Gamer Girl: Casual Edition

I am a gamer. I enjoy various platforms, including 3DS, PC, and Xbox. And while I really enjoy the escape of gaming and have at times worried I'm a statistic for the displacement hypothesis, I have used gaming to procrastinate homework assignment, I was grateful that I have never developed an addiction.

I do binge in massed practice when I first buy a game, but most weeks I am very distributed. Some weeks I don't have time to play at all. Others I play 3-4 hours or even 6-8. But hardly ever more then that.

Learning about all the difficultly and withdraw with video gaming made me both grateful I don't have that, aware of people I know who probably do, and a desire to protect my future family from those effects.

I also say that in moderation and as a stress relief I think gaming helps me do better in my schoolwork. You have to have balance in life and use time management so I think it just depends on your power of decision and your self-control.

I will always enjoy the casual gaming lifestyle. And I think it helped shape my life.

Lisa Jean

The "Cult" of Disney

I love Disneyland!! I just wanted to put that first. Before jumping into my media experience at the "happiest place on earth"!

First off I know that it makes sense that everything at Disneyland is Disney related. But the experience begins way before that! The hotels in the area are "Disney Good Neighborhood Hotel"s to show they are approved by Disney. The Streetlights have Mickey on top, the food is all shaped in Disney shapes, this list could go on forever.

I guess I just realized that they literally use every sense (touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound) and then stimulate it in a way that makes you think of Disney. It is branding to a whole new level!

Also side note I finally saw the show World of Color which is amazing and also shows so much Disney!!

So I guess my thoughts were that even at a park where your focus is on rides, the media surounding you is very specific. And humorous. And eye grabbing.

I think my favorite was learning about Disney conspiracies. Like Walt Disney got the idea for Mickey Mouse from an Egyptian mouse worshipping cult.

I think this also made me realize the power of corporations like Disney. The have their own channel, radio station, theme park, etc. Their ideals can absolutely influence you. So watch how much you consume/internalize.

Lisa Jean

On the road to Disney

Driving ten hours to Disney for my 22nd birthday was a big reminder for the importance of media. We definitely made use of music. It was positive mood management when we were all getting cramped and crabby. We also used it as background noise. Finally it was a distraction to help us stay awake!!

I think we only turned off music for 30 mins of the ten hour drive.

Finally my friend almost forgot her phone. When I mentioned that it was good she noticed right away so she could run back for it, her response was so typical of society. She said can you even have fun? How can you last without pictures, snapchat, Instagram? It made me think of how much we use our phones for purposes other then typical communication.

Maybe I will post disney pictures next time!

Lisa Jean

The power of Humor

I read an interesting essay in my SFL 290 class about how utilizing humor in teaching increases attention and learning. It was just after our unit on advertising. It made me think of how effective humor is in advertising.

I believe this is because it relates to both the feel and connect factors of advertising. Humor plays on our emotions. They make us laugh and then we often connect with the ad. Maybe we connect to the situation or we find humor in it because we relate to that humor. Sometimes I connect to ad because I can put myself in the ad.

Humor can help us correlate and create a relationship between us and the product. I find that I am more receptive and susceptible to ads with humor.

It is amazing to me how much humor does! It helps us learn and can keep our attention and spark our interest. What is your experience with humor?

Lisa Jean

Video Games for Life

So I'm looking forward to our video game discussion as a video gamer myself. I get frustrated often by the narrow minded viewpoint people have on violent video games. I read this article in one of my other classes and while I disagree with some points, I think that it at least is a good discussion tool.

I think people often are so focused on negative that they don't bother to accept or try and understand the positives of video gaming.

So the article is Here

I hope you enjoy it. And see that both sides can be right.


Lisa Jean

Conference Media

A prime example of good media being of God is General Conference. With conference weekend comes an amazing amount of good, related media.

During conference I love to watch the church's official twitter for specific quotes that I can copy down as well as for occasionally catching phrases I missed. I like following the #LDSconf because it also has quotes, pictures, and other conference related goodness.

I also think that facebook status and this conference the I'm a Mormon profile pictures all made the weekend a social media haven for spreading the gospel, having friends ask questions, and sharing our beliefs.

The devotional by Elder Bednar about Social Media kept coming in to my mind as I watched and participated in the Social Media Conference Events this weekend. I really think that it is a good push for member to promote their beliefs and stand as disciples online.


Lisa Jean