Chapter 4: Question 4
4. What other conditions may decrease and or increase the receptiveness of an individual to subliminal suggestion?
I asked many questions in my survey that did not pertain to television. There is a connection, though, to TV, with each of the questions that I asked. My first concern was if the respondent had a computer at home. Ninety-four percent answered that they did, and since all of the surveys were filled out online, I knew that 100% of those surveyed had access to a computer and to the Internet in the course of their day. Eighty-eight percent of those with computers at home have Internet access.
Television is evolving into another state of use, another technology in many ways, than it has been for decades (Cringely, 1999; Froomkin, 1996). Digitized images are now being shown on the newer sets, and re-formatted digital images are being shown on the older, non-digital TVs. With this evolution of technological imagery enhancement comes the melding of other, once considered disparate, communication and entertainment formats, into one colossal, all-inclusive, interconnected device (Cringely, 1999). Since my research study in primarily concerned with the homogenization of thought, the potential for society to loose the differences among cultures and perspectives that makes each of us so unique, so individual, it was imperative that I explored the technological advances that are making it increasingly difficult for one to know when one technology begins and one ends. To know when and where reality exists and when fiction is all that there is.
Digitized information is all computer code, and like everything done with a computer, it can be copied, deleted and modified as long as one has the proper tools and the knowledge in how to manipulate the code (Anonymous, 1997; Heller, Roberts, 1999; Ladd, O'Donnell, 1998). Skill and patience are the two primary ingredients for working with digitized information. It can be done by anyone who has the background and the desire (Anonymous, 1997; Lemay, Rogers, 1999). Keeping this in mind, we will now explore the final section of my research, and what I believe is the most critical.
An equal number of those not having a computer at home also did not have an email account, though it was not necessarily the same individual. Ninety-four percent do have an email account so it could be concluded that some of these accounts are made while using a computer that is not at home. Of the students surveyed, 100% said that they could go onto the Internet at school. As Tricia recounts, "Sure, I go onto the Internet all the time at school. During class, in the computer lab, the teacher thinks we are doing our spreadsheets but we are really on the Net…. Its so cool!". With so many having Internet access it was interesting to see what their primary use for it was. Only 12% found that researching information was the most favorite use for the Net, while 76% used it for entertainment purposes, chatting, games, and surfing. Twelve percent stated that their favorite use was accessing their email. Yet, even with these seemingly benign uses of the technology, "When browsing the web your fingerprints are left every place that you stop (Alwang, Mendelson, Rubenking, 2001, pg. 153)
The diversity and number of computerized "gadgets" that an individual uses have a direct bearing on my study. I asked several questions that would provide a clearer picture of how many people utilize what is available to them in either software or hardware options. The level of expertise in using the options available to a computer user could be a good indicator of the degree that these technologies can be used either with or without their understanding the implications involved (Alwang, et al, 2001).
Similar to watching television, yet having a more interactive involvement on the part of the viewer, are the video games that are played using the TV screen to show the visual elements of the game. I have included questions pertaining to video games in my research survey because there are many similarities between viewing TV and viewing a video game (Johnson, 1999). Video games are played by 64% of those whom I surveyed. Of those, 67% do so at least a couple of times per week. This amount of time spent playing video games is in addition to time spent watching TV. Games can also be played on a computer, with 64% of the people saying that they play games on the Net.
Time is being spent in various forms of digitally provided entertainment. I asked if one had digital cable access for their computer or TV and 34% answered yes, which was not surprising since it is becoming more readily available to areas around the country (Alwang, et al, 2001). What I did find of interest, though, was that 15% did not know if they had digital cable or not. This is a pretty important upgrade to computer and television data access, one that would be difficult not to be aware of. Those surveyed were pretty knowledgeable about what their default browser was set to, with only three browser options being chosen from dozens of options available to all Internet users. Internet Explorer has 61% using it as their default, and America Online came in with 21%. Netscape, at 18% was third, though, from experience, I know that America Online has a contract with Netscape that has Netscape intertwined within the AOL format (Rushkoff, 2001), so the choices are actually less than one would first think. Tina and Joe seemed to be the most advanced in how they utilized their browsers, both incorporating 'skins' to give their browser interface a personalize, unique look. When I asked about most preferred Internet search engines, the answers were more varied. Yahoo was the top percent gatherer with 40% naming it, while America Online had 22%. Apple, Excite and MSN all tied with 10% each. Only two other search engines were even mentioned, Google and C4. There are hundreds of search engines available, yet only seven where mentioned, and one, AOL, is actually a web portal, ISP and more all rolled into one. Banner ads, those rectangular, animated mini-billboards that tout some kind of special deal or fabulous offer are seen on many, many pages throughout the Net. I wanted to know if people actually click onto these ads, finding out that 64% of those surveyed do click onto these ads. When I asked Joe if he ever clicked onto a banner ad, he said, "Sure, I do it for fun". "What do you think they are there for?", I asked. "Well, to advertise stuff, and to give you a chance to find out more about the stuff they're showing in the ad." I asked Tricia if she ever clicks onto the banner ads and she remarked, "Yeah, I do, 'cause a lot of them have contests with them." "Do you leave your name and email address for the contest?", I asked. "Sometimes I do, sometimes I leave one of my extra email addresses, and the ones I don't check into often…. I loose track sometimes", she remarked. What is important about this piece of information is that by clicking onto the banner and a person immediately becomes known as a piece of marketing data (Alwang, et al, 2001; Medford, Dreier, Rivkin, Dragan, 2001). Databases easily track web surfers as they click away, site after site (cite), with each click their personal preferences, and interests and more are collected and catalogued for use by whomever. Personalizing a search engine so that specific information will always be available is another way that information can be collected about somebody (Alwang, et al, 2001; Medford, et al, 2001). Forty-nine percent answered that they have already set up a personalized search engine and 15% did not know if they ever did or not. A similar type of personalization is setting ones' search engine to display current news and weather for a certain area. Forty-six percent have entered the necessary information into their search engines database to allow a current readout of local weather reports, effectively letting the world know where they are sitting, accessing the Internet at that moment. The same with news, once it is personalized to show certain stocks and activities then that information is readily available to data gathering programs (Alwang, et al, 2001; Medford, et al, 2001).
The question whether one visits a regularly scheduled chat session on the Net was asked for similar reasons as the previous questions concerning personalization. Forty-three percent do visit regularly scheduled chats, enabling a focused tracking of interests and data gathering, which can provide a wealth of information about someone (Sanders, 2001; Schwartz, 2001). Eighteen percent did not know if they visited one or not.
A television program, in digitized format, is available for viewing on a computer. Forty-six percent already have that option available on their home computers while 19% did not know if they did or not. Ed has digitized TV capability on one of his family computers. "I guess that means we have 2 TVs, not one", he said after we talked about it. "I like having the mini-screen showing the game while I am surfing the Net, I get bored easy and it gives me more to do at once!", said Ed. Sixty-four percent have crossed the marketing bridge of after viewing a TV program they then go to that program's web site. Everyone that I interviewed had visited sites related to TV programs. Ann enjoys going to the sites that feature her favorite daytime soaps to find out what the storyline is. Joe likes to go to fan club web sites and participate in chats and online bulletin boards. Eighteen percent own a PDA, 82% use a portable CD player with headphones and 79% have their own cell phone.
Ed told me that his PDA is really helpful; it helps him keep track of phone numbers and addresses. I asked him if it is Internet capable and he said, "I think it is, I need to read the instructions that came with it, though!" Joe uses his cell phone to check in with his "buddies". "Hey, I can contact anyone, any time, anywhere… sometimes I'm on the Net and talking on the phone to someone that I am chatting with at the same time… its awesome!"