Core Concept #5 Purpose

Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Video

Google Doc: Video script with references.

Write up

Explanation:

Jean Piaget classifies those around age 11 and up as a part of the Formal Operational stage of cognitive development. This project is focused around teaching those in this stage how to properly analyze media to become media literate. All the core concepts of media literacy help break down messages for those consuming the media to truly understand what they’re consuming. Core concept 5 focuses on the motive behind messages and overall the real purpose of the message shown. The activity that follows has to do with breaking down popular content and messages by using other skills learned from the other 4 core concepts to reveal the true motive of the content being consumed. Children in general are main targets of advertisers and advertisements are embedded into all types of content dedicated to children in many different ways. It is important to those in this age group to understand the motive behind content so that they can protect themselves better by not falling for advertisement schemes and being able to identify content they can truly trust and enjoy confidently.

Activity idea:

The activity presented below is one to help teach everyone how to identify the true motive behind media. Core concept number five is about the true purpose of the media being consumed. Many times the purpose of media is to gain profit. This activity helps those participating to practice looking for the true motive behind messages involving their favorite influencers. The skills developed during this activity will help them understand to pay attention to the content being consumed and understand key points of the video to identify the true motive of the content. This activity involves watching some Tik Tok videos made by the famous influencer Charlie D’amelio. Charlie is one of the most famous influencers on Tik Tok so she happens to have a lot of sponsored videos. In this activity the participants will have to identify which videos are for fun and which videos are actually advertisements and what she is advertising.

Foreseeable Difficulties:

The forseeable difficulties that I could see would be that it may be hard for some to look past their favorite creator as a role model to believe that some of their favorite creators are just trying to sell them things. It may be hard for them to accept that as they often look up to these influencers. I also think it may be hard to sit through this whole thing at once so I recommend taking breaks in between the videos and going through this page with an adult to ensure they are taking in the information presented.

Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives:

To gain the understanding of what a motive is
To learn how to identify underlying motives in media
To understand influencers are advertisers as well as sometimes the underlying motive of their content is for them as a consumer to buy the product introduced to them.

Project Materials:

Phone computer or tablet with access to the internet
A pen and paper to take notes on the videos presented
A partner if desired

Activity Procedures:

This activity involves Tik Tok and the famous Charlie D’amelio! You will be watching a few of her videos to identify the motive of the videos whether they are advertisements or if they are just for fun. If you think one of them is an advertisement identify what product she is advertising and how she is trying to get you to buy it. If you want and have someone willing to participate with you, you both can analyze the videos and compare your thoughts with one another on what you think the purpose of each video is. The goal here is to identify the true purpose of the videos you’re watching. So, keep an eye out for products and messages to identify the motive of the videos you’re watching.

So for each video write down your answers to the following questions

What is the purpose of this video? Are there multiple? (if so list them all)
If the purpose is to sell a product, what product is she selling? and how is she selling it?