Facebook vs. MySpace

I have a friend who, if it was socially acceptable, would prefer to communicate only through online social networking websites. She spends hours every week updating her profiles, browsing through the changes her friends have made, and searching for new friends. At least eighty percent of her time spent online is spent on social networking websites. And of the time spent on social networking websites, at least two-thirds of it is spent on Facebook.

My friend, let us call her Tina, signed up for a Facebook account almost four years ago. She quickly built her Facebook page: uploading pictures, answering profile questions, and requesting people to be her friends. She enjoyed Facebook so much, and the opportunities that it afforded her, that she didn't even think about creating a MySpace account. She enjoyed the privacy that Facebook provided, only people with email addresses affiliated with a University were allowed to join. And of those who were allowed to join, the only people who were allowed to view Tina's profile were the people who she accepted as friends and those who were at her affiliated with her University. Tina also enjoyed the simplicity of Facebook. Once she learned how to use Facebook it was like riding a bike, she was a pro.

And so, for a couple of years Tina was content with Facebook. Then she decided that she was going to study abroad and wanted to blog to keep her friends and family at home abreast of her travels. So, she signed up for MySpace because it offers a blogging option on its site. She was reluctant to sign up for MySpace, for she was a loyal Facebook user.

Soon after Tina signed up for MySpace, Facebook began to change. Facebook opened up so that any person with an email address could join. Advertisements also became much more prevalent on Facebook. Applications from outside companies were incorporated within Facebook. There were so many changes, Facebook almost seemed like a different application. Facebook had lost some of its appeal to Tina. She slowly began to use MySpace for more than just blogging.

Currently Tina still uses Facebook more than MySpace. She has an established routine and set of friends on Facebook.

Board Game Ads and Gender/Sexuality

For this post I have decided to examine the role that gender plays in advertisements for board games. The first example that I have is an Ouija Board ad from 1968. Even though this ad is dated, and it is possible that the gender roles portrayed in the ad have since changed, I have chosen to use it because it sets the stage for discussion about more recent advertisements. In order to find out where we are, we must first find out from where we came.

The ad for the Ouija Board is a picture with one male and one female, both white, using the board. I think that it is safe to assume that these two people are friends of about the same age. Words have been superimposed over the ad. These words represent questions that the players might ask of the Ouija Board. The first question is about the car and if the kids will be allowed to use it. This question is floating over both kids. The next five questions are clearly associated with either the boy or the girl.

Girl questions:
Should I become a model or fashion designer?
Who's Debbie's date to the prom?
Are flying saucers for real?

Boy questions:
What college will accept me?
Should we go steady?

There is a clear difference in the types of questions that the girl is asking and that the boy is asking. The boy's questions are oriented around education and romance (sexuality). The girls quetions deal with subjects opposite of education: fashion, dating, extraterrestrial life. This ad makes the boy seem smarter and has strong heterosexual tendencies.

The second example that I have is for The Cd-Rom Game of Life. In this ad a man and a woman, again both white, are driving on a game board in a car. Anyone who has played this game can make the assumption that within the world of the game, the couple is married. The man (who is driving) is giving the audience a big suggestive thumbs up. He really enjoys this game and being married to the beautiful blond sitting next to him. On the other hand, the wife is sitting beside her husband in the passenger seat. Her happy smile is directed at her husband, not at the audience. This ad, like the Ouija Board ad, has a strong sense of male dominance and heterosexual sexuality.

The third ad that I will examine is for the game twister. All who have played this game know that it involves close physical movements, often leading to sexually suggestive moments. The ad for Twister does not stray from this common impression of the game. There are four people in the ad, three who are playing the game and one who is the "caller," dictating the moves the players must make. Of the three players one is make and two are female, they are of different racial backgrounds. The male player is the dominant person in the ad, with the female caller farthest in the background. The three players are entangled in what looks like a very fun game of twister, especially for the male player. The male player is looking directly at the audience with a small smirk on his face. The two female players are looking at the male player. The females are also smiling. The ad has a strong sense of heterosexuality of the strongest type: one male with two females. The male, as in the other ads, appears to be dominating the situation in which he finds himself.

I have looked at only three ads for three different games. I am not suggesting that all board game ads are sexist and homophobic. However, I do think it would be an interesting study. How do board game advertisements aimed at children and teens portray gender and sexuality? Are they fair in their portrayals?

Fist Bump, an analysis

The commercial that I have chosen to analyze is for Bud Light:


Rhetorical/audience analysis: This commercial is interesting in that the product is only mentioned by name twice, once in the beginning and once at the end. The product can also only be seen twice, at the same time it is mentioned. Instead of repeating the product name over and over, the commercial is attempting to be funny and thus make an impact through humor. Although the commercial promoting the face slap in place of the fist bump, I do not think that the marketing department at Bud Light really thought that the face slap was going to catch on. As a viewer, this commercial is memorable because it is somewhat humorous, at least it was the first time I watched it.

Critical discourse analysis: This commercial reminded me of the Burger King Kid's Club from my youth. The Kid's Club was the BK equivalent of a McDonald's Happy Meal. Each Kid's Club meal came in a bag with pictures of the cartoon Kid's Club on the side. This cartoon/ideal image of the Kid's Club included a child from every race and one child with a disability. The marketing department at Burger King did not want to leave anyone out. I think that Bud Light had the same idea. This commercial features people of all different races, and potentially different classes. The three guys in the bar at the beginning could potentially be anybody. Almost any male viewing this commercial could relate to those guys, especially if the viewer is in his 20s/30s. Throughout the commercial we see different people in different settings: golf course, car lot, restaurant kitchen, and office. I think that Bud Light intentionally picked these varying locations to appeal to the many male viewers that might see this commercial.