Sunday, December 16, 2012

724 E/Media Psych/Final Print Ad


When I began to develop my final print ad, I had a tough time. I struggled with trying to put all that I've learned onto one page without it seeming overworked or overloaded with information. To accomplish this, I introduced a new social media technology to incorporate my learnings along with persuasive media.

I began with a digital citizen. As technology progresses, our digital citizens will start early. In this case, looking to the future, it's quite possible that digital citizenship will be introduced at birth. With the growth of new technology,  infants may be able to use to touch pads to stimulate and increase growth. Because of this, I introduced a social media site that could start as early as infancy. I chose to call it Chirp because it follows the same thread as Twitter and could be considered in the same "family." Chirp encompasses the "speak" of a young bird and because it's introduced at early age it represents a young infant.

If I act as a digital de-tech-tive and apply the tetrad to this technology, it's possible that it may exist sooner than we think. To be gained will be the visual and mental stimulation at infancy, the loss will be fake baby toys with phones, iPads, Leapfrog learning toys or Twitter. Using Twitter as the old or antiquated technology confirms that this moment will become obsolete in the next. If this is pushed beyond it's limit we may have anti-social individuals who cannot operate outside of a technical world. 

The ad also incorporates the importance of education. Because technology is growing at such a rapid pace, we need to educate our youth not only in our schools but our homes. It is important to teach responsible digital citizenship with a balanced learning approach. 

Using social media reminded me of Marshall McLuhan which is why I chose Chirp. Re-introducing the tribe could happen at infancy with connection beginning earlier than we imagined. Social media becomes our environment and we become extensions of its skin. Working us over, the tribe is restored with a world of,  "total involvement, in which everybody is profoundly involved with everybody else,"(Marshall McLuhan, 1967).

I also chose to create this ad because of my personal struggle with technology. I was amazed at the very beginning of the course to find my reliance on technology was a moment by moment, every day occurrence. This was a scary realization. This influenced my decision to choose an infant in the ad because from birth our reliance on technology is evident. I also chose an infant because of the struggle I have with over-connection.  While benefits are easy to see, I struggle with the real live connectivity that occurs with face-to-face relationship. I believe we are tipping the scale and will find that our only connection "from birth" is to technology rather than people. 

Finally, using a "need to nurture" approach with a baby grabs the attention of most. Babies in ads create pathos in a way that most individuals cannot. Using the baby to grab attention, the  phone in the hands of a baby stimulates awareness, the copy portrays the attitude of the ad/company and a call to action is made using a URL address. Because Chirp is a "new category" it introduces something new to the social media world. Association, bandwagon and humor are the persuasive approaches this ad takes to increase awareness, sales and involvement in Chirp.

Overall, the last few months have been more than awakening. I'm aware of dining rooms and microwaves and more involved with the technological decisions I'm making for my children. I go back to my Mantra often, " to use technology as a digital citizen, with balance, creativity, relevance and social responsibility." More importantly, I believe I'm educated in such a way that I can succeed as a Media Psychologist both personally and professionally. --Thank you!