Final Autoethnography

Autoethnography Essay
Fernando Martinez, RWS 1302.
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
Life would probably not be the same without some of the Pop Culture icons that we see in our
daily life. Most people wont even notice they are so deeply affected by these artifacts. In my
personal experiences I have found this to be true , for this same reason I pretend to explain how
much I have found three of these artifacts to be shaping my life in ways I could have not even
imagined until I had made my research and found out about them. I also plan to add references as
to add to how it affects life in general and how it might affect you, in the same way it affects me,
maybe without you knowing it. The point of this paper is also to analyze how has some of this
artifacts have an impact over daily life and if they have a positive impact on life in general or
not.
Keywords: Artifacts, Netflix,iPhone,YOLO.

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Autoethnography
During these past weeks I have found that there are certain artifacts that can be easily seen
affecting my daily life in more ways than I could have thought of until now. However, some of
these artifacts are not only affecting my life but also the life of others that are surrounding me.
Examples of this kind of artifacts are the ones I am going to talk about, which are the iPhone, the
motto YOLO, and Netflix. During this text I will analyze how these artifacts affect, in their
own way, the life of people that own them.
A clear example of one of these artifacts is the iPhone, a cellphone created by Apple
some years back. Ever since it was originally announced in diverse websites such as MacWorld,
a website dedicated to Apple products as soon as they are announced, it has created a great
impact in society, going in depth about the date, and we can find that it was announced as back
as January 9, 2007. Examples of it having a great impact is the fact that up to this point , the
iPhone has been growing in user base until now.
An example of the impact it has created in my personal life, is seeing the lack of physical
books and newspaper in favor of a huge growth of a digital age boosted by devices such as the
iPhone. However, one could also assume that one of the factors influencing this is the fact that
they are really popular in countries that sell them. One way in which one could prove that
statement is that, according to Mark Rogowsky from Forbes, the 500th million iPhone was sold
during 2014 (Adding up to the point of a growing user base). This means that there are quite a
big number of iPhone users around the world showing that this tendency has become more than
just owning an iPhone and using it in the eyes of society. Myself, being personally involved in
this tendency , can assure the fact that it means a lot more than just a phone.

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The creation of the iPhone has brought up the creation of an argument over what phone is
better for you. It has impacted my life as my friends see me as someone who knows about
technology, and for this reason they ask for advice if the iPhone is really worth it or not. I have
owned one for 4 years now, and it has also impacted my life by also making everything easier.
Just being able to read my homework, books, call someone or just play some games over a single
electronic device has made everything so simple. Due to this, there is more free time one can use
to spend in whatever way they wish to do so which helps productivity in general.
A very important topic while having the iPhone is the implications that come along in
ones life by owning it. Having the phone means that you can make life easier as in my personal
case, by having videos, pictures, contacts, games and internet all in one place which you can
easily carry for any occasion. However, it also impacts having to take care of it by charging it
and prevent it from being damaged. In my personal experiences the iPhone has impacted my life
by reducing the amount of devices to carry both work and entertainment to a single device.
Another thing I noticed is how even certain expressions could become parts of Pop
Culture and affects our daily life even without noticing it ourselves. A clear example of this is the
expression YOLO which means You Only Live Once. The origin of this motto, according to
Quote Investigator, a website dedicated to researching the origin of certain internet trend topics,
is unclear as it could have been used with variations across the years.
This artifact has been used in diverse cases by popular artists which could be a factor as
to why it got so popular. Personally, it has impacted my life in how people around me use it. It
has made me think as to be a little more mature as I do not want to look just like them when they
yell YOLO! while doing something that is not good for them. This also applies with some
discourse communities; this motto simply becomes a bad thing. Another thing that needs to be

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mentioned over the impact of this motto in my personal life , is that it never ceases to create an
amusing situation where people find themselves in life threatening situations not only for them ,
but also to people that are close to them. This impacts both me and society as the lack of
responsibility of someone else due to mottos like this, can really ruin lives.
Examples of how the phrase could ruin lives could be seen since an article published in
Time News newspaper in 2012. Originally published by Aylin Zafar , the article talks about a
situation that was presented when a rapper was creating tweets while driving in an intoxicated
state due to alcohol. The rapper ended up in a fatal crash accident which shows how this motto
has been used in an improper way. It creates an impact as to why we should be careful as this
motto can impact us even if we did not use it by creating accidents of this kind. This works as
proof to see how a bad use of artifacts can bring danger both to the person that uses them as well
as to people that are close to them which impacts basically everyone in society.
However, looking at the other perspective of things, it has also helped shape a cultural
understanding where not everyone takes it in the worst way possible as the case presented above.
Good applications to this artifact exist and they can be seen all over the social media. In my
personal experiences, I have found it to be useful as to lose the fear over something and go ahead
and finish up the job. Examples of this can be found in situations such as where I could feel fear
of knowing new people due to a shyness problem, but found out that in the worst case scenario ,
life would go on which brings the good impact of a motto like this.
Another Pop Culture icon that has impacted my life on the past year is Netflix. According
to their website, ever since it was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Mark Randolph, Netflix
has changed its original goal over the years all the way to the present year, attracting more people
all the way to the point of having over 50 million subscribers all around the globe in the present

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day, according to their website. This growing phenomenon is slowly occupying more and more
countries in their services which shows that this artifact is likely to keep growing rather than
decaying in their user base.
In the cultural aspect, I can see Netflix becoming even bigger while taking out other
services. Most people I know already have it, and those who dont are usually persuaded into
getting it as to see all the movies and series that the website has to offer with just one monthly
subscription charge applied to their credit cards. This has also impacted me as to show how I
save more money by just paying a monthly fee for Netflix, allowing me to be in favor of services
like this.
In my personal experiences I do own Netflix and I must say that most of my family is
becoming more used to it than to use other services such as cable. Examples of this point can be
seen as to how some years back the TV was always on, ever since we have gotten Netflixs
services , the TV is only on to have a bigger screen and not to watch the cable. While being on
campus one can also see people using its services during their breaks to make some time while
enjoying both movies and series of genres they enjoy as Netflix gives out recommended films
based on what you have seen and liked. By this point both my family and I would not see life the
same without it.
In conclusion, there are many artifacts which affect our daily life without even noticing it.
These three are ones Ive noticed in just a couple of days. This could lead one to think of how
many of them affect their daily life as well as how it has affected society, be either for the good
part of it, or for the bad part. One thing is for sure, life would not be the same without artifacts
that we use daily such as the ones presented here due to the fact that we use them, or that
someone that we know uses them on a regular basis.

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References
Honan, M. (2007, January 9). Apple unveils iPhone. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
http://www.macworld.com/article/1054769/iphone.html
Rogowsky, M. (2014, March 25). Without Much Fanfare, Apple Has Sold Its 500 Millionth
iPhone. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2014/03/25/without-much-fanfare-apple-has-soldits-500-millionth-iphone/
Zafar, A. (2012, September 19). Aspiring Rapper Drunk-Tweets YOLO Just Before Fatal Car
Crash. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/19/aspiring-rapperdrunk-tweets-yolo-just-before-fatal-car-crash/
Toole, G. (2012, May 24). You Only Live Once YOLO. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/05/24/live-once/
A brief history of the company that revolutionized watching of movies and TV shows. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/loginPageSalesNetWorksAction.do?contentGroupId=10477