area and there are two main documents which I found helpful in describing the issue One by Arts Law Centre of Australia (n.d ) and another by Colberg (2013). Outlining do’s and dont’s.

I’ll start off with showing you my favourite picture I took in public. The train is always a fun place to see some interesting people. In the foreground here is my friend josh, being seedy, and behind him is a lady sleeping. Her mouth lazily open, black Audrey Hepburn sunnies and her cascading double chin, there’s just something about her that gets me giddy. But, am I allowed to share this photo?

Arts Law Centre of Australia (n.d.) outlines that “there are no publicity or personality rights in Australia, and there is no right to privacy that protects a person’s image”. So, technically my image is legal. Though, there are some guidelines which may deem itself as an offence. Arts Law Centre of Australia (n.d.) explains that sexually arousing images are against the law described in the Surveillance Devices Act 1999. I’m sort of on the fence with my good looking sleeping beauty back there.

New Zealand Police Department (n.d.) outline some other areas which images are illegal:

• Is naked, in underclothes, showering, toileting etc.
• Is unaware of being filmed or photographed.
• Has not given consent to be filmed or photographed.

Even though these are New Zealand, they’re also relevant to Australia, reinforced through my other resources.

Davidson & Gattineau (2011) give a thorough understanding of laws regarding what’s not allowed under the sections of

• Criminal liability regarding trespassing and offensive images under the crimes act 1958 and summary offences act 1966
• Civil liability regarding nuisance and breach of confidence, contracts and copyright

Nowadays with all the technology in the world, it’s easy for people to take a photo and upload it to social media. Snapchat and Instagram are growing. Snapchat has over 100 million daily users and Instagram have over 300million monthly users (Adcorp n.d.). These sites are enablers of spreading public photos without peoples consent. In a way, posting onto Instagram is some way of a normal person being a photographer, which stresses the need to be lawfully and ethically aware of its consequences.

Colberg’s (2013) article deems itself useful in this sense. Colberg  looks at ethical dimensions of public photos. “Given that many people just don’t want to be photographed without their consent, photographers should be more careful about this. In other words, it might be perfectly legal to photograph someone in a public space, but something being legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical as well” (Colberg 2013).

In looking at ethics and relating it to my sleeping friend, I never actually thought about any ethical decisions must be known. I took the photo, sent it to my friend, he posted it as his profile picture, people can then download it, now I’ve re- posted it on an open website, so it can spread fast. Who knows the lady might see it and come after me.

Furthermore, Colberg (2013) states “in actuality, it would be impractical to ask every person in the frame whether they’re OK with a picture. That said, if someone clearly does not want to be photographed or if they are for their photo to be deleted after the fact, and then I do think those wishes have to be respected.”  Which in itself is simple to understand, and it’s a basic principle to follow.

So over all, yes you can take photos of people in public spaces. Here are some basic guidelines, and it’s important to think ethically. Just make sure you know that no one will be hurt in the process and you’re good to go.

Reading through other blogs also helped me understand multiple dimensions of this stuff. Many other bloggers undertaking the same research cited Colberg here are some I found interesting…

https://tiarneblackwell.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/photographing-in-public-spaces-are-ethics-essential/

https://thechangeiscoming.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/the-rules-of-phones-in-spaces/

References

Adcorp n.d., The Rise of Snapchat and Instagram, accessed 4/10/15, http://www.adcorp.com.au/news-blog/The-Rise-of-Snapchat-and-Instagram

Arts Law Centre of Australia n.d., Street Photographers Rights’, accessed 4/10/15, http://www.artslaw.com.au/info-sheets/info-sheet/street-photographers-rights/

Colberg, J 2013, The Ethics of Street Photography, accessed 4/10/15, http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/the_ethics_of_street_photography/

Davidson, M Gattineau, T 2011, Taking Photographs in Public’: What’s Lawful and What’s Not? Report to Centre for Contemporary Photography, Monash University.

New Zealand Police Dept, n.d., accessed 4/10/15, http://www.police.govt.nz/faq/what-are-the-rules-around-taking-photos-or-filming-in-a-public-place

Cinema: 70’s and Now

Well who doesn’t love the movies? Overly priced tickets, food, popcorn over the seats and people who use phones yay. We can almost honestly say we’ve all been to the movies at least once in our lifetime. The people we go with and who we are seated around each influence our judgement of the movies. It is in fact, a public space. To welcome a more thorough understanding of movies as a shared space, I’ve interviewed my mum Mary once again. Her perspective of movies back in the mid-70’s is quite interesting, in order to see how people undertook the whole cinema outing.

Firstly, Torsten Hagerstrand’s 3 time- spatial constraints will help guide my differentiation between movie attending then and now.

His 3 constraints are:

• Capability constraints– limitations on the activity of individuals because of their biological structure or the tools they can command.
• Coupling constraints– limitations that define where, when, and for how long, the individual has to join other individuals, tools, and materials in order to produce, consume, and transact (Naess, P 2006).
• Authority constraints– limitations on the domain or time-space entity within which things and events are under the control of a given individual or a given group.

(Corbett n.d.)

My body of writing will highlight how movie going back in the 70s and now highlight where these three constraints may come into practice.

Mum described movies being quite an outing when she was growing up. Being one of 9 made it quite impossible for them all to go to the movies together.  As one half of the family was able to go to the movie, the other half would have to stay at home (Capability). Back then it was important to dress accordingly in their nice clothes. Mum loved sporting her knee length skirt with her t-shirt tucked in and white sandals (Funny how trends come back right). Being Italian, the family thought it was important to fit into western culture, and the way they dressed was how they tried to camouflage into society (Coupling). Nowadays there’s less thought given in what to wear, and it’s not such an important “event”. Jeans and thongs are quite appreciated where I come from (Bit over the top for some actually).

Not only dress was important to note, but also money. Back then it was much cheaper for families to go to the movies, with less time constraints (Authority). The average ticket price in the 70s was around $3.50 whereas now we can spend well over $20 for just one ticket (Screen Australia 2014).

Now, because of women working and the costs of things making people start work earlier, there’s less time for families to attend the movies all together (Coupling) (MPAA 2012).

It’s funny because back then they had less choice with their movies and seating arrangement. Though now, there’s so many “classes” that you could go to. Gold Class, V-Max, normal, the whole aura of the movie theatre tends to have changed (Lowbrow 2014). It’s not just for a social outing anymore, now it’s more of a way to be with while being away. (Cork 1995).

She reflected that it was quite funny, yet embarrassing back when they went movies, because the Aussie kids would be allowed to buy their food from the cinema, but mums family thought the food was rubbish and overpriced so ensured they brought home packed food (Some things never change).

When it was just the kids going, since mum was too young to drive, she’d need to convince one of the older ones to take her. So, naturally as siblings do she’d need to bribe them somehow. Doing their chores or simply taking the blame was a good enough swap. (Coupling, Capability)(Naess, P 2006).

Back in those days theatres weren’t just part of the streetscape, it was also an important part of social life (Cork 1995). This was one of the only times mum would go out, and do something away from working or being at home. Nowadays there’s a myriad of options. Going to the movies was an experience back then. Time and thought was put into what to wear, when to go, what to see. But all that’s changed now. Technologies triumph in today’s world has influenced the move going outing full throttle. Especially with the introduction of Netflix, a legal way to watch an abundance of movies on our high speed internet’s, at a low cost, in the comfort of our own home (Authority).

As you can see, movie going over time has made some dramatic changes. The economy of the world and influences of technology have been major impacts in how people attend movies and why. It’s important to note, that movies have long been a form of outing, and even though it may not be as formal and exciting now as it used to be, it’s still important tool in connecting people and history.

 

References

Corbett, J n.d., Torsten Hagerstrand: Time Geography, accessed 1/10/2015, http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/29

Cork, K 1995, Cinema as “Place”: The case of the picture theatres in a group of towns and villages in the Central West of New South Wales, accessed 1/10, 15, http://www.rossthorne.com/downloads/CINEMA_AS_PLACE.PDF (Found this one of the more interesting reads)

Lowbrow, L 2014, 5 Ways Going to the Movies has Changed Since the 1970s, accessed 1/10/15, http://flashbak.com/5-ways-going-to-the-movies-has-changed-since-the-1970s-24946/

MPAA 2012, Theatrical Market Statistics Report, accessed 1/10/15, http://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2012-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-Report.pdf

Naess, P 2006, Urban Structure Matters, Residential Location, Car Dependence and Travel Behaviour, Routledge.

Screen Australia 2014, Audiovisual markets: Cinema, accessed 1/10/15, http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/cinemaboxofficeprices.aspx

Research of the Future

Ethnography in itself accumulates qualitative methods, focusing on social practices and interactions. It helps them build theories about how and why social practices occur (Erial 2013). Typical ethnography, though does have a small fraction of collaboration is mainly defined through its reciprocal approach.

Lassiters studies have highlighted how collaborative ethnography differs from traditional ethnography, and how it can be an enriching experience for both sides.

In my last blog about mum watching TV as she was growing up, we saw some form of collaborative ethnography going on. At first it seemed reciprocal based, though once we started talking it become a collaboration. As Lassiter says “we keep what we have by giving it away.” Asking mum the questions I had asked gave her good reason to think back to a time that she had forgotten which she once cherished.

Before “collaborative” ethnography was considered a thing, it jarred accurate representations of the subject being researched. Especially in such a fast growing society due to technology, collaborative ethnography has become more important than ever.

Back in the day when TV shows were being recorded for views, it was a pretty accurate reading, as families would sit down and take time out to watch TV. But now with phones, apps, internet, computers, it makes it a lot harder to attract an accurate reading. How many times do we say we’re going to sit down and watch a movie, which we do put on, and then get caught up in all the kerfuffle on our phones and social media? Well me! I do! Every day haha!

Collaborative ethnography offers a chance to delve deeper into people’s minds. They receive something from the research, and we receive something from them. The 2 way street hence, ensures there is a closer connection between the two parties, which is an important issue when getting into someone’s lives.

Collaborative ethnography is a way to give and receive as a team. In doing this, more accurate readings can be formed, due to a closer connection.

References:

Lassiter, L 2005, The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

http://www.erialproject.org/for-librarians/what-is-ethnography/

Internet Not-So-Usage

I wake up in the morning, have a little grumpy fit. Check Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat on my phone (Phone falls on my face), carry my phone everywhere with me; toilet, kitchen, table, lounge room. Constantly talk to my boyfriend and a group chat. Like some pics and what not. And the day begins. Though, my mum on the other hand is much more distant to her technology. It lies alone in the kitchen until the morning, and even then she doesn’t really use it. Growing up in different generations can clearly be marked by the use of technology and an online presence.

It’s obvious that the recent 2 generations are saturated in using the internet. It’s a way for us to connect and aid our studies in everyday life (Klie 2012). Since it’s a relatively new ideal, I thought it’d be fun to ask mum how she uses the internet.

The number of Internet users is increasing at an annual rate of 4% to 7%. The Internet penetration rate, which is measured by dividing the number of Internet users by the total population, also reached about 76% in 2010 (Shim et al 2014). This is a significant amount of people! But alas, mum (and even dad) seem to be the little outlier. I asked mum why she tends to shy away from the internet, and wholesomely she said she’d prefer to experience life, rather than watch it happen from a screen. She also has that old people’s caution, of the internet being a place for predators and staying away as much as possible.

The most common place to be approached by online predators is through online chatrooms, (family safe) which cant randomly happen while googling how to pot a flower (but it’s okay mum, your kids will protect you).

According to eMarketer 60.3% of the gen X’ers are using smartphones. It’s funny, because mum does have a “smartphone”, though times move so fast that her iPhone 4 is now not the smartest phone. Mums a bit of a derp when it comes to any form of technology, and is still getting amazed by the simple things you can actually do, such as book a restaurant. So I guess the not so smart phone is perfect for the not so smart human. I guess our technology can reflect our personality, just as much as any other physical item.

I love how mum defies all odds, and goes against the norm of the internet in this day and age. There’s so many millions of people engrossed with using this technology, yet she keeps to her roots and is happy with the simplest amount of usage. To mum, the internet is like a cook book, it’s there to guide when in strife, but then she’ll be on her way again.

References:

Klie, L 2012, Gen K: Stuck in the Middle, vol. 2012, no. 2, pp. 24-29.

Shim, S et.al 2014, Internet Usage Trend and Postal Service Performance in Australia, Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 1-10.

http://www.ipsos-mori-generations.com/Internet-and-Technology-Use

http://www.familysafecomputers.org/predators.htm

Hidden TV Love

For my mum Mary Zanatta, growing up in the groovy 70s was not all what it stacked up to be. By this time TV had been around for a reasonable time. For many Australians, the TV may have been a simple luxury, which they didn’t really take real notice of the significance it may have had.

Mums parents came to Australia from Italy with barely anything. Once they settled in Australia, it was their goal to build up a strong foundation in which they could provide the necessities their future children would cherish. Mum was one of 9 children in the end, with a 13 year gap between the first and last child.

Mum reminisced on the times when she watched TV with her brothers, sisters and mum and dad, with lots of memories flooding back. In their small home, they had a joint lounge and dining room. A blue wash wall housed their beloved TV. The TV stood as a lone ranger, encased in a timber frame box. This simple setup was accompanied with 2 brown lounges, a single seater and a 3 seater.  As they sat around the TV box, either on seats or the cold floor, they would watch funny shows like the Brady Bunch or Bewitched.

Shows with innocent humour were characteristic of this age.  My nonno being the man of the house would choose the channels. Saturdays involved watching a movie in the sleepy afternoons, where they could lounge around with no cares.  Sunday night was their special dessert night filled with gooey custard and spiced cooked apples.

While I was asking mum the questions I needed, she started to realise how much of an important thing the TV had been in bringing the whole family together. I then realised, I think it’s very important to see which year cluster mum chose to look at. She chose the 70s, around when she was 9 years old, when they were a complete family. When mum was only 12 years old, her mum passed away which definitely took its toll on the family. In doing this interview, I’ve learnt that we shouldn’t take things for granted. For mum and the family watching TV was one of their important bonding times, and who knows when it could be your last.

Non-Existence in the Existence

As I was growing up computers had only just been introduced. I was never really interested in using the computers. Everyone would fight over who was going to play solitaire or whatever. I’ve never been interested. Computers and gaming has come so far now, and i still have no interest. My online presence involves posting a couple of dodgy photos on Instagram so my close friends can like it, then the rest of the time i just stalk randoms and look at pretty pictures. I have a simple mind and that’s as far as my relationship will go with the media space.

Back in the day I never thought that computers and technology would be such a defining part to my life. Uni involves blogging every week, getting lectures and slides form the internet, twittering, instagraming, and now… since im doing an internship for a marketing place, i have to use all these platforms once again. as time progresses and the more i use these platforms the more i realise, no, no i don’t like computers. But maybe I’m just scared at how powerful they can be. Have an issue? Google it. got a job? Gotta use computers. Go to uni? Need computers. Hack the world? Through a computer. The possibilities are never-ending.

The one thing i can definitely sappreciate about these newer media forms is the strong connections we can create with our friends and loved ones who may be near and far. It’s fun to keep up to date in a lazy way i guess.