Collective Identity and Representing Ourselves

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?'

Whether we use fashion or make a decision not to do any of those things, we construct an image to communicate our identity.

Identity was seen to pre-determined and was based on the social constructs.

Advertisers identified how people felt about themselves, and offered products in ways that helped reinforce and support a positive self-image; largely based around the notion of fitting in and conforming to social expectations.

Dominant values help shape how we see ourselves; and by the late 1960s and 1970s the notion of individualism began to take hold.

2) List three brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.

Audible
Donald Katz CEO launched Newark Now!, a program that, through a lottery, awards 20 Audible employees with a year’s worth of rent if they sign a two-year lease in Newark. In addition, the company will give a $500 monthly stipend indefinitely to employees who commit to living in the city.

Volvo

the carmaker announced that beginning in 2019, all new models will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries

Biobot Analytics

The Cambridge, Mass.-based startup is working to extract human health data from sewage to help solve public health crises. Its first task is the opioid epidemic. Understanding drug use on a city and neighborhood level can provide valuable insights on both prevention and treatment efforts. 

3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?

I agree that modern media is all about style over substance (to think looks are more important than content.)

4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.

Baudrillard believed that society has become so saturated with these simulacra and our lives so saturated with the constructs of society that all meaning was being rendered meaningless by being infinitely mutable; he called this phenomenon the "precession of simulacra" his thesis named The System of Objects (1968) which deals with the function of commodity in consuming societies and aims to reconcile Marxism with postmodernism.

5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?

yes and no.

6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?

I think data mining is an invasion of privacy and his highly unethical as companies often do not disclose that they are using or selling your information.