The Learning Experence

The Learning Experience









Group Members: David Haapalehto, Ryan Klesc, Erin Pereira
CCT300H5 F
Group Project Proposal
Thursday October 20, 2005


1) Problem description:
The general idea we are working with is media’s influence on the creation and maintenance of identity. Before media, identity was based on factors like family, immediate surroundings and government. Now identity has become malleable and fluid; a national discourse created a “pop culture” for everyone to interact with, but mostly react to. Media is a catalyst to identity formation.

Clearly, there’s no real doubt that media has a powerful influence on society, identity formation being a key function – obese (literally) amounts of media theory wouldn’t exist if this wasn’t the case. We probably wouldn’t be taking a program called Communication, Culture and Information Technology.

On a personal level, media strongly influences our own sense of identity and others’. We react to “pop culture”, but “pop culture” itself is a smokescreen of self-referencing identity with no grounding in the real world – prominent media figures both in politics and entertainment are ‘created’.

We’re interested in breaking down contrived icons as well as turning the critical lens on ourselves. Our focus is on the construction of identity.

It’s not so much a problem as it is a primary existential concern. The media tells us its “pop culture” icons are real, but they are just a careful construction. (I.e. George Bush, pop stars). It’s analogous Fox News packaging “entertainment” as News, and creating the idea of an infotainment genre. Like a “simulated artificial flavor” passed off as the “real thing”.

2) Key determining forces:
The forces are not only limited to television, radio, newspapers, and the mass media, but also the promotion of its propaganda in everyday life – we all participate in creating and maintaining the false identities of others. “Why do we attend to the things which we attend?” – Harold Innis

3) Applied analysis:
Our goal is promote awareness of this process and reflect upon how it has influenced is. This identity creation paves the way for things like “corporate identity” and “branding” (in a Naomi Klein sense). Why is it so important to have an iPod as opposed to a different MP3 player? A Nintendo Entertainment System over a Sega Genesis? A mohawk instead of a crew cut? Are their reasons behind our personal preferences?

We don’t want to get caught in the trap of ignoring theories of media influence. The final project would take into consideration the varied media influence theories. It wouldn’t just be limited to one theory but show examples of the different theories: “hypodermic needle”, “multi-step flow”, “selective processes”, “social learning theory”, “cultivation theory”, “priming” and “catharsis”.

Catharsis is an interesting one, because it assumes that we have internalized the need to consume – that the very consumption of media satisfies some primal urge.

4) Project format:
Interactive Narrative
We were thinking of creating a narrative users would interact with by creating their own image. As the narrative progresses, loops, and jumps around, the created identity changes – it becomes postmodern in a never-ending stream of references. A concrete manifestation of this idea would be an RPG-style game after the style of Kingdom of Loathing. Using pop culture and issues to create satire or parody that exposes our assumptions about the process of identity creation. The user-created character evolves and its identity becomes intertwined with the media and its reality. The idea to do it in a game is exciting – it keeps the person interested in the analysis and also provides them a voice. Due to certain time constraints creating a working game will not be possible so we have decided to create a “mock-up” which will showcase what we foresee the game becoming. The project will then be displayed on a website showing all aspects of the game but lacking a final, working structure.

5) Research plan:
Our research will involve different theories of media influence and identity creation (see section 3). We will also be looking into media icons and how they relate to media identity theory, in search of a synthesis of these materials.
Here are some links we found initially:
http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1370,7273-850-36658,00.html
The above is a 26 Sept 2005 study from Ball State University, whose findings detail the excessive overuse of media devices.
http://theoryhead.com/gender/interview1.htm
Theory Head is a conversation between David Gauntlett and Kirsten Pullen about gender identity in the media.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/klh9802.html
“Media Use in Identity Construction” is Katherine Hamley’s paper on how music can help construct an identity, especially in youths.
http://info.wlu.ca/~wwwpress/jrls/cjc/BackIssues/16.1/goldman.html
From the Canadian Journal of Communications, come a work by Goldmen and Emke specifically about the construction of the Canadian identity.

6) Provisional timeline and work breakdown:
Because our initial idea is going to be a game or game-like interface, we will have to have our research and ideas created ahead of time, at least two to three weeks before the final project is due. In addition, the basic aspects of the game can be created, such as the “look-and-feel”, as well as the mechanics and if there is any database aspect to it. The design of the game should take about a month – that estimate takes into account other classes, personal life, or any minor unforeseen circumstances. Group work will be broken down based on the group members’ skills. Content will be a collaborative effort, while research and technical aspects of the website will be handled by those who have a predilection for it.