ABSTRACT: I Realize That Most of This Paper Is Based Upon Opinion and Not Specific Research

ABSTRACT: I realize that most of this paper is based upon opinion and not specific research. As this is a rough draft and a constant work in progress, it is difficult to get my mind to always go in a new direction while rewriting rather than holding onto old thoughts. I would like for the reader to look at the paper for coherence, what perhaps belongs, does not make sense, where there needs to be more expansion or research. Also, any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. I begin the paper by explaining how I came to the argument of advertising becoming replaced by social networking. I then try to show how consumers transitioned from being told what they want to be to deciding for themselves how they want to be portrayed. Lastly, I give examples of how social networking truly has replaced many needs for advertising. When I originally set out to explore the topic of consumption in American society, the question I wanted to answer of whether consumers or producers drive people to consume ideas and/or products was entirely too broad with too many factors to touch upon in just a semester of research and writing. After delving into the research I had from my proposal, I found myself drawn to the impact advertising has on consumers, however with a twist. I began to see technology—particularly social networking as a mode of alternative advertising. In other words, I argue that websites like Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter are becoming the new mode of advertising and one which people seek out when making decisions about what they want to buy or do. The days of consumers believing “false” advertisements are fast fading. It used to be that advertisers would promote unattainable ideologies, such as the perfect family or perfect look, through their products. By doing this many people would feel that they could achieve a certain lifestyle or perhaps just feel good or better about one’s self by owning the advertised product. To me, there seems to have been a revolution in the products we buy and reasons we buy them. People began to realize the images promoted by advertisers were not real or necessarily relative. It’s not that consumers were no longer interested in the glamour, but the trend of who we reference when it comes to purchasing seems to have transitioned to the “every day” person. A perfect example of this can be seen in the youtube video posted below. The commercial starts out with a regular young woman, neither gorgeous nor outstanding by her looks. She’s not wearing make-up or any fancy clothes—just a normal white tank top and jeans when she first appears on the camera. She’s at a photo shoot for Dove who started a campaign to make “normal” woman feel they could and should be themselves. They created a commercial to show how advertisers make the “natural” flawless look of women used in advertisements. As you go through the hours of changes it took to make her “natural” look in less than one minute (the airbrushing, the photo shopping, the hair and the make-up), you realize that the person being shown on the billboard is in fact not even a real person—the “real” person we saw at the beginning is just the bare frame which is fabricated by artists and computers to create the ideology of beauty that advertisers want people to buy into and thus buy their product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U (“Dove-Evolution Commercial”). I think around the time this commercial was made, advertisers and producers were coming to terms with the fact that people do not want to see “made-up” realities. I also believe around the same time was when the technology of the internet really connecting people was fully emerging. The postmodern era in which we live today, bases society’s consumption the individual. In other words, it’s the individuals need to self-express and have an “image” that makes us want to primarily buy things to enhance our image or experiences (Chaudhuri 3). However, some people look to others in order to conform socially and some want to be purely unique. It’s our accessibility to the internet which connects us to each other and each others’ ideas. According to Himadri Chaudhuri, a lecturer on consumerism at the University of Calcutta, in our postmodern culture “consumption has become the means through which individuals define their self-images for themselves as well as to others; marketing as a primary institution has reinforced this trend” (Chaudhuri p4). Media is the prime method by which the advertisers quickly get their products out to the open market of consumers. With the fall of the economy, consumers have spent less, but have not stopped spending. Advertisers have had to adjust their style to make consumers continue to feel the need to buy something that really they don’t need at all. A great way they’ve done this is by putting ads right in the face of the consumer through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The biggest and the best things are constantly being portrayed in real-time as the standard for how one should live. For example, a big time celebrity, let’s say Lady Gaga, has just tweeted that there’s a great new blog online that has something for everyone. Now because of Twitter, people who would not have had direct contact with Lady Gaga before, will immediately get her message and have their interest spiked. Regardless of one’s feelings of Lady Gaga, because of the articles accessibility, many people will check it out. Perhaps, she was paid off by advertisers to put the message up, but the point is that the message will reach millions and advertisers can promote on that blog. Another huge trend across the US is food trucks. The food trailers will get Twitter accounts to advertise their location to customers. Customers will then go out of their way to meet the trucks and get their favorite lunch. All of this consumption is happening because of advertisers’ use of technology. Now, I would like to take this a step further and argue that with devices such as DVRS to avoid traditional advertising social networkers and the internet does the job for producers-- and for free. For example, facebook can now be seen as an advertising space. People project their lifestyle and values in ways that their “friends” consume particular images and perhaps want to have the same experiences or project themselves in such a light. In a way, facebook is just like advertisements, and it creates the same response for producers from consumers. The difference is, that what facebook friends are seeing is real life. Perhaps the photos or posts they see are the best parts or a moment of the friend’s life, but still the point remains that image and idea is now in the mind of viewer. I would like to look at our use of Facebook. Social networking sites are only used a fraction of the time to track celebrities. Who we really care about are those we know personally and especially those we experience daily life with. We may look at a friend’s Facebook page and see a fantastic trip he or she just went on, or a great new outfit your friend is wearing and getting tons of great comments on. Now, there is a desire within you to wear a cute new outfit or take a vacation. Producers now depend on these sites and their users to spread these ideals. Just by looking at that photo, if I were to act on my desire, I would need to go shopping for a new outfit, get a camera to take the great pictures, use a computer to put the photos, and it goes on--- these are all forms of consumption. My hypothetical Facebook situation is backed up by a study conducted by Stanford’s PhD student, Alexander Jordan. He found that people do indeed, compare their own lives to their friends by viewing a friend’s Facebook page (Jordan). If the friend seemed to be happy, looking good, and having a great time, then the person viewing the page felt a sense of inadequacy and a desire to do the same (Jordan). It’s an excellent illustration of how technology affects consumption and our ideologies to push us to buy or consume to make us happier or feel better. Another example of consumers doing the job for advertisers is seen in review sites such as Yelp. Consumers are once again seen as the advertisers for the producers. No longer do I look for the top rated lists in the best magazine to find out where to eat. I just hop on my computer go to yelp.com, type in what I’m looking for and feel that I am getting honest, non-biased opinion of the commentator’s experience. To conclude, I think it is clear that the direction of American consumption has not only changed from advertisers telling consumer what to buy, but rather consumer inspiring consumer on how to become the person he or she wishes to be. I see three main points here, regular person ads, celebrity tweets, and facebook. I’m not quite sure how they all tie together in this context. That could be cleared up. Also it may be tough to make 3 sufficiently supported points in the time given to write the paper. Also the sense of control over the facebook advertising seems impossible to me. I guess whatever pretty girls, or good looking guys like would be most advertised, but this would be influenced by advertisement towards them?? That aspect was a little confusing, it seems that modern advertising would still hold significant water, it would just be exemplified on facebook.