Monthly Archives: May 2011

We spoke about youtube makeup gurus in class earlier in the term and i did agree with the fact that they are being rewarded for not doing much at all but i must say i am addicted to makeup tutorial videos. These girls have hundreds of videos showing us how to do simple things like eyeliner to more difficult things like halloween makeup. Some gurus even do shopping hauls and more interestingly they do reviews on makeup and other cosmetics. I think this was a great marketing step for cosmetic companies because knowing how addicted many girls like myself are to these videos, what better way to advertise their merchandise then by having these seemingly normal girls review their products. Many of these companies will ship out merchandise to the girls and then the girls will review the items in videos, needless to say most of the merchandise get positive reviews i mean who wouldn’t be extremely content with a product if its free. I know i would be. But this adds a false review to the merchandise and it is in a sense fooling the viewer into buying the items. well i guess we have to just be informed consumers.

In relation to the idea of privacy i read this article and it really kind of bothered me. I know people are very concerned with their children being exposed to predators but i think that this is taking it way too far. This would mean people have to ask permission at soccer games,school plays and etc. from every childs parents which seems absurd. i think that people should be responsible enough to take care of their own kids, if at a soccer game you attend to and see your childs teammates parents taking a picture you should know thats okay, but if a stranger is doing so you should know to be wary. But the only way a parent can really do this is by being there. I think thats what we need to do with many aspects of our lives, we have to stop trying to make everything so stringent and instead be alert and aware of our surrounding. Be it with our children or with our facebook accounts, we have to know how to protect ourselves through knowledge and not expect others to be looking out for us when we educate ourselves about privacy setting or even who our children play with it makes privacy and safety much more attainable and simpler.

So the other day i got an unwanted friend request from someone i did not know. i went about denying the request and going about my life. Problem of a creeper resolved right…
wrong.!
The fellow which will remain unnamed decided it would be a good idea to write to me and ask me why i did not accept his friend request. Beyond creepy right?
Well this is what facebook can do. it reveals your pictures and some information to complete strangers, and those people who normally would keep away now feel that they have the right to be creepy online. It allows them to hide behind a keyboard and make other people uncomfortable. Although the idea of facebook can be comforting to some because it allows them to share ideas and other things with friends and family it also allows for weirdos to have a new means of communication. They are able to get one on one contact with you and it can be a bit disturbing. I mean thank goodness for a block button which allows you to mark the person as someone who you do not want to have access to your page of information. A bit of relief there.

http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/08/12/facebook-privacy-fail-facebook-doesnt-care-if-you-hide-your-birthday/

First off let me say that i tried this right before i posted this and it worked wonderfully on my friend who had his birthday blocked. Its pretty genius and i dont know how facebook hasnt worked to block this from occuring by now. I think this article clearly sows how easily one can mess with setting on Facebook and invade others privacy. If a person chose to make heir birthday private then facebook should respect that persons wishes without messing with their settings just because alot of people wrote happy birthday on their wall. It is pretty surprising that this even worked and i wonder how many other privacy settings can be altered by simple maneuvers such as this one. This just goes back to the idea that privacy on facebook is a myth. Even though this person did what was asked and made their birthday private it obviously wasn’t enough. I mean this is something not so harmful since its just a birthday post it couldve been something more private like maybe a relationship status or even pictures. It just adds more to the argument that facebook does not respect privacy. it was pretty clever of this ladies friend though, why have enemies when you have friends like this lady.

http://www.oyster.com/hotels/photo-fakeouts/

According to Erving Goffman, and referencing his theatrical performance model- sometimes the “stage presents things that are real and sometimes not well rehearsed.” For example: If you were to be observing someone in their environment, it would be smart to look for things they do or do not do, such as the expressions on their face when they know they’re being observed. People wear masks almost always when they know this is taking place.

Apparently Goffman’s theory can be related to alot more than just a person’s body language or immediate behavior. What about a place/setting being staged to entice prospective customers.

How many times have you gone online to check hotels out, then cringe at the absurd pricing? Feeling like you are missing out on the time of your life because you see the roomy, ocean view, ‘OCD type’clean bedrooms, state of the art gym (well equipped), and beautiful clean pools with ironically hardly anyone in them. Not to mention the hotel’s state of the art spa, where someone named Helga or Rafael will be giving you special treatments.

Then you pay luxurious pricing for mediocre service…feeling like you just got PUNK’d!! -_-

Reality v. Staged