In "The Lady or The Tiger" it is clear that advertising teaches us at a very young age the importance of being "cool" and how to obtain this coolness. It is also explained how our coolness changes as we get older. In elementary school and possibly even younger we were taught what was cool through cereal commercials, the Trix rabbit could never have the cereal but young children could and that's what makes them cool. When you get into High School you focus less on being cool and a lot more on just not being lame, advertisers use this so they can portray objects so that it seems everyone else has them so you should too. When you reach adulthood semi-originality, but not to the point of weirdness, is what makes you "cool."
So how does advertising and coolness relate to the vices and virtues of the internet? Through social media of course, with the beginning of this age of the internet critics believed that individuals would become isolated and soon lack important social skills needed in work places and other social situations. This criticism was quickly proven wrong with the start of social media websites that actually connect a lot more people and not only connect more people but people with similar interests and views. Recently however, social medias have had a focus on who on the internet is cool and who is not. As young people we strive to be cool and one reassurance that we are cool is by getting a bunch of likes and favorites on your social media sites. This shows not only you but also the world that you are likable, relatable, and even cool. We all strive to be cool and the internet works as a tool to help us become cool.
Agreed 100%. I think it's crazy how our material items make us "cool" or "uncool." There is much more depth to popularity than what people take into consideration. The depth of shallowness of some people goes unmeasured.
ReplyDeleteWow, I don't know if there is anyone that could explain the relationship between these two pieces better. I completely agree and support everything you've explained in this post, but what about the adults on the internet. Would you say they fit into the "internet category" of connecting with other people that share the same semi-original ideas as them and that makes them cool, or is there another explanation?
ReplyDeleteI think adults, just like young people, do use the internet and social media sites as a tool to be cool. For them, they use it as a way to, again, connect with people with similar interests but I would say the difference is that adults use social media sites to post semi-original things that make them seem hip or appear as if they have the flashy items and money a good majority of our society wishes they had and having these things makes adults feel cool. Although I do believe there is a portion of adults who are mature and don't bother themselves with measly things like trying to be cool.
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