Who/What is the Media?

A couple classes ago, on October 3rd, I was very confused. I did not understand what Mark was talking about and was frustrated with the way the argument between Mark and Caitlin turned out. I decided to raise my hand, and ask a question for clarification. The details of the question and the response seem to have left my memory, but the way the question was answered made me think.

Mark put a situation into context for me, because I did not understand what we were talking about. The situation made the idea clear to me and I understood the subject. In the explanation, Mark referred to homosexuals and put them into context with this issue. At first, I thought that he just thought up homosexuals from the top of his brain, and used the idea innocently. Soon, I became sceptical of the innocence. I began to think that Mark only used homosexuals because I asked the question. I felt stupid because I thought that Mark only thought I would understand if he used something that relates to me specifically. Aside from the negative feelings I had towards Mark from the argument with Caitlin, I was offended.

Last night, I could not get to sleep. I laved in my bed thinking about how far behind I am in everything and I remembered my negative feelings from the explanation. Than it sprung a memory from the past and sparked discussion in my mind. I remembered one of my friends showing me their My Space page. I noticed that there was an ad on the top for a gay spa. I said to my friend that I had never seen a gay oriented advertisement on My Space before. He silenced my remark saying that they were only there for people who had their orientation in their profile set to gay.

A connection became clear. It was targeted advertising. My status was not set to gay, so therefore I had never seen a gay ad before. The situation was put into a context that was clear that I would react to because I am open about my orientation. The question is, did mark target his response at me? Or was it just a coincidence?

I was also confused by how loosely my classmates, professors, and I had used the term ‘Media’ in conversation. Do I really know what I mean when I say ‘The media created targeted advertising?’ Who is this media I speak of?

I now believe, that everyone and everything is a part of the media. How people interact and interpret is what makes up the media. When Mark mentioned homosexuals, it was a form of media to me. Was it targeted, or a coincidence? I choose to believe it was targeted, only for the reason that I hope Mark hoped I would make a connection like this from his targeted response. That he was hoping I would realise that everything is there for a reason. It is one thing to tell us that everything is there for a reason, but seeing it in your own context and life is a different form of understanding.