Samantha Brandbergh

Samantha Brandbergh

Journalism student at Rider University with the hopes to become a music and entertainment columnist.

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    Judging the Don't Judge Challenge

    I'm not sure if this is going to be outdated, but a few weeks ago a new Twitter and Instagram trend has emerged, called the "Don't Judge Challenge." This consists of videos of teenagers with glasses, drawn on acne and uni brows making faces at a camera. It then transitions into beautiful, made-up girls with their hair and makeup perfect, and boys with pearly white teeth and their shirts off as music plays in the background. This challenge has quickly turned negative, as it is only doing the opposite of it's name. These teenagers, who appear to be flawless, are taking common and normal things- glasses, acne, and ungroomed eyebrows- and turning them into "ugly" and "undesirable" traits, which millions of teens struggle with and are insecure about. There have been many videos criticizing this challenge, which have generated millions of views across all social media platforms. This article/ topic can explore the challenge, why people are doing it, the backlash, and how it has spread negativity across the Internet.

    • I think that the time may have passed for an article based around this trend on its own, but a piece could perhaps discuss how web video culture naturally rejects those who may not be seen to adhere to typical aesthetic beauty and how this could be helped into the future, by using these videos simply as a major case study/example. – Matthew Sims 9 years ago
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    Comedy and Sensitivity: How Far is Too Far?

    This topic/ article can be an analysis of the history of comedy and how it has progressed over the years in regards to how society responds to certain jokes and comments made by comics. Recently, many comedians and others in the public eye, have come out with public apologies after a joke or statement has made its away across the media/ Internet (Darren Criss, Jamie Foxx, etc.) These apologies are most likely not genuine, but issued and advised by their managing teams. Recently, Jack Black and other comedians have commented on this issue, even posing the question: has society become too sensitive? Additionally, Amy Schumer made a joke about race and fired back at critics, defending herself and comedy. This article can also branch out and predict what comedy will become if apologies continue to be issued and if sensitivity triumphs over comedy.

    • I think comedians/comedy hide behind such offensiveness for the sake of a so-called joke even when there really is no joke to be had on the subject (genocide, rape, etc.). It's really just laziness and attention-seeking at its core because all it does is dismiss real-life concerns without adding anything new to the subject. Comedy should definitely have more sensitivity in its approach and limits or otherwise no one would ever be held accountable for trivializing and exploiting people's pain and suffering as slapstick entertainment for the masses. And of course since these comedians probably never experienced the issues they make fun of, it would only be easy for them to claim over-sensitivity since they're not the ones offended. – dsoumilas 9 years ago
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    • I used to think that there was a fine line, that everyone just knew when something was okay because of cultural norms. But those lines are blurred all the time now with several cultures existing together in the same spaces and places, so it can be harder to pinpoint. One example that comes to mind is the roast of Justin Bieber. All of the comments were meant to attack the other people present, but one speaker in particular went too far compared to the others - noticeably so based on the reaction of others around her. But did she stop her piece she had prepared? Of course not. The purpose of the roast is to insult other people, so that's what she did. Is talking about abortions too much when you are speaking about them directly to a person, saying they shouldn't have been born? Perhaps it is, seeing as how the reaction from people was negative after her coat-hanger comment. Perhaps it isn't, because she deemed it okay herself before this all happened. – kathleensumpton 9 years ago
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    Latest Comments

    Samantha Brandbergh

    A note to this article: since this has been published, there have since been 2 other internet “scandals” that have come to light. Austin Jones, a singer and Internet personality has allegedly sent young girls videos of him “teaching them how to twerk” and sending them messages on Facebook, as told by some of the recipients in videos on YouTube. More recently, a video, filmed by Viner Carter Reynolds has leaked online, showing he and his now ex-girlfriend talking, clearly intoxicated. In the video, he attempts to force his then-girlfriend, who is 16 years old, to perform oral sex on him, even though she stated she was uncomfortable with the situation. The video ends there, so what happened after is unknown. As always, these two young men still have people, mainly young girls, defending them for their actions. Why young girls still continue to defend and try to justify sexual assault is beyond me, and the fact that these situations are still occurring is very shocking.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?
    Samantha Brandbergh

    I miss this show so much, most of the animated stuff out now it kind of dumb, to be frank.

    Danny Phantom: The True Motion Comic
    Samantha Brandbergh

    Yeah, I totally agree. Some have said that they whole point of Vine is to please the “ADD Nation” we seem to have now, since the videos are only 6 seconds long. But yeah, I agree that most of it is not really of any value, as you mentioned.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?
    Samantha Brandbergh

    Yeah I agree with you, because I’ve heard stories of her song “Pretty Hurts” being passed from artist to artist before Beyonce picked it up. It’s a great song, but you still have to wonder what her real viewpoints are.

    Feminism in Pop Culture: the Good, the Bad, and the Topless
    Samantha Brandbergh

    Thanks, Lauren! And yeah, the anonymity or maybe the feeling of being invincible because of their popularity could be a factor.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?
    Samantha Brandbergh

    I agree. They don’t accept the responsibility, but I also think that they don’t realize that they have it in the first place. They want to seem like normal people and not on a level higher than their followers or viewers, but they are and they don’t come to terms with how what they are doing or saying is affecting millions of people.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?
    Samantha Brandbergh

    Yes, but when put into perspective, they do have a lot more responsibility than every day people. These people have millions of followers on multiple social media platforms watching their every move, and these people look up to them and view them as some sort of role model, and when things like what’s mentioned in the article happen, it makes you think why they would do these things, not just because they’re famous on the internet, but for the lack of them being decent human beings without a sense of what’s right and wrong.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?
    Samantha Brandbergh

    Okay but this article isn’t about “cyber-bullying” cases, and even if it was, doing so is a lot easier said than done. You can’t really just close your computer and walk away knowing that these people have gone as far as to rape people. Not exactly cyber-bullying.

    Viners and YouTubers: The Internet's New Villains?