Stressed Out Video

Stressed Out!

Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students

College is stressful right? It’s arguably one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. Exams, figuring out what to do with your life, finding true love, becoming independent, dealing with finances, and new social spheres are just a few of the major stressors that college aged Millennials deal with. How do students tackle life with the entire world on their shoulders? Which coping techniques are most advantageous and which are in fact detrimental?

Researchers at Georgia Southern University, in association with MIT, created a study aimed to answer these questions. The project entailed 260 randomly selected students taking a Healthful Living class, most

of whom were freshmen, to identify levels of stress tolerance and the coping strategies that college-age students utilize. The results? Apparently, Millennials aren’t very good at coping with stress. It was found that many of the most commonly utilized mechanisms either had negative impacts on stress coping capabilities, or no substantial effect at all.

 

Results: If you answered A to any of the above questions, you answered the same way as the students with high stress tolerance. Way to go! You're practically adulting! If you answered B to any of these questions, these were answers that correlated with neither a helpful or detrimental stress factor. If you answered C to any of these questions you might want to rethink your habits! These answers were similar to the answers of participants with low stress tolerance scores.  

 

According to this study, “stress tolerance has thus been defined as the ability of an individual to handle stressors without succumbing to their effects.” So when you bomb your test and binge eat on food, hoping to die, you aren’t coping with the problem but are actually succumbing to the stress and letting it overwhelm you. In fact, those with low stress tolerance have an increased risk of becoming discouraged and dropping out of college.

 

In conclusion, popular coping mechanisms, such as surfing the web, are related to low stress tolerance, thus, making life harder for Millennials. The results of this study were significant, though more research would help to clearly identify factors and various coping mechanisms in larger sample sizes. If these stress coping mechanisms are acknowledged and students become better educated on this topic, life, though perhaps no easier, will definitely be more manageable for the millions of Millennial coming of age.

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Works Cited:

BLAND, H. W., MELTON, B. F., WELLE, P., & BIGHAM, L. (2012). STRESS TOLERANCE: NEW CHALLENGES FOR MILLENNIAL COLLEGE STUDENTS. College Student Journal, 46(2), 362-375.

Pokemon Go

Pokémon is a game/world created by a Japanese business. It deals with made up creatures that players, called trainers, catch, train and fight. It can be played in various mediums and even has a cartoon TV. show. Recently, the company created a new way of looking into the Pokémon realm that allows users to interact not only with the Pokémon world but also with our own. It created quite a stir and became viral. The game became so big, so fast because it effectively drew players in through identification and use of growing “world browsing” technology and accomplished its goal of getting kids to be more active.

The game uses a technology that has been slowly gaining popularity, that of a “world browser”.  A smart phone can use the camera to display on the screen and on top of that use location programing that can superimpose any text, info, or picture on the screen creating a feeling that the experience is somehow real, like looking through a magical glass to a new world that has always been there. To John Tinnell this technology allows “any place—not just government sanctioned ones—[to] become digitally saturated with media content to the extent that it may function as a proportionate replica, historical reenactment, or monument…” or in the case of Pokémon Go, a new world full of made up creatures. It permits people to interact with the environment and creates a unique mixture of the literal and virtual that makes it a novel game to play.

People use the app to find Pokémon creatures to train by walking around their neighborhoods. As players walk so do the avatars on the screen further allowing users to feel like they are a part of the game world. As a reverse affect, we bring those avatars characters into the real world. And this is in part of how the game becomes so big, so fast. As people progress further through the Pokémon realm, they took that identity as a Pokémon trainer and desired to share success with ‘real world’ friends, who caught on and began to play as well.

When starting, players create an avatar of themselves, being able to pick what their character looks like which allows players to identify with their avatar drawing players in. For example, though the purple hair is a different touch, when creating my avatar, I chose similar traits such as white, female, and blue eyes, just like me. The characters are comic like, relatively simple and can look like yourself, or a cooler version. As Scott McCloud explains in Understanding Comics the simplicity of characters in comics allows us to identify with the characters and thus draws one into the comic. Pokémon Go uses the simple features to draw players into the game; you literally become a Pokémon trainer.

New technology allows new possibilities to our world and Pokémon Go is an exceedingly fun game that will persuade any couch potato to go Catch ‘Em All.
To read more about augmented reality app/games check out my classmates' blogs Ammon Hooper and Amy Cox

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For subtitles you have to click the CC button on the bottom right. If you enjoyed this video, you'll also enjoy Becky Adams and Daniela Velluto's video @ http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com/. 

Some people haven't been able to see the video on here due to a privacy setting problem which I can't figure out so if that happens please follow this link to you tube to see the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0l3BZIM7CE

Rhetorical Circulation/Virality Social Media Plan

 Medical research articles intimidate people because they are geared towards a particular audience with an extensive vocabulary. Unfortunately, this audience is extremely narrow and many other people miss out on the amazing breakthroughs in science. Also, since highly involved and interested groups are usually the only financial backers there is limited funding for promising research. What is needed is more exposure to the general public to create excitement. So how could breakthroughs in research and science get to the general public in a grand scale?

This is a Social Media Plan to increase awareness of recent breakthroughs in spinal cord regeneration based primarily on the research article “Effects of Lumbosacral Spinal Cord Epidural Stimulation for Standing after Chronic Complete Paralysis in Humans” published just last year in 2015.

Making it into a video will make it more appealing to a wider audience. By creating a documentary, many other things have gone viral and spread through Netflix and other online movie sites.  

Step 1: Hire someone to make a documentary of the people involved in this research if they agree to and find a director with popularity and large amounts of followers like Clint Eastwood (who has done some inspirational movies lately) or Angelina Jolie (who directed Unbroken).

Step 2: Make the documentary available on Netflix with one trailer and post on YouTube. By releasing the video with few trailers and advertisements[1], it will allow for a natural growth of the viral event.

Step 3: create a catchy slogan that’s simple enough be reused and repeated by WOM[2] like #StandingHope and have the director tweet it or post on Facebook with message “Complete Paralysis isn’t the end.” 

Step 4: Advertise the movie to interest groups[3] to become involved, have them share, retweet the directors post or their own with the hashtag. The largest and most celebrated being the Paralympic community, would be perfect for this event. This will help more people become interested in the movie on Netflix.

Step 5: The Paralympics in 2020 would be the perfect time to have special viewing events after the movie is launched on Netflix and advertisements on t.v. and Facebook during both the Paralympics and Olympics. This will create more hype and many people will spread the news again by WOM. By combining a natural event with a promoted one it is expected that the viral event will reach a large amount of target audience and last a long time.

Make sure you check out my classmates projects: Amy  realrhetoricalrantings.blogspot.com and Ammon
and http://incompetentpupil.blogspot.com/

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[1] p.g. 25 of “Going Viral” explains “promoted messages tend to gain and lose the public’s attention more quickly than socially driven messages, perhaps because social messages are more socially authentic.”

[2] In “Going Viral” by Nahon and Hemsley WOM or word of mouth is when “people speak to each other, often about a product, but without a commercial motive.” This does not include social media posting but when the event or idea becomes large enough, WOM will become crucial in the natural growth of the idea.

[3] In “Going Viral” events “…can help bring people together of common interests, purposes and actions.” By reaching out to one interest group, creating a movement, others will latch on to the “bandwagon” and the event will reach a wider audience.

ASPCA: Animals Sick of Causing Annoyance

Ethical Heuristic Framework

1.        Identification of Producers/Creators

a.        Where did your samples (images, video, audio) come from?

Our samples originated from various places, such as parts of the ASPCA official ad commonly seen on television, Taylor Swift’s music video, and homemade videos of pranks, via youTube.

b.        Who has taken part in the creation of these samples?

i.         Individuals? Sarah Mclachlan, Taylor Swift, and unknown homevideo authors.

ii.        A community? Animal Rights Activists and normal everyday people

iii.       A company or other organization? ASPCA

c.        Do you have a connection to any of these individuals or groups? We care about animals and have pets. Otherwise, no.

i. Is this connection close, or does it resemble seven steps to Kevin Bacon? Not especially close.

d.        Do you think your relation (or lack of relation) to these individuals or groups gives you more or less constraints to sample and remix their creative work? A lack of substantial connection to the ASPCA or animal cruelty has allowed for a less inhibited view/use of the materials.

e.        If you do not know where your samples come from originally, how do you think you might discover this information? (Once you have done more research, go back and answer the previous questions.) It would be very easy to trace the origin of many of the clips taken. For example, the ASPCA commercial video can be found on youTube as well as their website.  

2. Identification of Caring/Wounding

a. To the best of your ability, please research the groups and/or individuals from whom you have sampled. According to your sources (scholarly, popular, friends, etc.), what are some of the cultural values of these people and their communities? Provide some evidence for your claims. If you identify as a member of one of these communities, explain how you have come to understand the community’s values and how your own understanding of these values might differ from others in the community. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as their name implies and their website confirms, is an organization devoted to preventing animal cruelty in the United States. Sarah Mclachlan is an advocate of the organization, who has appeared in multiple ads they have produced. Our understanding is that of an outsider who commiserates with the cause, but does not actively participate in the organization.

b. Identify 3-5 of your acts of sampling in relation to the individuals and/or groups you identified above as either acts of caring or wounding or both. Address the following questions in this identification:

i. In your sampling and remixing, are you potentially contradicting, subverting, changing, or even violating some of the values you researched above? Imagine someone sampling your work (something to which you have dedicated your life) and remixing it into a new work that actually violates the values expressed in your original work or that seems to take credit for authorship without acknowledging you. How do you think the “original” authors would react, should they witness your remix? How might it affect them? Our sampling and remixing certainly makes light of a serious issue and completely changes the meaning of the original ASPCA commercial. The original authors might find it humorous because pets are a part of everyday life but because our video makes it seem that pets would rather not be helped, the original idea of the ASPCA is argued against. If our video was taken seriously by an uptight ASPCA member, it would perhaps make them mad but most would regard this video as no hinderance to their goal to rescue animals.

ii. Are you appealing to their values? In other words, do you think the artists you sampled from would endorse how and what you sampled and remixed? The creators would probably acknowledge the humor in our interpretation. In fact, Sarah McLachlan performed a parody of this advertisement in a Super Bowl commercial for Audi. The original video is very “gut-wrenching” and memorable. Obviously the creators know this because they made it like that to convince people to join the ASPCA. Any parody made of it would not be taken seriously.

iii Under what conditions might your act of caring be an act of wounding (and vice versa)? Our video, when viewed with a certain paradigm, seems to make light of animal cruelty, which was obviously not our intention.

c. How might your caring and/or wounding change your relationship to those individuals or groups? Has your opinion of the different individuals and/or groups changed? Why or why not? How? The ASPCA is a very large organization, which has a very small possibility of encountering our video. If they did, we doubt they would trouble. Our opinion of the organization is relatively unchanged, though we do appreciate the work they provide.

3. Identification of Ethicality

a. After completing and reflecting upon the previous sections, ask yourself the following questions:

i. Do you consider your acts of wounding and/or caring to be ethical?

1. Why or why not? Can you justify your acts of wounding? How? Yes, because it is entirely ethical. An advertisement is made to be watched and therefore criticised, especially one so obvious in its goal.

2. If you decide to distribute your remix, do you think it would be legal? Yes, though we don’t envision a situation in which we would be able to profit from this remix.

3. If not (see #2), what would you need to do to make the distribution of your remix ethical as well as legal?

Check out another awesome sampling project and ethical analysis at http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com/

The Bible in Action

Can't get enough comic analysis? Check out my classmates blogs at realrhetoricalrantings.blogspot.com and

http://incompetentpupil.blogspot.com/

Your Friends Are Horrible People

Procedural rhetoric is a fascinating branch of rhetoric that encompasses “the practice of using processes persuasively,” (Bogost 28) and is a subset of the field that we had not even considered previous to reading Bogost’s Procedural Rhetoric. He goes on to explain that “its arguments are made not through the construction of words or images, but through the authorship of rules of behavior.” What does this mean, precisely? One way this persuasiveness is put into action is through games, such asCards Against Humanity, a purposely distasteful card game intended for a partying audience. The game successfully fosters an environment where offensiveness is not only acceptable but rewarded. Terribly caustic and inappropriate phrases and jokes presented during the game would be immediately balked at and rejected outside of play. Under the premise of a fun party atmosphere where such behavior is unpunished, however, players’ moral standards quickly dissipate. Whether it was the intention or not, the game reveals to players how “horrible” they are and have the potential to be, given the right circumstances. Moral code is not so steadfast.

If the name isn’t enough to convince you of the blunt purpose of the game, look at what it says on the box of the game before it is even opened up: “A game for horrible people.” In fact, the creators’ website includes single worded reviews such as “horrible” and “bad”. One word says it all as they advertise these reviews to build the reputation of the game, adding to the “horrible” environment as people play. The creators also exploit the bad reputation further by allowing others to contribute more “bad ideas”. Though arguably the game’s main purpose, like all games, is to entertain, it also creates an atmosphere that brings out the dark side in everyone. It's main genius is using humor to do so.

The object of the game is to collect the most black “statement” cards. Players must learn to choose white “response” cards that appeal to the judge. The judge chooses the white card they like the best or find the most amusing, and the corresponding player obtains the black card for that round. This creates an interesting psychological twist as players attempt to appeal to each other’s darker psyches, regardless, perhaps, of their own moral background or standards.

One of the most persuasive procedures of the game is that the longer you play, the more desensitized you become. There really is no end in sight unless players have the miraculous patience to go through all 90 black cards and 460 white cards in one sitting. In a way, it’s like one of those amazing road trips where you get to know everyone on a more personal level. The longer that you're in the car with your friends and the more fast food that is eaten on the way, the smellier everyone gets. It may start out smelling awful but the longer everyone is on the ride together, the more desensitized everyone gets to the bad smell until finally you leave the car, realizing just how clean the air is outside. In Cards Against Humanity, innocent ‘moral’ people will squirm at some of the cards used like “Masturbation” and “Nipple blades.”  However, the longer the game is played the less ‘evil’ things seem. Soon the true purpose of the game alights in the eyes of all players, desperate to be the winning card. And since ‘everyone is doing it’ there’s no longer a sense of judging that usually holds people back from bringing out their worst sides.

On a similar note, the game does not hold back when it comes to response cards. For example, not every player will approve of the card “Pac-man uncontrollably guzzling cum,” but it is included in the game anyway. When “Kids with ass cancer” is an option, “Tasteful sideboob” seems perfectly mild. This lack of un-offensive card options lowers the player’s inhibitions and helps the creators’ accomplish their goal.

Another intriguing aspect to the game that undoubtedly contributes to the player’s propensity to behave offensively, is the relative anonymity involved. This is especially true when larger groups of people play, which is common given that it is marketed as a party game. When players add their own despicable answers to the mix for the judge to choose, unless their card is selected, no one knows they put it down. This concept adds an element of risk and excitement to the game as well. People are more likely to lay down wildly distasteful and hilarious cards because the risk for repercussions (i.e. being “caught”) are lower.

    In what many would consider a politically correct society, this game has no place. Perhaps that is what has made the game so successful. It is a stress release, or rather, a tool that facilitates the release of the offensive and overly sexual in a way that can be laughed at but also invites discussion. This was almost certainly part of what the creators’ hoped to accomplish with the game. As Bogost’s states, “each unit operation in procedural representation is a claim about how part of the system it represents does, should, or could function,” (Bogost 36). For all the reasons cited above, it is clear that the game has successfully utilized procedural rhetoric to help players have fun, invite discussion, and demonstrate that (in the right environment) anyone can be a “horrible” person.