How Much Will Things Really Change?

            After watching Johanna Blakley, I am no more convinced of her argument than I was before I viewed her speech. I could see what she was going for, but I was not at all persuaded by her. Her points were very valid and had data to back them up, but I felt that she did not connect her points well enough or choose the most convincing evidence to back her argument. One of her main points was that women will, in the future, drive marketing and media on the internet. Her sole reasoning for that, however, was not convincing. To assert her point she showed graphs about how women on the internet in all age groups spend more time on the internet and interact more on the internet. While this is true, it has no bearing whatsoever on her argument. Just because women use more social networking and use the internet more does not mean that they will now be catered to by advertisers more. In my own experience, I have too found that girls spend more time on the computer and social networking sites than most males do. But, just because girls enjoy talking on Facebook and tweeting more than the average male doesn't then mean that the world will now become more female-oriented and all ads will be directed at them. That is just a ridiculous assumption. While I’m sure companies will continue to use and expand the internet as a tool for marketing, this doesn't mean that they will only direct their attention to females because they spend more time on the computer. Men still spend time on the internet, and run into media in various other places as well. Just because the internet is growing and becoming more popular now does not mean that this will lead to companies halting the use of advertisements in other forms of media such as TV, magazines, and numerous others.

            Another problem with this presentation was that she seemed to be claiming that advertisement companies will no longer use demographics to market to people. That is another ridiculous assumption because demographics are and always will be a great way to identify people and their needs. While they might not cover every aspect of a person, there are obvious differences between all types and ages of people that are certain to affect what they buy. For example, a person in college will probably like and enjoy a great deal of the same things many other college students do. This would lead to them buying the same things, so companies can advertise to them in the same way. Just because companies can now monitor what we like does not at all imply that they will scrap all usage of demographics in advertising.