“Sleeper Curve” until reading this excerpt, hadn’t ever really considered the idea that modern media was more than just idle entertainment. I too unintentionally looked down on video ‘gamers’ and those that watch reality TV, only seeing laziness in interests of that nature. However now I would say I agree with what Johnson was trying to promote with the “sleeper curve” idea. While baseball statistics and video games aren’t my cup of tea, there are plenty of there things in my life that could be seen as similar activities in relation to the sleeper curve.
An example Of this is the show pretty Little Liars, which I watch religiously. To the average Joe, this show is just teenage girl-drama nonsense. However, if looked into there’s so much more at play. The person watching the show has to keep up with all of the constantly changing situations and relationships (not necessarily romantic), as well as consider character backgrounds, such as crimes committed, from previous episodes/seasons.
If something major happens, it’s not just because; the watcher must consider motive and intention. Like Johnson referenced, this show illustrates the complexity of social networks and situational relationships. It’s both relatable and usefully educational, not only to teens in high school, but also to young adults about to embark on the journey of life in the real world. Another major example is social media as a whole. Instating, for instance, is an app in which you post pictures.
Sounds simple, right? However there is a much deeper thought process involved than just ‘upload a picture’.
In general, the understood objective is to have a good ratio of followers to following. This means that you want to have a lot more people ‘following you, than you ‘follow,/. To do this, you post interesting pictures; you like other people’s photos so that they’ll be more likely to return the favor. You add a filter to the photo to make it more interesting you edit it like crazy.
You add lots of tags “hostage’) to the picture’s description so that more people are likely to see it when they search that subject through the app. This app is training today’s middle-choler’s to be savvy in the business world. If you think about it, these children are going into high school pre-educated in marketing strategies. They’ve learned firsthand how to present themselves, hopefully appropriately, and this knowledge can be used later in the real world, such as applying for jobs. Cellophane applications also have real-life applications it seems.
The Sleeper Curve. (2019, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-johnson-s-sleeper-curve/