Lack of Social Media Part 2

Twitter is a social networking site where people could post tweets (text messages with a 140 characters limit) and others could follow you to be notified of your tweets.

JMU Makeouts Twitter page. 
Background: The JMU Makesouts Twitter account is a place where JMU students post pictures of other JMU students making out typically at parties. This account has been going on for awhile, but it got shut down because there were pictures that were more than just people making out. The fact that the page got so out of hand says a lot about how big of a deal this was yet I was completely unaware of its existence for a long time. 

The thing is, when I found this Twitter page even existed, I thought it was plain ridiculous. People would tweet pictures on this page and that was what others found entertaining. I am certain that other universities have similar pages and just the whole idea of taking pictures of others making out is unsettling. People thought that it was funny to post pictures, but I never grew up with social   media heavily influencing me so what the many JMU students found as enjoyment confuses me since I don't understand the culture of American social media. 

Food pictures-Why?

I went to lunch with my friend today and she happens to be a white. I've noticed that every time I go out to eat with her, she always takes pictures of her food and posts it on Instagram. The only thing I knew about Instagram was that it was a website where you can posts pictures up (at least that's what I believe it to be). I asked her why she felt the need to take pictures of her food and post it and all she did was reply "I don't know, it's just something that I do along with many other people."

I didn't understand. This seemed to be the American culture, but I wasn't following it nor do I understand it very well. My brother told me once that not growing up with TV hindered our ability to pick up on phrases and words that were part of the American culture. TV is important because common shows help people have something to talk about in conversations and find commonalities. It's one way to learn the language or "lingo" of the era and the American kids. I believe that social media websites do the exact same thing. Maybe if I created a Instagram and started posting up pictures, I would understand what my friend meant, but the fact that I never grew up with TV nor much media surrounding me, I was just confused at these little influences on how media plays a key role in today's society and the importance of connecting others to each other.

Here's what I had for lunch today. I tried to be like my friend and post a picture of my food. I found that I wanted to have common ground with her because I knew that many people did the same thing. I really am confused as to why people do this...

Where's the Duck Dynasty?

Now that it's Thanksgiving break, I went back to my home in Northern Virginia and spent time with my family. As I am getting into the groove of getting accustomed to my house again, I went to Walmart to pick up a few groceries today. Remember how I was shocked at all the Duck Dynasty apparel in Walmart? Well, it seems that the influx of Duck Dynasty shirts and gadgets and toys was just specific to the Walmart down at JMU in Harrisonburg because I only saw one little stand of Duck Dynasty at Walmart today near my home. It was weird because I wasn't bombarded with all the advertising apparel that I was back at the Walmart at JMU. I expected to see Duck Dynasty plastered everywhere, but it took me by surprise to see Duck Dynasty almost non-existent at my Walmart.

This just shows the huge culture difference between the interests of the two different areas. I found it odd that there was such a big difference in the merchandise two hours up north and how media affects certain types of areas of Virginia. Growing up, I definitely did not get introduced to shows like Duck Dynasty and it's hard to keep up with the white Americans at JMU if I never watched 1) the shows that they all watched and were surrounded by when they were young and 2) any TV much at all when I was a child. I've definitely felt more of a sense of disconnect with the American kids at JMU than at my home just because there were less of an expectation to keep up to date with shows. Northern Virginia has more diversity so not many people were focused on one certain show and less people were acquainted with the same shows. It was hard enough trying to not let my lack of TV affect me in high school where the culture wasn't as focused on certain media, but in Harrisonburg everyone knows all these different shows that I'm unfamiliar with and many times I find myself lost in conversations because everyone is talking about what happened on a TV show or on their social media websites and I'm not sure how to connect with people without any of this media.

No To A Future In Entertainment Part 2

My belief of Asian culture not looking highly upon entertainment seems to prove the lack of Asians in media at all in America. I rarely see Asians cast as actors or actresses in TV shows or movies. I was watching the show Friends the other day and I realized that they were all white. Flipping thrrough the channels, I saw a few shows that had all black people in it and a good number of shows that had all white people in it. This did not surprise me one bit, seeing as I'm not in Asia so I would assume that there wouldn't be any all Asian shows, but I'm finding myself not being able to connect with the outside world on these shows as much just because it is not my culture. Not seeing Asians in TV shows hinders my experience of the show and the connection I can make with the show isn't as strong as the connection that others that are the same race as the actors can. It almost seems that if I don't want shows that are the same race as the people I'm surrounded by, I will be mocked.

Where I am from, there is a much bigger Asian population than at JMU (like I have mentioned earlier in my previous blog). I know that many of the Asians I talked to watched korean dramas and anime shows, but entering JMU I don't hear much about either of them. Of course, there are exceptions like Avatar the Last Airbender and Naruto that I know many Americans, regardless of race watch, but I remember my friend who watches anime was looked down upon by the white people at JMU in my hall. It was just a difference in culture on what each person finds as entertainment in media, but they still seemed skeptical. I used to watch quite a bit of anime when I was little and it was normal since there were so many people watching it with me, but I feel that at JMU I wouldn't be able to have a conversation about anime with the majority of the people because of the difference in the little media that I did consume as a child. 

No To A Future In Entertainment

One thing is for certain: Asian culture does not look highly upon entertainment. Not only does the Asian society see social media and entertainment as more of a distraction than part of a culture, but Asians parents don't approve of their kids going into the entertainment job market.

I remember when I was young, I told my Mom I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. She told me "Don't be an actress. Not many people make it to the top like the celebrities you see on TV and in movies. It's a very hard life." So me being an actress was shut down immediately at a young age. Another time I told my Dad that it would be cool to be an anchorwoman for a news channel. He said to me "very few people can make it big on the news channels so it wouldn't be practical for me to become one." Looking back, there were frequent times that my parents discouraged me from entering the entertainment field. That being said, they have discouraged my brothers and me from having any social media websites and from pretty much any form of entertainment that is part of growing up in America.

Another Separation

I've realized that me not connecting with the American culture through social media is not the only type of alienation I have felt. Entering James Madison University has led me to believe that I have stepped into a world where I have alienated myself beyond anything I have ever experienced. I keep hearing how the majority of the students that go to JMU are white so I actually wanted to see the percentage and if it was true that white students dominant over minority students. Here's what I found...

2012 Statistics for JMU's total student body by race/ethnicity

15,820 white

821 Asian

788 Hispanic

780 Unknown

779 Black or African American

497 Two or More Races

359 Non-Resident Alien

54 Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

29 American Indian /Alaska Native

JMU's ethnic diversity is below the national average.

B

As you can see, I have entered a school where the majority of the people that surround me are white. Being Asian, I am well aware of the dominant white culture that I have willingly entered myself into.  Back where I used to live, I felt that it was much more diverse than JMU is. I have 2/5 classes where I am the only minority. Not even just the only Asian. The ONLY non-white person. My mom was afraid I wouldn't have any friends when I chose to go to JMU because all my life I have had Asian friends up until college. Of course, she didn't really help me assimilate into the American culture when I was young. Although I thought it was important to keep my heritage, I never quite really felt accepted by the white community. Guess my way of growing up was too different than an American family's way of growing up.

Even in my own neighborhood at home, I didn't fit in. The majority of my neighbors were all white. It's not that I didn't get along with the kids, but it's not like they were my friends either. They always played with each other and would go to each other's houses but 1) I was never invited and 2) they never talked to me much. I don't know if it was because I am Asian or if it's because I acted too different to the point that they couldn't connect with me. I sure never connected with them. For example, my parents never pushed me to play any sports, but instead wanted me to learn musical instruments. On the other hand, my neighbors were the types of people that were tri-star athletes who played many different sports. Already there was a barrier between us. I even believe that some of my neighbors thought that my family and I were so different to the point that we weren't even human beings. I specifically remember one of the moms in my neighborhood asking me if my family had a dinner bell that was wrung to let everyone in the house know that dinner was ready. I have never heard of anything like that before and I was so confused as to why she asked me such a bizarre question. 

I never really felt the presence of being in a dominating white school until I went to a meeting for Boarderline, the skiing and snowboarding club at JMU. I came into this school accepting that I had to get out of my comfort zone and make friends that weren't all Asian, given the ethnic diversity at JMU. I didn't mind being surrounded by many white students, but the moment I entered that room with hundreds of kids there for the club meeting, I freaked. I almost had a meltdown because everyone in that club already had a group of friends who they were talking to and I realized that if I went on a skiing/snowboarding trip, I'd be the one skiing down the slopes by myself. Not that I couldn't make friends, but just the fact that I never really felt comfortable around white kids and that they already had their groups picked out was too overwhelming to me. That's when I realized that I might never connect with Americans because I myself am not an American. I am an Asian-American who was raised by Asian parents from Vietnam. I have the roots of an Asian culture inside of me that I grew up with and will never be able to shake off. 

Game of Thrones? Breaking Bad? Whaaat?

So these two series have been going on for about 4-5 seasons. How come I have only started noticing all the hype they've had just recently? When did these TV shows even become popular? I believe I have made a little bubble around myself. My parents never advocated watching TV nor having any social media websites because they have always heard of the dangers of the Internet. I grew up in a house where anything on the computer had to be taken with caution. Even now, my mom still talks to me about how I shouldn't post any pictures on Facebook or any personal information about myself whereas my friends have parents who have things like Facebook and Twitter and are actually friends with their children. My parents would never ever do that. Oh, how culture differences conflict.

Because my parents were not born in America, it is hard for them to understand what I am going through by being an Asian-American. I feel so oblivious to the constant changes of what is "in" and what is "out". For example, I just recently made a Snapchat. Apparently Snapchat has been going on for awhile and not many people use it anymore. I doubt my parents would even know what Snapchat is and just the other day I overhead people saying that their moms snapchat them pictures of little siblings or their pets. The difference that I see is that Asian culture is much more reserved when it comes to social media. To me, the focus is much more on academics rather than things that would distract you from studying (aka media in general).

I guess part of me refuses the trending social media sites at first because of the way I was brought up, but then the whole culture shift affects me and I feel like I need to be part of the American culture so I cave into getting apps and websites like Facebook--only to discover that I am one step behind what is trending.

Lack of Social Media

I have a Facebook, but even that seems to be getting old fashioned. I don't have a Twitter nor a Tumblr nor an Instagram nor any other form of social media. I am a college student and it seems that the world revolves around all these social media sites and I feel like I'm being left out in the dust. Even most major companies have tried to become technologically savvy by having their own Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that people can like and tweet about. Will me not participating in this social media craze give me the same feeling of being left behind from when I stopped watching TV when I was young?

How TV branched off

I used to think that TV shows were watched only on TV. Nowadays I see so many people watching TV shows on their laptops and Ipods. It's weird that I never noticed this shift until I got to college. I guess when TV was taken from me, it took more than just TV. It took away my ability to notice how much TV is a part of the American culture.

What is the big deal about Duck Dynasty?

I had a conversation with my friends today about Duck Dynasty. This TV show never existed in my vocabulary until I went to Walmart and saw Duck Dynasty clothing and accessories everywhere. One of my friends explained the show to me as "a bunch of rednecks who shoot ducks". I started to question others about the show and most people watched it because it appeared humorous to them. I didn't see the point of watching a show where men went out and used ducks calls to shoot ducks. It didn't make sense to me. Is my humor different from everyone else's?

Where It All Began

TV was my life as a child. It didn't matter what time of the day it was. I watched TV constantly. My mom saw my addiction to TV and cut off my TV right there and then. Years later, she put the cable back on, but by then I didn't care much for TV anymore. That disconnection from TV continued to throughout the present and now I realized just how hard it is to establish a connection with someone because I don't share the same experiences that most American youth do.