Conscious Consumption

A recurring theme that I found throughout the course of the quarter is the power of corporations over us consumers. Although Jenkins' article discusses that consumers are getting more involved and are no longer passive, he also says that corporations still wield more power. Jenkins describes the shift towards a participatory culture, where consumers try to influence the decision-making of corporations. However, I don't think that being active consumers is enough. Truth is, because we are consumers, corporations will try to outsmart us still. A better option would  be to become conscious consumers. This means that we should be aware of what and how our consumption affects us.

            There are many problems that arise whenever we become unaware of what and how we consume. For example, we discussed in class about how FaceBook exploits our information and sell them off to other third parties. If we don’t become careful of what we put online, we run the risk of not getting a job interview for example. Even though FaceBook offers social networking for free, it is not without costs to us. In reality, FaceBook is a corporation that has its own motives which are unknown to us. When I looked into other research articles about FaceBook, I found out that the design of the site really fuels addiction. The like button gives users a positive reinforcement to constantly make posts. The site in general is designed to give a positive reinforcement for just being there. Other people’s presence and other people posting comments on your wall gives you an incentive to come back. If you’re not aware of tactics like this that FaceBook uses to keep you hooked, you might end up getting addicted to it.Another example of how corporations fuel consumers’ addictions to further their own interests is through video games. In the article we read, the games were designed to keep players wanting for more.
            In the recent article we read about pornography, we see how corporations again try to outwit us to be able to sell their products. They have people who lobby for the acceptance of pornography even if numerous studies show that watching porn can lead to violent and destructive behavior. Corporations and people who advocate pornography are trying to reframe their stance as promoters of free speech even if their primary motive is really to earn lots of money.
            I can cite many other marketing ploys that corporations set up. Just last week, there was the overhyped after-thanksgiving sale. While there are lots of legitimate ones, most companies try to sell like 5 HDTV’s to get hundreds of people to come to their store. Of course only 5 can buy the item so the others would end up buying something else that they don’t need or would not have considered buying.
            It is hard to be a consumer in a world where corporations are all “trying to get us”. Even if corporations give us more power, they will still be corporations that operate under the profit motive. A challenge for us is not just to become active consumers, but to move beyond that and become conscious consumers.