cmns201assignment

[cmns201assignment]

A Semi-coherent Rant About Commercialism in Media

I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on commercial interest in media, few of them are good. Initially, my mind jumps to social media which has become an endless onslaught of advertising and a massive perpetuator of ‘hustle culture’ where everyone is constantly looking for ways to make money. However, these ideas have also seeped into traditional media, placing monetary gain above creativity. A very cynical thought, I know.

Over the past few years, I have become increasingly aware of how commercial interests influence the content I consume, particularly when it comes to social media. Personally, I don’t often create my own posts or actively engage with others’ posts beyond a ‘like’. The majority of my social media use consists of watching YouTube videos or shorts, so I try to think critically about what or who I am watching, especially when there is any sort of advertising involved. For me this means being a bit picky over which creators I watch and always questioning things. If the content is expository, does this person have the credentials and/or sources to support the information? When it comes to content with sponsored, or even unsponsored, product recommendations I tend to look at the creator as a whole – what kind of content they produce, what efforts they make for transparency with their audience, the type of language used, and what do they stand to gain from these posts. Or I just try to avoid and ignore advertisements as much as humanly possible which is easier said than done.

That’s not to say that I don’t ever fall for the social media hype or think I’m better than people who do; if I’m being honest, if my financial situation were different, it’s likely I would give into it more often. One of the few perks of being a broke university student is that my wallet forces me to take the time to think about these things. Often in the time it takes for me to save up for things I want, I usually end up realizing I either don’t need it or never really wanted it in the first place.

Also, I think it’s worth noting that this awareness is extremely irritating. Sometimes I just want to mindlessly watch dumb videos or influencer drama, or to buy the thing just because I want to, but this questioning has become a habit so that rarely happens. My avoidance of ads has, in some cases, led to me reluctantly giving in to subscription services – whether or not it was worth it is still up for debate. My hatred of subscription services is a different rant for a different day, but my avoidance of those as well as certain tech companies (mostly Apple but again, different rant for a different day) has caused me to miss out on a lot of content that is exclusive to their platforms.

Media and commercial interest are so thoroughly intertwined that being a consumer can sometimes feel like dodging bullets and I think that overall, it has just made me very cynical. Between corporate influence, the rise of lifestyle influencers, and ‘hustle culture’, it feels like fewer and fewer people create just for the sake of creating. Of course, I understand that people need to make a living, I don’t take issue with that at all. I think what really bothers me is that commercial interest seems to have taken center stage and created this narrative that media should only be produced with the goal of monetary gain. As someone who paints as a hobby, I can’t count the number of times people have suggested I sell my work and are shocked or confused when I say I don’t want to. This attitude discourages people from creating just for fun, implying that if you can’t make money then you shouldn’t bother in the first place, which is an incredibly depressing mindset.

So, while my self-righteous attitude towards media and commercialism may be a bit dramatic and irritating both to myself and others, I do think it’s at least somewhat justified. For the sake of my sanity and my wallet, I’m going to continue as I have.