Collective Identity

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

Who are you?

The section talks about that who want to seem to be, who we are, who we want to be seen as is influenced by the construction of role models, representation of cultural values and they way media informs us about lifestyle/ fashion choices.

I think, therefore I am

In the past, peoples identity was constructed based on the predetermined roles within society, such as class, religion, gender.

From citizen to customer

In the 20th century, companies targeted their brands to consumers to fulfil their desires in which made citizens into consumers, also certain brands in society were needed to meed social expectations.

The rise of individual

In the past, people wanted to be different from others in which advertisers targeted consumers to show that people can represent themselves with their products, such as a car can tell something about a consumer.

Branding and personality

People buy products to represent their personality rather than the importance of wanting the product, culture is now about factors such as physical beauty rather than religion/class.

Who will we be

Social media sites help for people to construct their own identity as they are allowed to upload the images they would like and have the control of what multimedia is shared onto the social networking site.

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

Nike - I'm happy to be associated with Nike as I believe their clothing reflects the clothing I am likely to wear

Apple - I'm happy to be associated with Apple as I like the products they have designed as they have a good designs as wells as functionalities

Instagram - I'm happe to be associated with Instagram as this is the social networking app I like to use the most

Arsenal - I'm happy to be associated with Arsenal as I am a supporter of the football club for severals of years.
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' as people are more concerned with the clothes they wear, the price of the products they acquire rather than buying a product that works good. This then means that style is much more important for consumers rather than substance.

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

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?

I believe presence on social media is an accurate reflection of who I am, on my instagram account I have never removed a picture since it has been created which was in 2014. This is because I generally do not care how people see my pictures and if the older pictures do not appeal as much.

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 am not in favour of data mining as companies should not be able to find out habits of users of social media just to target their products. However I think that this a great marketing method of