As time has progressed from the 1950's to the 90's, the idea of wholesome family bonding has slowly faded away. Affluenza states "in 1951, Americans sat together with their neighbors, laughing at Red Skelton. In 1985, we still watched Family Ties as a family. But by 1995, each member of a family often watched his or her own TV, as isolation and passivity became a way of life" (Pg. 64). This allowed for companies to target specific audiences in which ever way they sought fit in order to maximize exposure and profits. In my opinion, it seems a lot easier to persuade a single individual as opposed to a group of people. For example, Barbie, The Magazine For Girls would "present itself as educational rather than commercial" (DuCille 262). From the perspective of the good mother, the educational material could persuade her to buy Barbie's for her daughter, while the daughter is only affixed on the material good itself. The miscommunication between the mother-daughter are both targeted in this case. This idea still exists today in the new driver automotive market. As a younger consumer, we are constantly presented with safety ratings of cars and how well they perform, but what really matters is the image that the car gives the new driver. Another issue that arises with individual freedom is isolation. "What happens when affluenza causes communities to be pulled apart, or crippled by bad design? We "cocoon," retreating further and further inward and closing the gate behind us" (Affluenza Pg. 68). This just adds to the effectiveness of advertisements on single individuals. By creating a fortress around us, we only create for ourselves a world where our only outlet is social media. People are shopping more and more online as opposed to leaving their houses to go to malls and stores. Should we be asking ourselves if our dependance on electronics and individual freedom has caused a shift in our consumer habits? Should we be making a more proactive effort to leave the comforts of our own home to exploring our options as opposed to following what advertisements and reviews tell us online?-Chris Neuteboom Section 01
I agree that we are becoming a nation who is cocooning themselves (Affluenza). We are becoming more and more isolated from other human beings due to our overdependance on technology. We hide behind our computer screens and smart phones. The consumer is now making more and more purchases online limiting our contact with actual people further. Thomas Walsh 01
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that we are creating a society full of isolated individuals (seems like an oxymoron) that are overly dependent on technology. Instead of just blindly following whatever the advertisers are telling us, we need to use technology to research whatever purchase we are going to make. I love having my smartphone with me when I'm food shopping because I can easily go online and Google a product I'm thinking about buying. We have become a lazy society full of people who never question anything. Next time you're on a bus at Rutgers, look around; 98% of the riders are using their cell phones instead of interacting with their fellow riders.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree we have continued to isolate ourselves from the stand point of personal interaction, it must be noted that the emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter let us interact with people who could be thousands of miles away from us. Although our face to face interaction has declined, our digital interaction has increased. It could be that we are not loosing interaction, but it is merely shifting to a new age of digital communication. This does become increasingly frightening when we acknowledge that if all our interaction is done online, how can we learn to deal with people in real life situations, such as a job interview or a business deal.
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