Monday, August 27, 2007

Hi everyone, my name's Laura Ries and I'm a Junior communication major and AEM minor. I was born and raised in Chicago, the actual city, not outside the city, so I have a pretty thick accent and get made fun of almost daily. I love Chicago so coming to such a smaller and quieter town was a big change for me. I love sports, especially tennis and basketball, I love fresh air, and I love listening to music and watching TV, even though I do it way too much. I'm not really sure what I want to do with my life; I'm interested in both print and broadcast journalism, public relations, media, and many other things.

This summer, I worked at NBC in New York in their entertainment publicity department. I kept track of all the publicity for the New York shows and got to write press releases, actor profiles, and make press kits (making them was not as exciting as it sounds). I also got to attend pre tapings, sit in Conan's chair, go to the Today Show and do a lot of things I never would have been able to do. However, one aspect of my job that helped us keep track of publicity was looking through blogs such as tmz.com, defamer, perezhilton, etc. I would have to scan through them and look for the NBC talent, but this is one phenomenon that I just don't understand. Why are people so obsessed with people they don't know. Facebook is another thing; constantly checking who has updated their profile or changed their picture gives us something to do other than homework or study. But I don't understand how people can follow celebrities, like Lindsay Lohan, around all day like they actually care about her 27th drug bust.

Facebook is another addicting phenomenon. My roommate freshman year would spend hours and hours at night sitting at her desk on facebook doing nothing else. It is something that so many people, for one reason or another, are addicted to. Even if we do not like the updates and changes that are being made, we keep going on to see if any more changes have been made. It would be interesting to see if anything like facebook, myspace, or friendster will come along soon that will attract us like these phenomenons have.

2 comments:

Zak Bell said...

Hi Laura. I'm curious to know what a "Chicago" accent is. I am from there, and have never heard of that before. I know we do the "yo" to "jo" thing, but now you made me want to hear you talk (CMC anyone? heh).

I agree with your comment about Facebook becoming an addiction. I have known people who routinely "cancel" their account during Finals Week just to keep it from distracting them. I think the appeal of Facebook deals with what Professor Hancock went over in class about it being an "internet" domain. People feel more open in disclosing information that they would otherwise never share. It is as if Facebook substitutes as another social outlet for people. My question for you is why do you think programs such as Facebook take up so much of our time?

Thea Cole said...

Hi Laura,

I am equally confused about people's overall commitment to figuring out every aspect of a celebritie's life. But I must admit, at first glance, stalking celebrities makes more sense than watching the every move of your ex-boyfriend on facebook. The reason I say this is because following the lives of celebrities is almost like reading a dark fairy tale. The life of a celebrity is fantastical but at the same time the morality or the human aspects of the celebrities makes it so interesting to watch. Maybe people are momentarily living vicariously throught the celebrities when the read their blogs, or maybe people are reinforcing their own self-identities by highlighting their similiarities to a revered celebrity. My question is why do people put the celebrities up on a pedestal (in some sort of invincible social hierarchy way above the common people), then spend most of the waking lives trying to find evidence to tear them down from the same pedestal they've been placed upon?

Is it because deep down people want to feel the same? Maybe that's why people spend so much time on facebook, trying desperately to look for similarities with other people. Everyone spends so much time trying to tear down celebrities to bring them onto their level but what about facebook, where everyone is "regular?" Look at some of the new applications on facebook, such as the mood indicator. Why do you want to know someone's mood? Because you want everyone to know how your feeling and want someone out there to empathize? Or those people that put detailed information in their away messages. Is it because they want someone to care about what's going on in their life? It must be! Why else would you put all that information up there.

So my round-a-bout answer to your question Laura, is that people spend so much time on facebook because they want to feel similar or connected with someone. Think about it? When you browse through facebook, aren't you usually looking for someone with commonalities (same network, sport, major, interests, friends, etc)?