Entry #10 The Influence of Social Media on teens...

                           

 We live in a world were social media is at everyones fingertips, due to the rise of social media it's no surprise that this led a huge increase in teen narcissism.

People have always thought about younger girls being self-centered, but nowadays its even worse. Social media plays a huge role making teenagers obessed with themselves and constantly seeking approval online. This obsession makes it hard for them to really connect with others. TikTok is the main cause seeing as there's a new trend going on but there's this one specifc trend were the girls go running on the beach posing and showing off their toned bodies. These kinds of videos get those little girls thoughts asking questions like, "Why can't I look like that" or "I'm not as pretty as her." It's crucial to know the difference between feeling good about ourselves and being overly self-centered. Feeling good about ourselves means you know your good and worthy, and that helps us grow as better person. While being overly self-centered is different it means always wanting to be the best and only caring about themselves.

 A little obession can turn into a mental health condition such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), people with BDD spend hours looking on what they think is imperfections. The more teenage girls spend on social media looking at influeners, the more they're likely to have poor body image. 

In addition, not only did it create teenage narcissim, it has younger girls specically at age 10 shopping in beauty stores like ulta and sephora. So we ask ourselves, why are 10 year olds shopping at Sephora? Well it's all due to TikTok for brands going viral, these kids see something trending and they have the urge to try the product out themselves. The girls didn't even get influenced on afforable skincare products they are buying $50 serums and $70 moisterizers! How insane is that, not even me splurging like that.

In conclusion, keep a close eye on your close ones thats younger and help them understand how social media affects how they see themselves, and reassure them but also to take breaks off social media if needed. 

                             

Blog #9 Topics in Food Quest

 Have you ever felt so tired after work that you just want to grab a quick bite? How about when you wake up late in the morning and just want a quick and easy breakfast sandwich from Mcdonalds? Well you're starting the morning with no nutriential value and ending the day the same way. Overeating in fast food can cause negative impact on your health in the short and long-term. 

Morgan Spurlock

                                       

As a matter of fact let me tell you about this film called Super Size Me, one day Morgan Spurlock wanted to find out what would happen if he ate nothing but Mcdonald's for a whole month. His doctor's didn't think to much about it they thought he would gain a few pounds and that's it but they were in for a surprise. Morgan was an healthy, energetic young man that suddenly was feeling heavier, grumpy, and depressed. After eating just Big Macs, French fries, and loads of Coke he started getting chest pains and shortness of breath due to his cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. His doctor then described his liver as "obscene."

As you can see Mcdonald's is just high in fat, sugar, and salt. Nothing about it is nutrisous, the real reason people keep going back to it is because the industry puts food additive in their meals!

In addition, let's discuss the elephant in the room: obesity. Young children are the main victims of fast food, it is a very serious issue that could be avoided. Yes, parents are to blame but are they? Sometimes parents are working many hours juggling multiple roles to provide and just want to give their kids a quick bite, but sometimes it's the other way around. Due to that those parents are to selfish to realize they're causing their children long-term problems. This ad below caught my eye because parents should be advoating for their childrens healthy eating habits! According to the Hazel Team they stated "good nutrition plays a vital role in a child's growth and development." I completely agree eating protein, fruits, and vegatales strengthen bones, boost immunity, and maintains a healthy weight! It also reduces the risk of getting any chronic diseases later in life. 

                               

To wrap things up, we should stick to veggies, right? It's okay to get fastfood every now and then but limit yourself, or else you'll suffer the consequences later on in life. Remember parents play a crucial role in shaping their child's eating habits so set a good example. Keep in mind healthy eatind habits take time and patience but it's definitely beneficial in the long run!

Blog #8 Study Techniques

 

Is anyone ready for finals? Do you feel prepared enough to take an exam right at this moment? If not im going to address different techniques to help you prepare and ace your big test!

Start early. This is an very effective way of retaining all that information that's needed on the test! It is not wise studying days before and cramming all that information ,Yes it may have worked on your past tests. Though it isn't effective (speaking from experience!) the earlier you start the less stress you'll be.

 

Study Strategy. Everyone has different ways of studying, What works for you? For me, I'm an visual learner so I have to use images, color-code, or think in pictures rather than words. There's endless studying methods, here are some that I found can be useful for others..

       Active Recall: 

          1.) Skim through your textbook and try to remember as much as you can.

         2.) Put it away completely. 

        3.) Write down everything you can remember in your notes.

        4.) Take your textbook out and see what you remembered and what you forgot.

        5.) Repeat until you remember everything.

      

  Feynman Technique:

        1.) Choose a topic you need to learn about.

       2.) Break the topic up into small understandable chunks.

       3.) Teach it to someone else. (In doing so you will identity what you need to study more.)

Take into consideration it is always better to over-study then to be unprepared! If you are struggling on a topic make sure to make time to study and find the method that's most effective for you.

Take a break.  Let's not forget it's okay to take a break. Personally I like to study for an hour straight and then take 20 minutes to stretch or go on social media.(Tiktok) If you're constantly looking at a screen I recommened to get blue light glasses, it helped me with my headaches! Assuming you study better while listening to music I recommened taking your break time to make a playlist. If so, what's your favorite song to listen to? If you ask me I can't study while listening to lyricial music because I will end up distarcted and singing! I prefer instrumental music such as violin.

SLEEP. I think this might be the most important part of this whole blog! I can't stress enough how important it is for you to be awake and aware during your exam. Yes, I know you are pulling all-nighters to study but always rest up before the big test to make sure you can actually remember all the stuff from the entire semester. Lack of sleep reduces effectiveness and increases stress so remember to take naps when needed.

In conclusion, I hope my tips will help you on your next exam and remember it is okay to be stressed, but dont let your exam define how smart you are. We all fail sometimes but the most important thing is that you try to do better on the next exam. Goodluck on your finals! 

                               

Entry #7 FRESH

Has anyone ever had an mind-boggling experience where they're so shocked that they just stay silent? Thats what I experienced when I watched the movie "Fresh", it is a bunch of farmers re-inventing food production in America. This movie exposes problems in the farming industry that goes out in the world were people eat, the farmers try to approach a healthier environment for the farm so the environmental food industrty can change for the better.                         

"Fresh" Film

                                               

At the beginning of the movie there was a man named George, and he said his college roommate from Pakistan said something that is reality of today's society; Americans fear inconvience. This really caught my eye because I don't think about it as much but it's very true, people are always rushing out of work to get a quick bite and goes straight to fast food which typically becomes a bad habit every day. Eventually, in our daily lives we would just want want want. Has anyone stopped to think were most of the food is grown? How much labor they put into those produce items? 

In fact, there is a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Fox from the movie that's talking about how much the farming industry has changed. They mention it's not the same as back in the day because back then it was all manual labor work, and the chickens they were breeding didn't grow as fast. In the present, they feed the chickens a poultry litter. However, that liter may cause irritation to eye, skin, and respiratory tract so you have to avoid breathing it in and wash your hands thoroughly. If it causes harm to humans like that then why is the farming industry feeding the chickens that? Well it is said to be very nutrional to the chickens, which is why they breed twice as fast. One part of the film that's very upsetting is when the farmers received atleast 27,600 baby chickens and they're just throwing them very harsh out of the carriers. While thats going on monoculture is happening and the only thing thats keeping the animals alive is anitibitics in there food.

One of the farmers that stood out to me is Joel Salatin, his tone and attitude was just postive his motto is; if your commited to healing the land then you do something different. Farmer Joel looks at the natural templete and follows through instead of going in the direction of the industry. He trys to get as close as possible his his cows to follow there natural habitat, meaning he moves his cows virtually everyday from paddack to paddack to keep mimicking that natural herding instinct of herbibore in nature. This way they're not in the same spot and revegetate. This is brilliant because farmer Joel also brings his chickens and feeds them after the cows manure which they eat off the fly larvae and benefit nutrients.(Very nauseating) His part of the film gave me hope that the farming industry isn't so bad, he believes that he isn't really farming animals it's grass. When the grass is taken care of then the grass takes care of the animals!

Joel Salatin

                        

I believe the purpose of this film was to show some motivated farmers how they're trying to create a new approach on how to better the environemental through the food chain and your health. This film made me think of all the processed foods, the dangers of monoculture, and the benefits of eating healthy foods. Despite the film not giving us a attenable solution to change there is some very educational ways to eat healthier. At the end of the day it's easier to ignore all the problems, but not wise in the long run. This film brought a very powerful message that it takes one consumer at a time to make a difference! 

Entry #6 Starbucks or Dutch Bros?

Where do you go when you want some energy? Some might go to Starbucks or Dutch Bros. 

Orginally Starbucks was founded first in 1971, and Dutch Bros was founded in 1992. So starbucks been around since forever!  This might be a very biased blog but personally they are both overrated. Every time I go to starbucks I have have the rudest staff members, and I understand they might be overworked but they shouldn't give out poor customer service! Starbucks is truly overpriced for what they serve. For example for the price of a grande Espresso Frappuccino is $6.19 and at Dutch Bros the price of an medium golden eagle freeze is $4.25, they are very similar but prices vary. If anyone is confused on the sizes Starbucks grande contains 16 fuid ounces while at Dutch Bros medium contains 24 fluid ounces. As you can tell Dutch Bros is financially better but but still expensive if you buy everyday.

In addition, if we compare their drink options they are quite similar but if we compare the food items; Starbucks have breakfast and lunch options, such as sandwiches and croissants.(My favorite) They even provide there bestselling cakepops everyone loves. While Dutch Bros only have cookies, I think it's obvious Starbucks takes the win for that.

   Finally, I have surveyed my family on whose is better. There was a total of 6 people, and disappointly it was split in half. 3 people chose Dutch Bros and the other 3 chose Starbucks. Although my family did hesitate to make a decision on which was better, which tells me both are great. However, if I were to chose one it would be Starbucks because of the tasty treats!

  

Entry #5 Allstate Mayhem Commercial

 I chose the Allstate mayhem commercial where Dean Winters portrays as a teenage girl in a pink truck. This ad is hilariously accurate to teenage girls because first of all you see a bright pink truck. Which every girl dreams of! Mayhem coming out of the movies with his bedazzled flip phone and bright pink glasses!

The author of the commercial wanted us to see a glimpse of how teenage girls can be when driving. I believe they wanted us to feel how scared the parents would have been! The target audience was intended for parents and teenagers, probably because the parents should see the reality of teenagers on the road and for the teenagers because they can be as reckless as Mayhem!

The advertisement then proceeds to show Mayhem reading a text message from BFF Becky saying she's kissed Johnny then proceeds to say, "well that's a problem because I like Johnny, now im emotionally compromised and .... "WHOOSPIE." Mayhem runs into a car then drives off! He then says unfazed, "OMG Becky's not even hot!" It then cuts off to say,"If you got cut-rate insurance, you can be paying for this yourself." Meaning if you have the lowest monthly insurance, the hit-and-run teenager is not going to pay for it; you are. With Allstate, he says, "you can save money and be protected from Mayhem like me."

The commerical can be seen to capitalize on the stereotype that women are bad drivers, especially young teenage girls. For some people it may offensive and for some it may be hilariously funny. (Hilarious for me!) There is also an underlying critique about the dangers of texting and driving which caused the accident in the first place. This emphasis implies that teenage girls will text about issues that are "not serious" and because of that, they will cause accidents. However, it is very true if you text and drive that can cause an accident but the number of stereotypes in this advertisement is socially incorrect. I'm sure everyone has had this type of behavior behind the wheel from both male and female, young and old. On a final note, the commercial is still a funny advertisement with all the meaning behind it, the ad is doing what they intended to do, grabbing your attention and think about how you drive and if you need to rethink your auto insurance with Allstate!

Entry #4 Stanley Cup Craze

How many of you have been easily influenced to buy something just cause you saw a celebrity using it? Guilty. I been influenced to buy a Stanley cup just for the aestheic and hype for it, but the hype for the brand-new Stanley Cup collection is insane! By now everyone knows the stanley cup "craze" on social media. Back in November of 2023 people camped outside the starbucks for the Starbucks limited-edition red chrome cups. That was only the beginning of it, the certified cup girlies had no intentions of slowing down. 

Fully stocked shelf.

Everytime the "girly" Stanley cups got restocked in target, fights broke out. With a fully stocked shelf; went empty within four minutes.

Empty Shelf.

The Stanley cup craze leaves us questioning “What is so special about this cup?”, Although these cups are cute but not worth taking a punch for!

Target Fights

 If you're wondering, Why fight over stanley cups? Well if you are familiar with TikTok you might of seen Gen Z helping the cup go viral. Way before that they been around since 1913; cups were designed to keep hot drinks hot and cold icy drinks so cold your ice wont melt all week!

Stanley corporation antisipated the cups to go to male customers for campers or labor workers outside but they noticed they were gaining traction with women, so they shifted their product design to fit that new market. Due to that they started targeting their audience towards women with coming out with more colors and designs.

Coming back to the target fights, with all this going on we get to see a psychological phenomenon of the bandwagon effect. This is all psychological, Social media helps trust in a purchaser through influencers reviews and experiences. Then the consumers compare and contrast to keep up with the latest trends.

The truth is Stanley isnt just a cup anymore. It's ascended to a higher power. It's part of the aethetic of 2024. The more Stanley cups are sold out, the more people want it! But for a $45 cup is outrageous. The real question is, "Do I need a Pink Stanley cup?" the answer is, "Probaly not." but I just easily been influenced by the pretty pink color!