spaghetti, 4/12

in class on thursday, we talked about celebrity figures in the media and their perceived credibility. I was brought back to the notion of how everyone is a critic. With the internet and its accessibility, anyone and everyone can be an expert on any topic. Expertise is measured now not by education and experience, it is measured by presence. Like we said earlier in class, someone is considered an expert if he or she has not only a tv show, but also a book, blog, etc. I remembered what Dr. Casey said about making an experiment out of the displays in borders. I was in borders the other day, looking for a birthday present for my mom and i noticed that i went straight to the books on display on the tables at the front. A lot of those books on the tables in the front were not from authors i had heard of before, yet i still stopped to look at them. This got me to thinking--not only is expertise a product of the individual's media presence, but it is also something that is fueled by the larger conglomerates. They tell us whose news channel to go to, or whose book to read by positioning. Everything is rooted in advertising. Even if we still know something is an ad, if a product is presented to us then we are aware of its existence. Therefore, it exists in our subconscious until we decide that we need what that product is selling. Therefore, the expert's credibility is not only reliant upon his or her media presence, but his or her acceptance and endorsement from larger super conglomerates.