Monday, 14 September 2015

Looking into institutions




  • YouTube was created by three men named Steve Chen (Left), Chad Hurley (Centre) and Jawed Karim  (Right) in 2005. They created the website in a garage in Menlo Park
  • It is now owned by Google of which they paid a fee of 1.65 billion dollars.
  • People started using YouTube as a place they can go to upload all sorts of videos onto the internet and share it all around the globe. Videos varied from funny cat montages all the way to how to tutorials.  A few years went by until users could monetize their videos, this means content creators could receive money from their video views which made the popular video sharing website even popular.
  • It is estimated that YouTube is worth between the regions of $26 billion to $40 billion, however YouTube is a part of the Google media empire of which Google's estimated value is at $400 billion
  • YouTube provides consumers with videos they want to watch, e.g. one consumer may be really into watching gaming videos where as another consumer may be into watching funny animal videos. The most subscribed YouTube content creator is PewDiePie who currently has 39 million subscribers. This just goes to show that YouTube provides consumers with videos and channels they want and really shows how popular the video sharing website is.
  • YouTube itself has been involved in many controversies, however there are not many if any controversies about YouTube itself as a video sharing platform but the controversies revolve around a few content creators. YouTube creators are commonly involved in controversies about the money they earn from making videos. YouTube stars such as KSI is commonly accused of not being deserved of his money and success as many believe he takes his channel for "granted" and only uploads to keep a regular cash in flow, whether this is true or not many controversies very similar to this example go on everyday within the YouTube community.
  • YouTube has made a huge impact on the media landscape, especially due to their biggest audience teenagers. Many teens nowadays would rather watch their favorite YouTubers than watch TV, this is a big surprise for many people as the television industry many years ago was the undisputed leader in the media industry. However now with the loss of popularity between the teenage audience the television industry in a few years to come may possible be not so popular due to the advancements of YouTube. 
  • Sometimes YouTube is used in a way in which it is not supposed to be. It was originally intended as a place in which internet users can go to easily find a video that they are looking for. There are a lot of licensed dedicated music related YouTube channels, that share music through the use of YouTube, an example of a popular music sharing related YouTube channel is Vevo. The problem starts when people are using YouTube to download music content they haven't paid for, they do this through the uses of what is known as a YouTube converter. A YouTube converter is a website that converts a YouTube videos audio in an downloadable mp3 format. Whilst this is not done through YouTube as a website itself it is still not what YouTube was intended for. 

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Stars and representation


David Beckham

1. Here David Beckham is being represented with his many styles and fashion sense. As the years went by not only did his age change his appearance it was the changing times and fashion.

2. The preferred audience to his representation is football fans, models and David Beckham fans.

3. David Beckham is mainly changing his hairstyle.

4. This is typical of a young male as they seem to want to keep up with the times and current fashion, as many take a lot of pride in their appearance.

5. David Beckham serves the purpose as a role model and fashion icon to many, a lot of great footballers will be role models to many young people all over the world, which makes it important that they stay true to themselves and inspire others.

6. David Beckham by his presence is communicating the sense of youth by taking pride in his appearance, he is also representing the sense of the changing times. As the years went by David Beckham had many different styles and appearances to keep up the changing fashion over the years.

7. During David Beckham's time he was located in a lot of different cities and countries such as England, Spain and the USA due his footballing ability and value as a football player.

8. David Beckham is represented as natural as he is not a fake person and represents this by showing that he simple just likes to keep up with the changing of time and fashion sense.



David Beckham also is represented in the media as a family man, he is frequently shot in public with his family doing various activities and events. Although for a lot of people David Beckham will mostly represent a footballer/celebrity he is also represented as that caring dad who loves to spend time with his family, as you can see in the picture to the left, the whole family is smiling and seem like they're having fun.









 As you can see here David Beckham also represents the role as a role models to millions of young people all over the world. David Beckham often liked to interact with his fans through various autograph signings and meet and greets. As you can see in the picture to the left lots of young people are all bunched up to try and get an autograph from David Beckham, he is happy to do this showing the representation of a good role model.

Friday, 4 September 2015

Who am I?

My name is Liam Taylor, I am a young white British male at the age of 17. The country I was born in is UK, England. I don't currently earn my own money as I still live with my parents, in full time education. My current level of education is A-Levels and I am currently studying for my last year of school. I live in Medway, Kent.

The media I consume is as followed:

  • Television programmes - such as  - I am a frequent user of this form of media. I mainly watch TV series dramas such as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Prison Break. However I also watch a lot of sports on TV, this includes watching football and cricket of which I am big fans of. The main TV stations I use are BBC,ITV, Channel 5, Sky Sports and BT Sports.
  • Films -  I am a infrequent user of this form of media.I watch films from time to time depending on what I have planned, I would say I watch 1-2 movies per month. My favorite genre of films are comedy, my favorite movies within this genre include 22 Jump Street and Stepbrothers.I watch films both in cinemas and at home, I very rarely go to the cinema. On average I would say I go to the cinema 1-2 a year as I only go if it's a film I really want to see. I also watch movies on Netflix as well as TV From Sky which has a whole wide range of movies available to watch with a click of a button.



  • Video Games -  I am a frequent user of this from of media. The main video game titles that I play are FIFA, GTA and Call of Duty. I would regard myself as a frequent user of this form of media as I play video games pretty much everyday whether it's for 5 minutes or 10 hours. I access video games through my video game console which is the PlayStation 4.



  • Social Media -  I am a frequent user of this form of media. The main social media websites and applications that I use are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I check my news feed on all of these forms of social media pretty much everyday to stay up to date with my friends and enjoy funny videos/pictures that are posted to these social media websites.


Music - I am a frequent user of this form of media, I would say on average I listen to music for a couple of hours a day. The main genre of music I listen to is Indie Rock however I do like other genres such as grime and reggae. I mainly listen to music whilst actually doing something, for example walking to school, playing video games and doing my homework. Some of my favorite music artists include Franz Ferdinand, Oasis and the Kaiser Chiefs.



  

Categories of Media That I Use & Examples of Who Provides It

Entertainment


  • Television (Sky Sports, BBC and ITV)
  • Video games (EA Sports and Rockstar Games)
  • Films (Netflix, Sky Movies, TV From Sky)
  • Music (ITunes, Spotify and YouTube)
Information
  • Internet 
  • Books
Research/Education
  • Internet 
  • Books 
Who Do I Consume With & Locations In Which I Consume

I consume media with all different people who are close to me. I listen to many hours worth of music everyday, I mainly consume this by myself as the genres of music I like don't necessarily match the genres of my friends and family. The locations in which I consume music is pretty much everywhere I go thanks to the fantastic invention of earphones, so whether I'm walking in the street, driving in a car or doing my homework you can pretty much guarantee I'm listening to music. Video games I mainly consume with my friends over the internet as we play online together game titles such as FIFA are really fun to play with friends as you have to compare your own skill with theirs and the winning of course claims the bragging rights. I also consume video games with members of my family such as my younger brother and cousins seem to like to challenge me on FIFA, but I only consume video games with family on rare occasions. I consume video games only in the luxury of my room or friends house as games consoles are not really portable and are best in just one sole location. TV is a form of media in which I do consume pretty much everyday but not very often in my living room as I prefer to watch TV in the comfort of my own room. I mainly football in my living room as I can sit down with my father and brother watch the game and usually have football related conversations whilst the game is going on. In my room I mainly watch TV series such as Breaking Bad, Prison Break and Game of Thrones, when I'm really into a series I watch them for hours everyday, however at the moment I have finished all the TV series I have mentioned and another series hasn't really caught my eye yet. Films I mainly consume by myself, family and with friends. If I'm watching a film it's probably by myself in my bedroom or downstairs in the living room with my family, I do sometimes watch films with friends but this is only really when we go to the cinema because when I'm with friends I would rather participate in other activities such as football than watch films. Social media I only consume by myself on my phone as everything i consume social media wise is tailored to me so i rarely share this form of media with anyone else.

How Do I Access The Media I Consume?
  • Television - Sky TV Box, Games Console, Smartphone & Laptop
  • Video Games - Games Console, PC & Smartphone
  • Films - Cinema, Television, DVD & BluRay, Laptop & Games Console
  • Music - Smartphone, Games Console & Laptop