As Patel states in his work on the power of large
corporations, there are many restrictions on what consumers have access to, by
means of “guiding” us to choose what is easiest and most profitable of the
products, eliminating even the vaguest sense of “choice” involved. All
companies around the world do this, it is a means to increase sales and
diminish cost, and is often not limited to the company selling the product, or
even physical objects or media (Patterson, 2015) .
Social media sites have become hubs for controlling consumer
choice though restricting access to media, by pushing certain brands that are
in some way (cough economically cough) beneficial to the site (Social Times,
2015) .
It encourages the empowerment of some brands and diminishes the power and
revenue if others, instead of sharing opportunity equally, as can only be
accessed by those brands that can afford to pay the subsidy for this service. This
disempowerment is not only seen in those brands that are under-represented on
social media; many people can feel the very real effect of this new way of
advertising.
Sites like Facebook are pioneers for such control over
content and person specific advertising and it creates problems in lives as
these restrictions can sometimes change how a person sees themselves or enforces
the idea that certain aspects of a person ultimately define them. The most
evident of these come in the form of gender specific advertising, as it is now
known there are not only two separate genders but a wide sphere of them ranging almost from A-Z.
When someone is defined specifically by
the “gender” and not their “identity” stereotypes are enforced, for if you
identify as male but are “technically” of “originally” female, female products or
products target at a female audience will bombard your timeline. This may only
be a small step for empowering people as they are, not what companies want them
to be for profit minimums, but it is a step that must soon be taken.
Bibliography
Gender Spectrum.
(2015). Home Page. Retrieved September 17, 2015, from Gender Spectrum:
https://www.genderspectrum.org/
Kuttanien, V.
(2015). Power (Capital and Industrial Relations). BA1002 Our Space;
Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Lecture 8 Week 8.
Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed
and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System.
Melbourne: Black Inc.
Patterson, M.
(2015, May 4). Social Media Demographics for Marketers. Retrieved
September 17, 2015, from Sprout Social:
http://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/
Social Times.
(2015, July 30). 10 Brands Doing an Amazing Job on Social Media.
Retrieved September 17, 2015, from Social Times:
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/michael-patterson-10-brands-amazing-social-media/624169
Yellow Pages.
(2014). Yellow Social Media Report, What Australian People and Businessses
are doing with Social Media. Retrieved September 17, 2015, from Yellow
Pages Sensis: https://www.sensis.com.au/content/dam/sas/PDFdirectory/Yellow-Social-Media-Report-2014.pdf
I agree completely with this post as Consumers directly focus on key aspects when they are advertising certain products for certain buyers. Social media is becoming the same with pages on Facebook are being targeted to users who have either viewed this paged or liked something the page has displayed. Facebook is one place where the hip products are being presented on every newsfeed and shared item a user has received or sent themselves.
ReplyDeleteWith Facebook only portraying a specific amount of products to an exclusive group of users on Facebook, it will become clear to unfamiliar or shy users that what interests them in reality will not be offered to them online, due to the fact the page picks exclusive members either due to the amount of friends following their page, the amount of likes and the amount of purchases that can be linked to an original user.
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ReplyDeleteHi Chloe, I strongly agree with you on the points that you have raised here in your latest blog post. When it comes to Facebook and other social media sites I have had personal experiences in relation to them almost forcing products upon you. When you speak of identity and stereotypes, you remind me of what Patel stated in the reading, "a little advertisement can persuade us to expand the ambit of our choices". (Patel, 2007) However, even though I do agree with the points that you have put across but in relation to this week’s lecture and tutorial. Maybe for future reference read the subject material that are provided so that you stay firmly on topic with the blog that you produce. With saying this you did write a very informative and enlightening blog post that flowed very well, and I did find it relatively easy to read.
ReplyDeletePatel, R. (2007). Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Melbourne: Black Inc.