The name of the magazine is Wired. They have a target audience that ranges from children all the way to adults. To put it simply, it is suitable for both the old as well as the young. The kinds of products sold in this magazine are mainly electronic gadgetsand electronic goods. The main reason for sale of these products is because the magazine is mainly about new and developing technology hence the need to keep the target groups who buy the magazine interested.
The material culture presented in this magazine would simply be described as modern since there is an inclination towards the broad use of technology to make tasks much simpler.The technological gadgets such as phones and machinery are material elements of the culture as the symbolic elements are mainly comprised of social communities available on various social media platforms.
Given that the magazine also has articles on politics, business and economic changes, the content portrays a general social rule towards the promotion of peace as well as synergy and working together. Wired mainly portrays technological values and the belief that the current generation has to keep up with advanced technology.
The content of this magazine has a huge influence on me since I am more comfortable with the idea of owning or waiting to own some of these high tech gadgets. The aim is to be a part of the larger technological community.
The magazine also has a huge influence on the world’s perception of environmental care. This is influenced by the sale and promotion of green products in the magazine. This has impacted my role as a friend to promote social relationships and enhance communication due to the development of social media in the technological world. The society as a whole is challenged to be innovative, evidenced by the need for man to make his life simpler.
Analysis of different groups
I will be comparing family groups and friendship groups. The two groups vary in that the friendship group considers social relationships, fashion, and technology as well as material possessions such as cars to be very important. On the other hand, the family group considers family ties, health, religion and academic achievements to be more important. The symbolic concept of the friendship group consists of a set of ideas about popularity as well as musical culture and dress codes, the family group is based on the right ways to achieve success, codes of conduct such as how to behave in a normal family setting or rather how to portray oneself in society (Alexander and Thompson 12).
The friendship group expects me to be up to date with recent developments, trendy and display my level of maturity. In my role as a member of a friendship group, I mainly have to encourage my friends to achieve their future dreams as we exchange life experiences. As a member of the family group, I have to keep up with the codes of discipline taught by other members of the family and successfully complete my studies. The friendship group finds a sense of belonging to the group as being very important while the family group finds social values and proper behavior to be very crucial to one’s being.
The two different groups determine my behavior as well as personality. In reality, the expectations of the groups are totally different but the friendship group has greater influence as I spend most time with friends as opposed to family. Given that the social expectations are totally different, they do tend to conflict. This has forced me to adopt a means to conform to both social groups by taking up the few similar elements and expectations of both groups. This is a hard task as it compromises the membership to both groups at the same time as I have to override some expectations from each of the groups.
Bibliography
Alexander, Jeffrey C., and Kenneth Thompson. A contemporary introduction to sociology: culture and society in transition. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2008. Print.