Media Ethics

 

Media Ethics describes the proper modes of which all branches that media today should attempt to adhere to. This includes television, radio, the internet etc. 

When watching video 3 "How Dark Patterns Trick You Online". It's absolutely crazy that this act is probably someone's job how to design a certain piece to "trick" us into paying for things or making it very hard when wanting to delete an account. I believe that we have all been victims to. I have never heard of the game "Two Dots" before however I did think it was very clever of them to use the colour green to pay for items,  as green in majority of games symbolizes good, for example you've reached the next level, or to start or play the game. 

I personally have been in a certain incident when using an app which I use to edit pictures, its called "Instasize" this is a free App. It uses ads which are very easy to click on and anytime and I want to transfer the picture to my camera roll it uses a watermark which identifies that I have used this app on my picture. It makes you think you need to keep it and if you cancel it out a link will pop up to pay for the removal of the watermark. However there's a faint "x" mark on the corner of the screen which is tiny that results in me not needing to pay for the app, this is what I call a dark pattern. 

I learned a lot and found this video task very interesting. I love learning about history and found "How One Man manipulated all of America" was a great watch. Edward Bernays was an American Pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda. After WW1 he was hired by an American tobacco company to try create a way to influence woman smoking. Women only began to work making them more equal to men so why couldn't they smoke too? Women were shy of smoking outside to he paraded "torches of freedom" in New York City, Easter Day Parade, 1928. This was his first way of promoting smoking- Symbolism. 

He was very clever and used unconscious desires by using the likes of vogue, influencers to make them appeal to woman. Bernays made sales increase! Touching off women's mental health by stating that thin was the new fashion took the power of this and made it out that cigarettes could keep you thin "Reach for a lucky instead of a sweet" who wants to eat when everyone else is thin. Especially back in those days. His advertisements were everywhere in newspapers, posters, magazines constantly in everyone's mental space. 

This shows us what tactics he used

1. Create Symbols,
2. Appeal to unconscious desire,
3. Normalizing behaviours,
4. Mental Space. 

This man made history by showing us media can manipulate people in the simplest way.