Running Head: ACCOUNTING 2

ACCOUNTING 2

Kristie response 1

Entertainment is a fun release from your day to day life and stressors around you. It allows you to have fun, interact with others or show your skills and creativity. It can give someone additional confidence, train your brain and reaction skills. Entertainment can be television, music, movies, news, magazines and even books for example. Depending who you ask, there are different views on how much entertainment you should be indulging in and also if it beneficial or not. Some people view entertainment like video games as a negative influence that leads to violence and aggression, where others may see it as a benefit to help with hand-eye coordination and reaction time improvements. Studies done by researchers have seen great improvements from FPS games on reaction time and hand-eye coordination and overall suggest that it does improve your skills. Researchers don't suggest that one should play these games for 10 hours at a time, but they do suggest that these types of games provide benefits when done in moderation.

Overall we have learned this week, and may have known prior to these resources, that entertainment has been influenced by culture, politics, eras, technology and even stigmas. Various countries have banned certain television shows, movies, books and even music. Some examples can be:

Banned Movies:

· The Da Vinci Code (Banned in the Solomon Islands)

· The Departed (Banned in China)

· The Exorcist (Banned in the UK)

· The Hunger Games (Banned in Vietnam)

· Beauty And The Beast (Banned In Malaysia And Kuwait)

Some of these movies have been banned due to political and cultural reasoning. Example can be that The Hunger Games was banned when the government deemed it unsuitable for young audiences due to kids fighting each other. Beauty and the Beast was banned in Malaysia and Kuwait due to two scenes where it is speculated that LeFou was showing interest in another man. Other instances that can be seen is when looking at how book covers and movie covers change from country to country to conform to be socially acceptable and be more marketable. Twitch, the gaming platform, has changed the way their services have been presented for categories and such based on society. At the start Twitch was primarily utilized for gaming streams, very quickly over time it has branched out into music, politics, reality, podcasts and much more! This has greatly improved the consumers experience but also has helped Twitch gain additional earnings since more consumers can utilize their products outside streaming just gaming.

On the reverse, entertainment has shaped society. Entertainment such as applications on cellphones have shaped the mental health industry by offering self-help and direct communication to online therapists. This has resulted in more people seeking help overall and also in countries where it may not be as readily available. Along these lines, during the pandemic entertainment has helped society through means of togetherness with applications like Zoom, Facetime, Facebook and gaming. Applications like fitbit and Pokémon Go have improved health through means of gamification, Library rental applications and digital book applications have increased education and shared entertainment. Book applications have also helped society through the pandemic and provide books to people with free book offers which helps those that may not have extra money to buy higher priced hard copy books. On the negative side of things, entertainment has also affected society through media and news with false advertisements. This was seen through the pandemic with false "treatments" and can even be seen in movies like "Jaws" where it scared tourists and people that typically would swim in the ocean to be more afraid of shark attacks. Other negative impacts can be seen with social media, magazines and even reality tv shows that promote slimmer/fit bodies, high priced clothing and makeup products, and even slightly glorify teenage pregnancy. This can lead to increased bullying, self-esteem issues and possible increased teenage pregnancy. 

I believe that having entertainment at our fingertips is a good thing when someone is utilizing it with control and regulation. As a non-social and very introverted person I have seen how platforms like Twitch, Pokémon go and online book clubs have overall increased not only my mental health but enjoyment overall. These entertainment platforms allow introverts to socialize in a way that is comfortable for them while being able to retreat when needed to recharge. It also allows everyone else the ability to connect with people all over the world that share the same interests as them and feel more connected. I personally have found friends that I communicate with through Twitch that are throughout the world and we connect over games and streamers. The negative sides to entertainment at our fingertips is when it is unregulated and the user has no self-control. This can lead to desensitization, gaming addictions, fatigue and sleep deprivation, social interaction issues, decreased academic performances, eye strain and possibly even delayed learning (Health, A., 2022). Some links have been made to neck and back problems, and even increased depression and anxiety due to unregulated (too much) screen time. 

When it comes to community, people want to feel included, emotional connections and being able to share interests. As mentioned by Shear, this used to be done through bars and pubs over sports games. This can still be done in sports bars and pool halls today, however, less so due to the pandemic. Now there are increased options available to do this through technological advances and improvements like Twitch, Facebook, Facebook games, YouTube, and Salesforce. Applications like Talkspace, Facebook Groups, Circle, BuddyBoss, MentorCity help bring communities together where they may not have been able to without them. These applications allow their communities to connect, emotionally, professionally, platonically or even love and family connections. The communities can also share their interests, make new friends and gain an overall sense of inclusion. With this is has promoted an overall sense of community and one could argue that it has improved overall quality of life for those communities.

Health, A. (2022). What are the negative side effects of too much screen time?. Retrieved from 

Shear, E. (2022). What streaming means for the future of entertainment. Retrieved from 

UMGC (2022). Technology and Entertainment – Modern Trends PowerPoint. Retrieved from 

Dasani response 2

1. Discuss how entertainment has shaped and been shaped society. Provide some examples. 

Entertainment has shaped society by affecting the way people do things in their daily lives. The way people live is shaped by entertainment is numerous ways. For example, what people eat, buy, and how they act is based on what entertainment they are into. Reality TV makes watchers, “More competitive, believe revenge is important, have a desire for status, and feel connected with the person they are watching” (Im, 2021).

2. What do you think are the benefits and challenges of having readily available entertainment at our fingertips?

Today, there are both benefits and challenges due to entertainment being right at out fingertips. I believe that entertainment often causes us to lose track of time and get distracted, and this is a challenge in some of our day-to-day activities. For young children there are also some challenges when it comes to entertainment. Entertainment can affect child development, and studies show that when there is television on it lessens the parent to child interaction (Radesky and Christakis, 2016). Some benefits of entertainment; videos games for example, “Improve acadmenic skills, motivate, teach self-care skills, improve movement” (Im, 2021).

3. Shear (2019) observed that throughout most of history, entertainment was a "multi-player" endeavor, but somewhere along the way, it became a solitary activity. Why do you think this occurred? How can entertainment technology be used to promote a greater sense of community? 

I think that thew multi-player phenomenon occurred because it was important for people to stick together, Shear discusses this about thirty seconds into his TED talk in 2019. Shear states that in the world of entertainment there was “A separation between the creator and the consumer” (2019). Shear goes on to discuss the way entertainment has created a way for people to do a lot of things alone instead of together as a community. Livestreaming is a way to promote a greater sense of community. Livestreaming allows for people to join who hs common interests

 Dasani Rolle

References

Im, K. (2021, July). Modern trends in Entertainment [PowerPoint slides]. . 

Radesky, J., & Christakis, D. (2016, November). Media and young minds. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162591. 

Shear, E. (2019, April). What streaming means for the future of entertainment [Video]. TED Conferences.