Meyrowitz theory post

As many of you know, yesterday was my birthday. I live three hours north of here so I was unable to spend that special day with the people I wanted to most, my friends and family. I woke up feeling extremely homesick and wishing the heartache would go away. When I checked my email that morning, I woke to find that I had 25 unread messages (most of them on my facebook page). My curiosity grew and so I checked my facebook page to find that some of my closest friends and some that I hadn’t talked to in a while had taken the time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday in the only way they knew how to connect with me. Most of the people wishing me a Happy Birthday did not have access to my phone number or email so they chose to write on my social networking page as a way of showing that they care and were thinking about me. Immediately, my mood was brightened.
My little tale has a purpose. It reminded me of Meyrowitz’s theory about the para-social relationships we form through the use of networking sites such as facebook, myspace, twitter etc. The people that were writing little notes on my wall were mostly people that I once was acquainted with or had briefly passed in the hallways of my high school. Through this site, they were able to form a sort of relationship with me to where they felt connected enough to wish me a happy birthday and not feel awkward or weird. Through my status updates and other posts, they knew that my birthday was spent watching the Yankee game and talking to my best friend.
Most who posted on my wall yesterday afternoon, hoped that I would have a good day and asked me how school was going even though I have not talked to many of them for quite sometime. They feel as though they know me because of my constants post and the people I talk to. In some ways, the feelings are reciprocated. There are many people that I feel a connection with or know more about from these sites then I do from face to face interaction. Thinking in depth about it now, creeps me out a bit but also makes me realize how helpful these sites can be for reconnecting with people or remembering special events such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries etc.
Another reason I felt this theory worked for today’s post was because of the World Series game that was on Wednesday night. Meyrowitz’s theory can also be implied here. Meyrowitz states that the media allow access to social situations that normally could not be accessed. In this case, the World Series game is the social situation. The game was sold out almost from the get go. Tickets were impossible to find so many of us were stuck at home, sitting in front of our TVs watching the Yankees win their 27th World Championship title. If media did not exist or was not allowed to broadcast that game, then none of us would have known until the next morning through newspaper articles or news reports that the Yankees had won.
What of the fans across the country? What of the ones who could not get to the stadium that only sits about 50,000 people? Media allowed us to access that game and allowed us to feel the adrenaline rush of actually being there. Media allowed for each of the Yankees fans to feel that spike in their pulse when Hidekia Matsui hit his two-run homer. In turn, this access changed our behavior. I was in my dorm room watching late into the night. After 9 pm on weeknights, quiet hours begin and dorming students are supposed to be quiet and respect their neighbors. With the access to the game, I was unable to do so. Watching that game put me straight into game mode. I was cheering with the fans, chanting, yelling when bad calls were made, and jumping when runs were scored. I was acting as if I was really there. This access changed my behavior from one of respectful and quiet to one of a loud obnoxious fan.
There were no complaints, thank goodness, for others in my hallway were watching the game, but by taking this class, I was finally able to see how media access can change the behavior we have. The para-social relationships I have formed on facebook and the game being broadcasted across the nation have changed the way I look at media and how not all the things I think about when I hear the word media are negative.
This concludes my first post on my midterm blog. I hope everyone liked reading this, once it actually gets published. Oh and YAY YANKEES!!!!