Mirroring and Molding American Society and Perceptions

I was raised by a strong, feminist mother who grew up in a small town in Iowa.  Not destined to be a farmer’s wife, she earned her undergraduate and graduate degree (the first of her family) and moved to a city nearly 1,400 miles away.  She was a trailblazer—leaving a cloud of dust behind her.  I’m very aware of the fact that the road traveled by my mother wouldn’t have been possible without the blood, sweat, and tears of the strong women who came before her.  When raising my sister and I, both she and my father educated us to strive for independence and equality.

Having grown up in America watching American television, different shows have shaped my perceptions.  From learning rhymes and stories on Sesame Street to understanding satire on Saturday Night Live, television, often a centerpiece of an American living room, has served as a thermometer to society—gauging the societal temperature and changing times.

The idea that as people talk they’re producing and reproducing culture is derived from the socio-cultural tradition of communication theory (Giffin, 2012, p. 43).  Television is a medium where people share their stories and ideas—people create culture.  American television programs are both influential and serve as a mirror to society.  Having said that, I set out to create a visual representation that would serve as a snapshot of how America’s culture regarding family, gender roles, and identity has evolved from the 1950s to today.  Specifically, I wanted to display America’s most popular television shows in each decade and how they corresponded (or not) to what was happening during the time they were airing.

When I set out to create this visual, I wanted to try a medium that I hadn’t used before: infographics.  I also wanted to use an application or software piece that I wasn’t familiar with.  I ended up using Piktochart, an infographic design application.  There were many pre-formatted options on the site, but given the nature of the visual I wanted to create, I created my infographic from a blank canvas.  It’s so much fun to experiment and test out new applications and software.  For me, it’s as exhilarating as exploring a new city or taking a late night drive with no destination.  Learning the tools within the app were intuitive—like testing out the stoke lines of different paintbrushes.  After familiarizing myself with the different features of the application, it was time to create the visual.

American television from the 1950s to today and the historical events that paralleled chronologically had a stronger relationship than I anticipated.  America’s views on family, gender roles, and identity have definitely evolved, and the narrative of that evolution told itself.  Digging through articles and historical records on the internet was like looking through an old family photo album with its binding missing.  The story was there, I just had to clean it up and organize it.

Lucy Ricardo of I Love Lucy pushed the limits of the patriarchy when it first aired in June of 1951.  The last episode of the series aired in May of 1957, the same year the number of women and men who voted was approximately equal for the first time (DeFrance, 1998).  Today, ABC’s sitcom Modern Family portrays a completely different family portrait than the one in the 1950s.  

Modern Family dipicts three interrelated families, including a gay couple who adopted a daughter from Vietnam.  The political landscape of the United States includes same-sex marriage and adoptions by same-sex couples as pressing topics.  Some Americans support to preserve the static and traditional infrastructure of family while others are fighting for the progress and equal rights of the modern day family.  In 2010, more than two million children in America were raised by LGBT parents (DeAngelis, 2010).  That number continues to grow, however most LGBT parents’ relationships are not recognized as legal.  Seventeen out of fifty states in the U.S. license same-sex marriage, which includes 38.23% of the U.S. population (Rivero, 2014).  American television didn’t hesitate to provide a commentary on these political issues through creative storytelling, humorous characters, and satirical writing.

Looking back through the years from the 1950s to today, America has come a long way—we still have a long way to go.  It was enlightening and hopeful to see how America’s landscape has changed and how that was reflected in American television.  I want to continue to stay acutely aware of what American media is saying about what’s happening today.  My mom was a trailblazer.  Like her, I strive to live a life where I continue to learn and push the boundaries of my comfort zone.

Here is my infographic.

Sources:

DeAngelis, B. (2010). Public policy fails two million children with lgbt parents. Family Equality Council. Retrieved from http://action.familyequality.org/site/DocServer/Press_Release.pdf?docID=2405

DeFrance, D. (1998, July 08). 150 years of women’s rights. Retrieved from http://www.nwhp.org/

Griffin, E. A. (2012). Mapping the Territory. A first look at communication theory (8. ed., p. 43). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Oglice, E. (n.d.). Athenaeum at UGA. Pushing the Boundaries of Housewifery: Lucy Get the Ball Rolling. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://athenaeum.libs.uga.edu/bitstream/handle/10724/7332/oglice_eunice_a_200405_ma.pdf?sequence=1

Rivero, C. (2014, February 27). The changing landscape on same-sex marriage. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/same-sex-marriage/

American Television and Society

An infographic that features some of America’s most popular television shows and how they mirrored with American history.

To view full-size, click here.

Network and Community Map

Reflection: Scratching Exercise

“The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark: random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent or definable end in sight…Even though I look desperate, I don’t feel desperate, because I have a habitual routine to keep me going.  I call it scratching.”

—Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit, Learn It and Use It for Life

Before heading to bed, I dug a box of magazines out of my closet.  I typically put my favorite issues in the box for future reference but usually they just end up collecting dust.  However, before I had the chance to recycle them, I found myself reading and rereading some of my favorite articles.  I gathered some recent magazines as well and I sat on the floor of my bedroom, surrounded by the words of entertainers, artists, and game changers.

Each magazine had nuggets of advice and inspiration enclosed within their pages.  Most people read magazines on their tablets and laptops, myself included.  However, technology doesn’t have an app yet where you can sprawl multiple periodicals across your floor, cut and clip favorite quotes and pictures, or smell perfume sample inserts.  There’s also the act of turning the page; an act that can’t be compared to a loading progress bar.

The issues I save often feature public figures I admire.  Reading witty quips by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and reading their commentary on current events and day-to-day life bring hilarity to usually insipid topics.  Delving into the mind of a 17 year old Grammy-winning artist who’s fed up with the reoccurring themes found in today’s pop music, and the kind of story she wants to share through her lyrics.  Feeling inspired by Lena Dunham, the creator, director, writer, actress and executive producer of her own HBO show (and only 27 years old).

Before I knew it, three hours had passed and it was three in the morning.  Reading about people who help change the landscape of their industries is simply invigorating.  It’s a privilege to peer into the minds of interesting people and learn how they’ve paved their own way to success and change.

Reading Reflection #2: Hours in Best Buy with My Dad

When I was in high school, I never liked going into Best Buy with my dad.  When I did go, I went in knowing it would be a several hour time commitment.  He would wander into every section of the store and ask the sales people questions about the latest gadgets, the best software, and the newest PCs.  My dad is one of those people who can talk to anyone about anything.  He has a friendly demeanor and even in his seventies, has the curiosity of a young kid.

Knowing he had been the CEO of three orthopedic surgeons’ practices, and the founder of a computer systems company, I would wonder why he would corner a Best Buy salesman and ask him dozens of inquiring questions.  To quote John Maeda, “Having a sufficiently big ego means you’re comfortable enough not to have one at all.”  My dad would tell me later in the car, “You can always learn something new.”

In his book Redesigning Leadership, Maeda gives great insight into the inter-workings of an artist’s mind.  One of the points he made was “…all artists yearn to struggle.  Without it, they don’t feel alive.”  Even though my dad is retired, he regularly takes on new projects involving new technology.  He pours over tech magazines and reads off Mashable to hear about the latest and greatest.  The brain of an artist strives to be challenged, never to let any corner of the mind become dormant.

Learning from my dad’s example, and some of the insights of Maeda’s book, I plan to always look for opportunities to learn.  Even though it isn’t intuitive, I also want to embrace struggle, because struggling is often evidence of growth.

Reading Reflection #1: Connecting Without Wi-Fi

It seems as we grow up and those bills start to mount, we begin to choose security, putting our childhood dreams to the wayside.  Seth Godin’s book, The Icarus Deception reverted me back to ideologies of my early teens.  It felt good to go back.

Godin’s book arms the reader with inspiration and realistic expectations.  In the midst of college loans and a consumer-oriented society, some of these quotes from Godin resonated with me and helped put things into perspective, especially when an endeavor becomes intimidating.

“It’s impossible to connect with a device or an automaton.  It’s worthwhile to connect with a person…”

Technology is propelling us at rapid speeds through our daily lives, wedging more and more screens between the personal eye contact of two people.  We should certainly invest in learning more about technology, but make a conscience effort to find a balance where our gadgets don’t get in the way of relationships.  The human connections we make will always be more fulfilling than “the next big thing”.

“Figure out who your art is for, get better at connecting with that audience, and ignore the rest.”

It’s impossible to please everyone, so don’t even try.  This is where those human connections become essential.  Connect with people who understand and appreciate our work.  Don’t compromise the dignity of our passions just to please those who don’t value our art.  Revising to please others is when we begin to lose ourselves in the process.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.” –Bill Cosby

Addendum to COM 546: Communication Through Digital Media

I’ve learned so much throughout this class making it truly a challenge to pick one item of content that “moved” me the most.  I will say, the talk given by Artefact Group’s Adriana Gil Miner was definitely eye-opening for me.

I’ve read various articles about Google and other technology companies collecting user data.  Like most, I check the “I accept the terms and conditions” check box without reading them and proceed to the website I’ve signed up for.  After Adriana’s presentation, I had a much better understanding of how companies are using the data we put out there online and what kind of terms and conditions I’ve been agreeing to in the past.  The severely paranoid (and possibly narcissistic) strongly object to their data being used and collected—becoming a cyber-recluse.  Personally, I see data collection as an amazing tool that can be used to help us; everything from healthcare (e.g. 23andMe) to shopping preferences.  It allows marketers to be less intrusive (interrupting the narrative flow of The Walking Dead) and to give us what we want when we’re looking for it (that’s a good thing right?).

After Adriana’s talk, I’ve been more aware of what I’m doing and what I’m clicking online.  I feel like I have a better understanding of how businesses will use the data I’m putting out there.  Even though big data is at its infancy, I believe it will be more advanced, more intuitive, and more accepted down the road.  Given my original Terms of Engagement written at the beginning of this quarter, it was a pleasant surprise to learn something I wouldn’t have regularly sought out for myself.

WordPress post about Adriana’s talk and big data here.

Reflection #5: Presentations (Part 2/2)

“If this had been a real-world presentation, what’s the one additional piece of information that would have furthered the presenters’ case for you?”

Pod #5: Envisioning the Future

Amazing presentation!  The Evergreen Health video was beautifully done and truly profiled three people who were very relatable: the one who believes she’s young and invincible, the health guru, and the one who sacrifices health for convenience and cost.  I also loved the app’s tablet interface; easy to understand and great colors and layout.  Given the time allotted and the information required, I understand that liabilities would be a hefty topic to cover.  Because of healthcare and big data being such controversial topics, especially together, my questions would be regarding liabilities and the terms of agreement for this app.

Pod #8: Trendy Trends

Great presentation and excellent speakers; there was great enthusiasm throughout this presentation.  The visuals were also very complimentary to the presenters—awesome job.  Just to have a better understanding of Asana, I would have liked to see a couple explicit examples of how people/clients use and benefit from Asana.  There are a handful of B2B Project Management Tools, and I wanted a better understanding about how Asana directly applied to a business project involving a group of people.  Asana seems like a tool we could have benefited from for this quarter’s project!

Pod #7: The Open Communication

This was my group and we had a great time researching and putting our heads together to tackle this regulation challenge.  It was interesting hearing about how other content sites have succeeded and failed with content regulation being a major factor.  Because regulation really gets into the specifics of what content will and will not allow I would have liked to have covered more specifics on what kind of images/comments would have been prohibited, that also would have contributed to our PikShare narrative.

**NOTE: Thank you to all who submitted a photo of yourself!  We wish we could have used all of them in our presentation.

Pod #6: The Platform Dilemma

This presentation was bright and I enjoyed the Scrabble activity.  Having an internal company platform simply makes sense and allowing employees on all tiers the ability to voice their ideas and concerns is a great opportunity.  There is so much collaboration/productivity software out there and having one that suits the company specifically is important.   I was curious on how this would influence (or not) the corporate culture of Amazon.

Pod #4: Growing Up Digital

This presentation was so interesting.  First off, the slides were beautiful; I love the Ted Talk formatting.  I also like how this group summed up working with the millennial generation in 8 simple rules.  Because this group brought in a guest, I would have liked to have seen him incorporated into the presentation apart from the videos.  Overall, this presentation was extremely engaging with lot of insight.

Reflection #4: Presentations (Part 1/2)

“If this had been a real-world presentation, what’s the one additional piece of information that would have furthered the presenters’ case for you?”

Pod #3: Monetizing Communities

First off—beautiful presentation.  I enjoyed all the visual aids and media content included.  Not being very familiar with the “subculture” and psychographic of Mini Cooper owners, it really gave me a great understanding of the target market and the Let’s Motor getaway experience.  This retreat idea is potentially a gateway to an awesome annual event that Mini Cooper owners could really get involved in, as well as garner some great PR for the brand.  One thing that I was curious about was the projected monetization of the Mini Cooper community.  Given the time span of the event, the organization efforts, and the partnerships, how much would the company actually benefit (money-wise) from this experience?  Additionally, what methods would the company use to quantify the success and span of this getaway?

Pod #2: Engagement in Organizations

This presentation neatly mapped-out the team’s plan; very clear and easy to understand.  For me, I would have liked to have heard more background information on the Pollinator Pathway project; how current participants/residents engage in this project.  Additionally, I would like to know the demographics/psychographics of the current participants—what compelled them to participate?

Pod #1: Data Challenge

This presentation was so interesting because no one who uses connected technology is exempt from data collection, whether internal or external of the company.  This group was very thorough with legal implications and examples of what other companies have done regarding data.  I guess my only questions would involve the costs and technicalities of storing and securing consumer data.

Pod #10: The Behavior Challenge

This was an AWESOME presentation—funny and charismatic speakers.  Full disclosure, I’m definitely adamant about recycling, so I was completely won over by this “pitch”.  I would have liked to have heard more about the strategy of maintaining media interest.  With so many entertaining videos and features concentrated all over the web, how would this organization push it’s content without it seeming overbearing to those who don’t feel strongly about recycling?

Pod #9: The Free Threat

Beautiful presentation—the PowerPoint deck clearly took a lot of hard work.  I like the idea of higher quality content—it makes it stand out from competitors.  It would be great to hear more about Root’s long-term strategy on spreading its content to multiple platforms, including tablet devices.  Additionally, because urban farmers are such a niche market, would Root have the ability to expand their target market to garner more readers?

Terrific job to all the presenters! It was awesome hearing about everyone’s projects and ideas.

Reserved But Not Withdrawn

Shyness is about fear of social judgement.  Introversion is more about, how do you respond to stimulation, including social stimulation.  So extroverts really crave large amounts of stimulation, whereas introverts feel their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they’re in quieter, more low-key environments.

—Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

I’ve always been drawn to outgoing charismatic people.  The humorous and outspoken. The blunt and sarcastic.  The ones who flutter from group to group, leaving a trail of uproarious laughter where they go.  I have a lot of friends who are outspoken and outgoing.  They push me outside my comfort zone and help me branch out.

Shortly after turning twenty-one, one of my good friends became my Obi-Wan Kenobi of bar-hopping.  She would holler over the loud bass beats in dance clubs to order our drinks and strike up conversations with strangers.  I always admired her out-going nature and charismatic persona.  The first couple times going out to the clubs on Seattle’s rowdy Capitol Hill was very intimidating for me.  I’m definitely more of an introvert.  But I pushed myself to go, thinking, these are your college years–this is what you’re suppose to do.  After becoming more familiar with the bar scene of Capitol Hill, I became more comfortable and the nights became more enjoyable.

Near the end of my senior year of college, late nights out on the town simmered down.  I have some amazing memories with friends and I’m thankful for those times when we’d stumble together down the streets of Capitol Hill, laughing and reminiscing.  I’m also more appreciative of the fact that a Friday or Saturday night watching reruns or curling up with a good book will suffice as well.