In “How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age” by Giroux, the author discusses that children spend way too much of their day watching videos and/or television that exposes them to the consumer lifestyle. The media that Disney is promoting is specifically geared to catch the eyes of children; but what they don’t talk about is how these types of media are negatively affecting children. These big corporations don’t care what they are doing TO the child, they care more about the money they are making and what is benefiting them. In the Ted Talk spoken by Turkle, Turkle expands on the argument that technology has the power to change what someone does and who they are as an individual. She says they are literally ruling our world. Because of this, individuals have become detached from social interactions. It is concerning to Turkle that there are rarely any in person or voice to voice interactions from individuals because they now rely on texting, emailing or video chats instead of having in person meetings or phone call conversations. In the talk by Danah Boyd, she talks about how teenagers are exposed to and are involved in posting extremely risqué content on social media.This causes parents to fear for their child’s safety, which then leads to adults monitoring the child’s media time and become in charge of the privacy settings. These children do not realize the dangers of posting such personal and intimate things online for the world to see. On the Patriot Act by Hasan Minhaj, instead of focusing on the good aspects of video games like we have mostly been doing in this class, he focuses on the negative and controversial side of them. The extreme numbers that video games have been making in the last few years is negatively affecting workers. Things such as unfair working conditions, layoffs with no warning, poor compensations with no benefits and not being paid for working over time which is illegal. This creates worker burnout and labor exploitation which causes these workers to suffer from horrible psychological conditions.
These readings this week kind of put me in a funk. They were all extremely negative and in a way affected my emotional well being. I felt as if there was nothing positive in any of these sources! I know there are always two sides to research and to be well educated on a topic it is essential to dive deep into both sides, but it was a bit overwhelming. I can agree that I have slowly, over the years, gained social anxiety. I used to be an extreme extrovert. I was a cheerleader from age four all the way through high school and loved being around people. Now, as a 27 year old, I feel more comfortable and prefer to be by myself or just around close family. I feel that whenever I am around a bunch of people, I am constantly being judged or the stress of creating conversations in person overwhelms me and I think it is due to social media.
Do you feel that you have become more antisocial as the years have gone on and why?
Natalie's Blog 
Hey Natalie! Yes, I agree that the articles are super heavy and leave a strong conviction.
I also resonate how digital media/social media has in-essence shaped how sometimes I think about how I can’t hold a conversation or just get this social anxiety without expressing myself fully. But, as we take step forward towards more and more awareness and seeing those small steps as actually steps and retraining and learning (and relearning) as we take those vulnerable steps and risks, there is so much reward, growth and healing in the way we interact and connect with each other. I hope that after reading these articles and becoming more exposed to people who are loving and non-judgmental towards you, that allows you to grow and be able to express yourself fully even outside of solitude!
LikeLike