Myplace: The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis
Mary Hoffman
COMM/315
March 3, 2014
Dr. Jody Kehle

Myplace: The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis
Diversity is a term that has grown in its use over the years. Simply put, the term refers to all of the ways in which people are different and unique. These include each individual, groups of people, and cultural differences (Bucher, 2010). So often, our society judges people by outer appearance (for example: color of hair, color of eyes, and clothes you wear), the social groups people are associated with, the home/neighborhood you live in, the car you drive, and even the school you attended or graduated from. It’s just like judging a book by its cover. I think everyone does it a little, whether they mean to or not.
During my review of the Myplace multimedia analysis on the University of Phoenix student web site, I noticed that began to look for superficial characteristics in the individuals photos to match the profile. Example 1: “I received my bachelor’s degree in English and worked as the managing editor of a weekly newspaper while pursuing my master’s degree in communications. Shortly after attaining my master’s, I worked for a large company as a graphic specialist before I began teaching for Axia College online. While working on my master’s degree, I lost my mom to cancer. Soon after, I struggled to find myself and experimented with many drugs, only to find that they weren’t the answer and that my mom wasn’t coming back.” (Myplace: The Place for Diversity, 2014)
In this scenario, I selected the wrong person initially. I did not think, due to her appearance, that Jenna would be the type of person that would pursue her master’s degree. She has multiple tattoos and piercings; 13 piercings to be exact. I immediately judged her and did not see her as a motivated or educated person. She looked to be young in age and totally not my impression of what a college teacher would look like. On the other hand, I did think that she seemed like the type of person that would use and struggle with drugs. I know this is very superficial of me and it is hard not to perceive people in a particular way. The fact is that most of people’s diverse characteristics seen and visual to one’s eye but there are the unseen or hidden characteristics as well. For instance, Jenna has a few hidden characteristics such as: her mother passing from cancer, having a bachelor’s degree in English and the fact that she is received her master’s degree in communication.
Zach’s profile of non-observable characteristics read, “I graduated from Girard High School in 2003. I have worked various jobs, such as manufacturing plastics parts in a factory, telemarketing, and sales and marketing. Out of all the jobs I’ve ever had, though, the one I have right now is the best of all: I am a stay-at-home dad for well over a year now, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Part of the reason I became a stay-at-home dad was because I have ankylosing spondylitis, which is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that attacks the joints, spine, and pelvic areas and eventually causes fusion of the spine.” (Myplace: The Place for Diversity, 2014). Now some of Zach’s observable characteristics helped me to select the correct person in for the profile. Zach has a labret piercing which is gauged to an 8. He also looks as if he is not in the best of health and just appears most like he would be willing and even enjoy not working and being a stay-at-home dad.
Now Jill not only looks like she has it all together but her profile proved she has it all together. Her photo, looks as if it was a college graduation photo, gave the impression of a successful and well-educated person. Her posture and her attire in the photo give a professional appearance and demeanor. I was able to select the correct person in this example because of the visible characteristics (photo) matched her non-observable characteristics, which is not always the case. So be very careful when creating assumptions by visual observations because they can be very misleading and just plain wrong.
After analyzing all of the different profiles including hidden characteristics and observable characteristics, and the photo’s it is very easy to catch myself having a misconceived perception of people. Whether we are conscious or not when making assumptions of people or situations, it is always best to learn more and become more knowledgeable about the person or situation prior to determining a set feeling or understanding of it. Once you have been mistakenly judged and feel how unfair and painful it sometimes can be, you should make a more conscious effort not to judge on the visual appearance but on honest and fair characteristics of each individual or specific situation.

References
Bucher, R. D. (2010). Diversity consciousness: Opening our minds to people, cultures, and opportunities (3rd ed.). Retrieved from University of Phoenix COMM/315 –Diversity Issues in Communications student web site.
University of Phoenix. (2014) Myplace: The place for diversity multimedia analysis. Retrieved from University of Phoenix COMM/315 – Diversity Issues in Communication student website.