This week’s readings felt like a statistical roller coaster ride that efforted to map the mind of Internet users by considering receptivity of mobile phone advertising, Youtube PSAs and social network site (SNS) advertising (SNA). There were also a bunch of acronyms. As a video guy, the “Peer or Expert?…” article by Paek, Hove, Jeong and Kim was of particular interest to me in its exploration of consumer perceptions of PSA video producers. The article displays that there is a  correlation between perceived similarities in those who produce a video and those who view that video with receptivity to the message with that video. This, of course, is a question of persuasion through identification, both of which are ideas linked directly with rhetoric and its reception. Kenneth Burke strikes again. One of the big questions of the article pertains to how, with this knowledge of positive peer response, corporations will be able to resist the urge to mimic and simulate the appearance of peer creation.

The field of ethical landmines becomes more saturated when one considers the impending proliferation of mobile phone advertising, a problem symbolized by Wilken and Sinclair in their article “Waiting for the Kiss of Life,” as a “Sleeping Beauty” awaiting the kiss of her prince. These guys can’t hide their whimsical natures when they reference the problem of whether to send advertisements to users or to lure users toward advertisements as a “Dr. Dolittle Dilemma” of “push” versus “pull.” Add to the many pitfalls outlined by Wilken and Sinclair the questions raised by Kolsaker and Drakatos in their essay “Mobile Advertising: The Influence of Emotional Attachment to Mobile Devices on Consumer Receptiveness.” In the article, the authors attempt to hypothesize on how advertising might be received considering how mobile phone users associate a connective/emotional link between their phones and their families and friends. The kind of cautious approach these two sets of authors support is wise when considering the encroachment on perceived privacy in a population that is increasing “cyborg” in its phone usage. But perhaps it is this “cyborg” nature that makes advertising a natural addition to the increasingly digitized state of mind.

The final two articles, “Friends, Fans, and Followers…” by Taylor, Lewin and Strutton, and “Introducing Cobras…” (great title) by Muntiga, Moorman and Smit, attempt to highlight and scientifically classify the consumption and creation habits of users who populate social network sites. Reading these two articles was like walking through an experiment guided by the presiding scientists. They were very detailed and precise when it came to methodology. From considering motivations of being on social network sites, to a gender-based breakdown of habits while interacting within such websites, the articles, or should I say reports, were thorough, giving names to actions that hitherto might be considered nebulous habits. I can now classify myself as a “lurker” instead of a “socialiser” when it comes to my chosen interactions in the field of SNS.