Bye Bye Blogs

I have exhausted all my blog ideas, so for my final blog I want to reflect on blogs and their effectiveness as a medium.  As my blogs have shown, there are endless forms of media in the world.  These range from a simple text message to a hand written letter. What I have come to realize is that the most time consuming medium is typically the most effective at getting your point across.  You don't send a text message to the person you just interviewed with for a reason- it shows no effort.  However, sending them a hand written thank you letter is very impressive and shows that you really took the time to thank them.  To that point, I wonder how effective blogs truly are.  So many blogs are poorly and quickly written and hold no value.  This dilutes the blogs that actually are thoughtful and well planned.  Therefore, I believe that going forward the most effective mediums will always be newspapers and magazines, as they display significant effort. Anyone can make a blog online and publish a few posts, but it takes someone with skill and effort to publish in print.  Although I read dozens, if not hundreds, of my peers blogs throughout this semester, I'm not sure if I remember any (except of course the infamous blog by Cemra/her cousin).  This goes to show the ineffectiveness of blogs as a medium.

If I were to make recommendations on the blogs, I would suggest having the blogs be about a different topic/argument each week.  I got sick of reading blogs about how much people love their cell phones and Facebook.  I liked when students would make a bold claim and then others would attempt to dispute it.  That is when the blogs were most effective.  Therefore, it would have been interesting to see the debates that would have ensued if the professor made a statement each week and had students use their blog to argue for or against that statement.

Stay Classy Babson

Cars as a Medium

More often than not, the car one chooses to drive says a lot about that person.  This is something we've all noticed at one point or time; whether it be driving behind the Buick doing 45 in a 65, or the heavily tinted Honda Civic swerving in and out of traffic.  I believe that we all choose our cars accordingly- as to how it fits our personality.  To make this claim, I am relying on many generalizations.  I agree that they are up to debate, but that is why it is merely my opinion.

To illustrate my point, I'll show a picture of a car and their typical driver.

Toyota Corolla. The epitome of bland. Drivers of these cars are typically very average people with average lives.  There is absolutely nothing special, or interesting, about drivers of a Toyota Corolla.  They have come to terms with their ordinary life and embrace it completely.

Mercury Grand Marquis. The median age of those who drive a Grand Marquis is 107, and I am not kidding. I run red lights and drive through stop signs when I see the possibility of getting stuck behind one of these.

A minivan. The make or model is irrelevant, because they are all as equally hideous.  Drivers are typically 40 year old soccer moms with one or two children, yet find it necessary to purchase a vehicle with seating for 8.

Late model Honda civic, typically with an unfinished paint job and 20" rims. Drivers of this vehicle firmly believe they are driving a car much faster than they actually are driving. Although they are not skilled at driving cars with manual transmissions, they insist on revving their engines at every stoplight to initiate a drag race with the Camry next to them.

The drivers of these vehicles think about the stereotypes associated with them before purchasing.  While purchasing the vehicle, they are in a sense agreeing to be associated with these stereotypes.  For example, a humble middle-aged man will typically choose to purchase a new Toyota Rav4 over the used Cadillac Escalade.  The Escalade may provide superior comfort; however, it does not correctly represent the lifestyle of the average family man.

In this sense, the cars we chose to drive are a medium for ourselves.  We are communicating to others, through our automobiles, about our personalities and the way in which we live our lives.

Drinking For A Cause

A good friend of mine is very shy, especially around the ladies.  That is, until he gets liquor in his system.  Once the social lubricant enters his bloodstream he turns into another man and begins talking to every woman he sees. More often than not this ends poorly; however, I commend him for his efforts.  This past weekend we were in the presence of the opposite sex and my friend was completely sober.  While his chances of impressing a woman drunk are slim, they are nonexistent when he is sober.  Therefore, I instructed my friend to drink as much as possible, as fast as possible, so he could muster the nerve to speak to this beauty.  This plan worked to perfection, as 5 Miller's later he was conversing with this woman.  Knowing he had a chance to begin a "relationship" with this woman, he monitored his alcohol intake so he didn't cross the threshold of "comically buzzed" to "belligerently incoherent." This plan worked to perfection and by the end of the night he landed her phone number and even got a hug.  Knowing when to commence, as well as discontinue your drinking is key in situations such as these.

In this real life scenario, alcohol was the medium for my friend.  Without the presence of Mr. Miller Lite, he never would have communicated with that woman.  Therefore, alcohol acted as the medium and relayed a message between a sender and a recipient.

To some, this may seem to be a reach and may even sound crazy.  However, this media studies class has really opened my mind as to the endless number of mediums that exist.  Alcohol itself may not always act as a medium; however, when it is the difference maker between no communication and communication, it certainly is fulfilling the requirements of being a medium.  This is what makes alcohol so popular.  Many conversations, relationships, and memorable nights would never take place if it wasn't for alcohol acting as the medium.  Certainly, this isn't always a good thing as alcohol also initiates many unwanted and violent conversations.  When drank properly and in moderation, alcohol has the ability to serve as a much needed social lubricant.