I was finding it difficult to discover a new topic to blog about. As I continued my research into the world of advertising I began to grow tired of my concentration on erotica, consumer generated content, and YouTube. I needed a new outlet to describe how the mass media operates throughout our society. I started going over lecture notes and a particular quote stuck out in my mind from last class.
Now we have a means for producing culture meanings and a way of doing it outside of the corporate content system. This process is of free of advertising but often advertising can latch on to it. We now have the potential to produce culture like one folk or local culture. -Dr. Strangelove
Last class had me wondering if our World could ever escape Capitalism. Being a fan of folk culture and at the same time a slave to consumerism I sought to find the instrument where I could satisfy both appetites. I wondered if there was in fact a tool that we can use that is free of advertisements. I have learnt that the goal of advertising is to provide us with something. It tells us what we want before the need for it is present. Meanings found in our everyday life are given to us through the mass media system which offer a small range of manners to which we can follow. So how do individuals get what they want without conforming to mass society?
Craigslist is a new type of network that I find to be anti-advertising. If you have ever looked at the classifieds in the newspaper, you will find Craigslist to be a similar tool found over the internet. The site holds information about job postings, houses for rent, and the ability to buy and sell goods. Visitors to the site can spend hours finding what they are looking for while being in the comfort of their own home. Unlike media channels such as television or magazines, Craigslist gives the opportunity for the individual to decide what it is they are seeking. This online shopping centre is categorized so that those with specific intentions can find what they are looking for at a price that is negotiable. Those who are simply there to browse will find it to be a network with no pressures or brackets to abide by. Craigslist has no specific demand.
Will Craigslist and other internet trade posts like Kijiji be the killer of capitalism? Although uniqueness determined by the individual is now allowed, consumption still occurs. Products of all shapes, sizes, and brand names are bought and sold throughout this network with no specific producer. So to me, it seems we aren’t really being suckers to the market because we don’t have limited choices. Well, really we do, but we aren’t necessarily being pushed into what we should like. When people make postings, they most often use pictures and describe the minor details of the product, then you are able to decide. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a posting on Craigslist where someone has provided the image of a donkeypunch to get me to buy their old sofa. So in the time we live in today, maybe Craigslist is a form of folk culture because it is the simple sharing of our basic desire to consume.
Jamile Badran
Jordan Laurin
catillac
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