Lost in between the lines of reality and imagination he wandered.
Blurred was the world where one couldn't distinguish between what was horizontal and what was vertical.
Colors meshed together into one and formed into an unrecognizable object.
The sun and the moon was scattered about the sky, much like pieces of a puzzle waiting to be out together.
He was free floating in a world where no gravity seemed to exists, yet he felt the lightness of his step pushing off the ground.
He was in a world of Zen where it did not matter who you are or what you come from everything balanced out in an equal harmony.
Words began flashing before his eyes, most of which made sense to him but had no logical connection.
The words became phrases and the phrases became sentences.
The sentences became stories that were told, and then written down into what this piece is today.

The New Age of the Music Industry

It seems apparent that in most music now and days that it is filled with profanity or other crude topics.
What concerns me the most is the fact that most people my age completely ignore the lyrics to the songs that they listen to.
People do not listen for the words, rather the beat.
Looking at this critically, the person whom is the listener and or purchased this song is indirectly saying that they support what is being said in the song.
Hence we need to start listening more critically to what is being said in the songs that we listen to.
If we begin to stop listening to these types of songs, they will not be written anymore and we can go back to the way things were, when music was more of a meaningful story.

Specific Communication

My grandfather once told me that in communication we have to be specific, not broad.
In other words, as communicators it's our responsibility to say exactly what we mean, rather than eluding or evading the topic on hand.
However, as communicators we are sometimes faced with an ethical dilemma in which we must make a choice.
If we tell the truth in crisis, it can sometimes make the situation worse.
But should we lie and the truth is unraveled there is more of a back lash.
Therefore, how we communicate to audiences is crucial.
How does someone then create the perfect message in time of a crisis?
There is always going to be naysayers that will oppose what you say and what you do.
Communication is a craft of picking and choosing words that will effectively appeal to whom you are speaking to, it's all about finding that happy medium that is neither too broad nor too specific.     

Life as a Caterpillar

When you think of it, our lives are very similar to that of a caterpillar. In that we are in constant search of the right place to settle down. It's something that takes time and something that builds us into something more than we already are. One day we come up on the spot that seems right and we settle down and secure our lives at that spot in that present moment. And in time we all evolve into a butterfly. We spread our wings out to fly and fly away off into the distance and search of what's next......

Twitter vs. Facebook

When comes to communicating now and days, it's almost impossible to disregard social media as not a primary forum of communication.  Almost everyone uses some forum of social media in their day to day lives. As a whole, social media has allowed small companies, corporations, charities, friends and family to communicate with one another more efficiently than ever before. The two social media giants that you hear about day to day are Twitter and Facebook. While other forums of social media communication have risen such as Snap Chat, Instagram and so on and so forth, Twitter and Facebook are the most mainstream. But what makes these platforms different from one another?

 

When Facebook first started out, its purpose was for college graduates to be able to link up with fellow graduates and stay in touch. Sense then, it has become a massive online chat room that is filled with advertisements, games and fan pages of various causes, people or organizations. Unlike Twitter, on Facebook you're not limited to the amount of content that one can post at a single time. This can be a good or bad thing depending upon how one looks at it. Being able to say as much as you want really depends on the actual content. It seems that the content posted on Facebook has become a bunch of rambling people complaining about various issues. While if you do sit there and read in between the lines, one can figure out what a person is saying, it can sometimes be more difficult to understand. In addition, Facebook has grown to appeal to the more elder generations, which to some have become a turn off. More recently, Facebook has exploded into a gaming platform, so much so that it can often become a fuzzy area. Why did this happen?  The demand for substance increased. In other words, Facebook was ingenuitive for its time but as more and more people came on the demand for entertainment rose. I believe this is the reason why we see so many more advertisements on Facebook, because rather than just sitting there and doing nothing we want to interact with something.

 

Twitter on the other hand is where I believe the most effective communication occurs. Sense ones limited to what they can say in a single post, one must craft their words more carefully. Unlike Facebook, Twitter allows more open ended conversations about various issues or causes. Twitter created what is known as the hash tag. This is a platform that allows people to join in on a conversation. All one has to do is simply add the hash tag at the end of their tweet to be included in the conversation. The benefit to this is everyone who is following the campaign can see it and can reply or share what the other person said. While on Facebook there are pages designed for campaigns, not everyone can see them. One has to be a part of the group in order to join in the conversation. It's on Twitter that hash tags trend and the more something is trending the more people that are aware. This is partly why when launching a new product or service it's better to use Twitter initially. Arguably it's easier to follow a hash tag, because it's a lot more harder to misunderstand as opposed to a page, which could be phony or not providing enough information. A hash tag is all in one place, where as a page could be anywhere.

 

Ultimately, if you're looking for just a day to day conversation with a friend, Facebook is your best option. However, should you want to accomplish anything, at least initially start on Twitter, get the topic trending then move to Facebook where you can disseminate the information as you wish.

Its a Bird, It's a Bunny, It's a ...... Turtle?!

Fly like a bird, hop like a bunny but walk as if you were a turtle.
In other words before hopping into a new opportunity, survey what surrounds the ground around you, to find the best landing spot.
Realize that once you've found a safe landing spot not to rush into it too quickly.
For their will always be predators that lurk around the corner.
As you take each step explore every angle, whether it is up, down, left, right, forward, or backward.
There very well might be a better path to take, it might be more dangerous but you will have learned to survive longer and have lived a fuller life.

 

The Super Bowl: More Than Just a Game

In American culture, the Super Bowl has become one of America’s most important events. Whether it is for the social experience or for the TV ads we all watch the Super Bowl for various reasons. But what are these reasons? What makes them important? What role do these reasons play in our culture?  Whatever these reasons might be to understand them, first we must look into how the Super Bowl came about, only then will we begin to understand what they mean to not only the game, but also to the American culture.

The Super Bowl was a result of the official formation of the NFL. Before the game there were two divisions of football the AFC and the NFC. (Shmoop.com) When the NFL first had its Super Bowl it was nothing compared to what today, we see as the Super Bowl. It was just a game between two teams. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the Super Bowl became a cultural phenomenon:

“Perhaps even more significant than the action on the field, the 1970s witnessed the beginnings of the Super Bowl's transformation from a mere sporting event—albeit a wildly popular one—into a true force in American popular culture. The first really memorable Super Bowl ad aired in 1973, when blonde bombshell Farrah Fawcett seductively lathered Noxzema shaving cream all over the smiling face of Joe Namath. While the ad now seems almost hilariously rudimentary in its production values, it proved the Super Bowl's potential to launch memorable branding campaigns. (Shmoop.com) “

Thus the Super Bowl was born and there began a cultural revolution. It was after this commercial that advertises and big business owners really started to capitalize on the commercials. Advertisers came to realize how powerful an ad could be.  David Henley of the NY daily news put it perfectly:

“Is there another event in television history, or human history for that matter, where tens of millions of people were so eager to hear sales pitches? It’s probably true, of course, that most of us aren’t going to jot down our favorite ads and race out to buy the product. (Hinckley)

The Super Bowl soon became something far more than just a game, it became an experience. Advertisers soon became more creative with their commercials. Take for example in 2006, Doritos created a commercial contest where fans could create their own commercial and have the chance for it to air during the game. (crashthesuperbowl.doritos.com) This creates a sense of community and belonging. It also gets generates hype for not only the game but also for the actual commercial. In a recent survey done by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, it found that 25.8% of people watch the Super Bowl solely for the commercials. On top of that they also found that 4 million people buy a brand new TV just for the game. (Hinckley) Regardless to say, TV is by far one of the largest drawing factors that will bring us all together as one community.

            On the other hand, some people may argue against the importance of the commercials. One blogger believes that the commercials are solely for entertainment purposes:

“These are some of the most entertaining commercials to watch on television, but do they actually work in selling the product?  Reports show a well-made ad can make a difference in a products sales and awareness. Honestly, I remember the story of the commercial, but not the brand name or product sold. (Kirby)”

First off, if a commercial does not provide an entertainment value, a person will lose interest. After all, some of the most impactful commercials have been played during the Super Bowl. An example includes during 2011 where a young boy dressed as Darth Vader tries using the force on various objects, but has no success. However, his father comes home in his Volkswagen and when the boy tries using the force on the car, the alarm went off. This created a lot of buzz about the commercial and even got the boy various television interviews.  This buzz is extremely important to a product. The more people are talking about the commercial the more likely they are going to see the Volkswagen logo and associate the commercial. In theory, then they might go and take a look at the dealership.  If ads where not effective why would they still be on TV? While it might be true that you might not go out and buy a product, you’ll still notice it if you pass by.

            Another reason why people watch the Super Bowl is for the social experience. Families and friends get together and watch the game. Alongside this food consumption is at a high rate: 

“Super Bowl Sunday has become the country’s second-largest food consumption day, trailing only Thanksgiving.Thexodirectory.com estimates we consume 4,000 tons of guacamole, 14,500 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn. We’ll eat 1.23 billion chicken wings, making 615 million chickens very unhappy, and drink 325 million gallons of beer. (Hinckley)”

Obviously food is a big deal and a huge money maker. The question that you may then ask is why are the sports teams so important? We understand the significance of why some people watch the game, but what about the people that watch the game for the teams? What makes the teams so important to them and the game? 

            It is my belief that the reason we place so much value on the teams is because of a concept known as “the word is not the thing” which is a concept from a book I read (Communicating Well: A Fundamental Toolkit). This idea suggests that the words in themselves mean nothing we give them associative meaning. In other words, we could call a chair a desk and a desk a chair, as long as we collectively agree that object is represented as that word it doesn’t matter what we call it. Similarly, with the Super Bowl or any sports in general, we identify with that particular team for a reason. Teams build a sense of community and belonging. Without this connection that unifies us under one body sports in general would not quiet be the same.   

 

Resources

Chinn, Brecken, John Barrett Dorria DiManno, Marcy Holbrook ,Robert MacDougall, Vicki Nelson, Sharon Sinnott, Ruth Spillberg. Communicating Well: A Fundemental Toolkit. 1st ed. San Diego: Cognella. Print

David , Hinckley. "The Super Bowl is the biggest show of the year, but football is only part of it." NY Daily News. N.p., 2 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/football-part-super-bowl-article-1.1597013>.

"Doritos Crash The Super Bowl." Doritos Crash The Superbowl. Friotos , n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://crashthesuperbowl.doritos.com/>.

Kirby, Tyler. "Are Super Bowl Commercials Really Worth the Investment?" Massey Communications. 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Culture in NFL History." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.shmoop.com/nfl-history/culture.html>.