https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc 2001-2021 en-us 2021-11-24 14:58:52 UTC 2023-02-25 11:14:37 UTC hello@padlet.com bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1910865763 One of my earliest memories was of my dad reading me a bedtime story every night. We would always read Henry's Cat, and through research for this project I discovered that the book was actually based on a television series created by Stan Howard and Bob Godfrey. Henry's cat is a series of short stories revolving around the life of an owner-less cat featuring a mix of humans and his animal friends. However, through research for this project I discovered that the book was actually based on a television series. Whilst Henry himself never appeared, there is a conspiracy that he is based off an earlier Stan Hayward and Bob Godfrey collaboration, 'Henry 9 'til 5', focused on a man who escaped his everyday life by indulging in daydreams, often of a sexual nature. I've tried to not let this discovery taint my memories. Stan Howard later explained that the reason Henry's cat didn't have a name was because he had been forgotten by his owner, Henry, and was left in such a daze he forgot his own name. We would read Henry's cat every night, and my dad would then point at the sentences, as we said them together which is how I first began learning how to read. ]]> 2021-11-24 15:33:26 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1910865763 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1910998691 My parents always had the radio on in the kitchen, infact it was only turned off when we where leaving home for more than a few days. It was seldom tuned into anything but BBC Radio 4, and so Sunday-Friday every week, 'The Archer's' Barwick Green theme tune would blast throughout the house. The series has been running since 1951 and the theme tune is arguably one of the most well recognised jingle's in Britain.  I have no doubt I'll be able to recite it for the rest of my life.]]> 2021-11-24 16:49:58 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1910998691 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1911121300 Created in 1997 by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport in 1997, this BBC children's series reached 'cult status' after a year on air. The four characters, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-laa, and Po communicate in gibberish which is supposed to echo the communication between toddlers. It has been aired in 120 countries and in 45 different languages. This is the first Television series I remember constantly constantly consuming and after conversing with my peers, every person I spoke to was in agreement. As it's viewers have now grown older, The Teletubbies is a popular group halloween costume and numerous conspiracy theories regarding hidden messages and symbolism throughout the episodes are abundant across various online discussion forums.]]> 2021-11-24 18:12:01 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1911121300 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912794150 Youtube was launched in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jwed Karim. It is the second most visited website, with more than one billion monthly users who collectively watch more than one billion hours of videos every day. The first song I ever learnt all the lyrics to was on Youtube, as I spent hours watching the lyric video to Nickelback's 'Rockstar'. At school we would have daily conversations about the funny videos we had discovered, such as 'Scary Car Ride' which was a thirty second clip showing an ariel view of a car driving through the mountains, where some type of demon would pop out and scream at the end. It was this video that got me into trouble for showing my ninety-something grandmother who almost fainted. Whilst today's Youtube is teaming with all sorts of influencers and tutorial videos, back then, parody videos reigned supreme. For every big Hollywood music video, there where at least 3 spoofs that went viral. Whereas today's most watched list is filled with 'what's in my bag', 'what I got for my birthday', or worst of all 'what I eat in a day'. What I would give to go back to a time where everyone took themselves a little less seriously.]]> 2021-11-25 14:57:49 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912794150 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912855458 As kids, there was always a secret competition over who had the best and the biggest VHS video collection. Every Christmas Eve until I was 11, my elder cousins would put on The Lion King, and every year they would have a box of tissues and a bit of chocolate ready for me after the death of Mufasa. A few years ago, my auntie wrapped up the VHS and gave it to me for Christmas. Whilst VHS tapes where replaced fairly quickly by DVDs, with DVDs surpassing VHS rentals in the USA in 2008, I think most of the world is in agreement that VHS will always occupy a soft spot. After the introduction of Blu-Ray, I vividly remember my Dad muttering "what's next, a movie night with the man on the moon?". My nine year old self didn't think technology could grow anymore.]]> 2021-11-25 15:33:40 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912855458 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912881236 I moved to The United States in 2007 for my dad's job and every Friday night my mum would take me to Blockbuster to rent a film. If anything ever went wrong, it could be fixed with a trip to Blockbuster. I would hop from aisle to aisle, never failing to create an elaborate argument as to why it was essential to get both films I couldn't choose between. It was heaven. When a similar sign to the one pictured above appeared on my local Blockbuster in 2011 I was absolutely devastated. It really does sadden me to think that today's kids will never experience that same joy.]]> 2021-11-25 15:48:47 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1912881236 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916466543 After getting over the initial engrossment of the trials and tribulations of Mr Bean and Scooby Doo, every evening I would be found no where else then on a sparkly bean bag in-front of Disney Channel. It got to a stage where I could recite lines from almost every episode of shows such as 'Wizards of Waverley Place' (Created by Todd J Greenwall, 2007-2012) and Hannah Montana (Michael Poryes, Rich Correl, Barry O'Brien, 2006-2011). The popularity of both series catapulted it's stars into the spotlight, launching the careers of the likes of Miley Cyrus. Furthermore, watching them on Live Television meant that my 8 year old self would fictionally plan my day according to when the latest episode was airing. It's strange to be the last generation to experience that, as steaming platforms like Netflix have created and dominate a whole new modern experience of watching Television and Film. Animation series such as Sponge Bob Square Pants still maintain a cult following after and their first episode aired in 1999, generating a Tony-winning Broadway show and a new series being created in October 2020. ]]> 2021-11-28 17:36:39 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916466543 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916497628 Up until 2013, I was still living in America and after a trip back to England one easter, I became obsessed with the idea of having a Blackberry. It seemed all you need to be a cool 12 year old in the UK, was to be constantly chatting to  your friends using  'KIK', an online chatroom. Too young to have experienced the computer chatrooms of the generation before us, having a Blackberry seemed to be the only way to fit in. The really cool girls even had pink ones. Naturally, when my parents finally gave in I was over the moon. However I seemed to have missed the memo that on the other side of the pond, the only acceptable telephone was an iPhone. Everyone else was downloading all these strange apps that made absolutely no sense to me, or my parents. Looking back in hindsight, I can remember every single new iPhone launch, and probably recite the new features of each model. At school, whoever had the newest iPhone occupied a new rank on the social hierarchy, even if just for a few days. As time progressed, the more obsessed the world became, which has resulted in Apple having more capital than the American Government.]]> 2021-11-28 18:14:47 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916497628 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916515805 I couldn't do a life-time Media timeline without including the introduction and domination of Social Media, particularly Instagram. I wanted to include the trailer to Netflix's documentary entitled 'The Social Dilemma', unpicking the truth about the near all-consuming presence social media occupies in today's world, with a particular impact on teenagers. Messaging platforms such as KIK soon gave way to  Snapchat, which gained instant popularity as messages where solely pictures, instantly disappearing after being opened, and their face-filters feature. During secondary school, snapchat was the only way I commented with my peers, especially with the growth of new features such as video calling. However, from the moment I downloaded Instagram, it reigned supreme as my most used app. After it's launch in 2010, Instagram now has around 1 billion users worldwide. It is undoubtedly the most popular social media platform in the world, with the most followed 'influencers', such as Kylie Jenner, being able to charge 6 figures for one advertisement post. Deciding on what profile picture to choose, or caption to accompany a post of me with my new One Direction poster became almost all I could think about. Between October-December 2020, the digital consumers spent an average of 2 hours 22 minuets on social media per day. This is hardly surprising, with the Social Dilemmaa revealing that social media corporations use similar methods to slot machines in order to steal as much of your time as possible. Nowadays, I make a conscious effort to limit my consumption as much as possible. ]]> 2021-11-28 18:38:13 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1916515805 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1920967754 The biggest act to date to come out of 'The X-Factor', was One Direction. All 5 members had un-succsessfully auditioned for the show in previous years, and it was not until Simon Cowell put them altogether that they became stars. Despite coming third in the 2010 series, they went on to be on the most successful boy-bands in the world. I started to get really into their music when I was 11. I religiously downloaded all of their albums from the iTunes on my mum's iPad and would dance around my room to them until I was too tired to go on. (This is also interesting to note, as I can't remember ever buying a CD of an album, I jumped straight to iTunes). I begged my parents for concert tickets and saved up my pocket money for every piece of One Direction merchandise I could get my hands on. In short, just like almost every other tween/teen girl- I was absolutely obsessed. My dad couldn't help but compare this to 'Beetlemania', and was left especially grumpy after finding out that One Direction had broken the Beatles' record of having the most top 10 Hot 100 debut albums amongst groups. Although, as previously mentioned, I consumed their music through iTunes, instantly downloading their albums, whereas fans of the Beatles had to walk to the closest record shop, after saving up for Turntable.  After the band's split in 2015, all 5 members have proceeded to launch successful solo careers- especially Harry Syles. Whilst I have since outgrown their music, one of the first real bonding experiences I had with the girls in my flat was comparing our favourite One Direction songs.]]> 2021-11-30 17:18:12 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1920967754 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1920987467 Our generation's gameboy of choice was the 'Nintendo DS'. After launching their first model to the American market in 2004, the 'Nintendo DS' was such a success that the 'Nintendo Wii' followed soon after in 2006. Unlike the portable, pocket-sized DS, the Nintendo Wii linked to a television to make their gaming experience more social. The top game at the time was closely contested between 'Mario Kart' and 'Mario Bros', as Nintendo built on their 1983 arcade game. As we grew older and other gaming companies such as Playstation grew in their product development, there was an unwritten rule that boys had Playstation, and girls had Nintendo. Today, whilst I would never engage in a game of 'Call of Duty' or 'Fifa', I simply couldn't decline a quick race on 'Mario Kart' or 'Wii Fit'.]]> 2021-11-30 17:26:32 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1920987467 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1922925731 Netflix was launched in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, initially as a DVD rental company. In 2007 Netflix launched it's first streaming website, 'Watch Now', and from 2007 to 2011, Netflix increases its subscribers from 6 to 23 million, but it was 2013 when the streaming platform really took off. Now Netflix is known for creating some of the most successful dramas in the Television and Film Industry, such as 'Sex Education' and 'Bird Box'. My family first signed up for an account in 2014 after moving back to the UK, in order to try to access some of the American Television we had consumed during our time out there. However, a lot of it was noticeably absent from the site and I even called up Netflix customer service, convinced that our account had an issue since it was missing so much. Even after getting our account, I gradually transitioned from watching live TV to only using streaming services by 2016. Now, it feels like as many people have a Netflix account as they do iPhones- it's the 'norm'.]]> 2021-12-01 14:36:51 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1922925731 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1922938298 Wing$ by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis was the first song I added to my playlist on Spotify. Despite being launched in 2006, it took Spotify until 2011 to achieve 1 million users. However this number catapulted to 15 million in August 2012, with 4 million being paying subscribers. For £9.99 a month, users can listen to music ad free. I downloaded the app in 2014, after hearing about it from my friend's older brother. I couldn't believe that I didn't have to pay 99p per song, like on iTunes. The day I downloaded it I must've added at least 70 songs to my playlist, even if I had never heard them. I only made one playlist which I still have on my phone, now comprised of over 500 songs. Despite the launch of Apple Music in 2015, I will never switch from Spotify, and from conversations with my friends, I think that is a widely agreed statement. The principal reason being that users can look back at their old playlists and remember what music they used to love. Other features such as the 'Daily Mix' playlists, created by Spotify for each individual user based off what their currently listening too and songs the algorithm thinks they will enjoy, also encourage customer loyalty. I now use Spotify on a daily basis, and cannot see that changing in the foreseeable future. ]]> 2021-12-01 14:41:17 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1922938298 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923011451 Despite being around since 2004, Podcasts started to really gain popularity after streaming became the western norm of consuming music, around 2016. However, once Coronavirus put the world into lockdown in 2020, I would go as far to argue that people would spend more time listening to podcasts than music on a daily basis during lockdown. Infact, the global podcasting market size is estimated to reach 94.88 USD billion by 2028. Podcasts such as 'The High Low' (pictured above) quickly amassed a cult following during December 2020. I got into podcasts through listening to Real Narcos (pictured above) by Noiser podcasts, during my daily lockdown runs. The podcast focuses on different Narcotic Drug traffickers such as Pablo Escobar, as people on the scene such as DEA agents and Lawyers uncover information. ]]> 2021-12-01 15:07:55 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923011451 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923179369 The Media I consume hasn't really changed since I was 15. Whilst my taste in music, film and fashion has grown with my as I got older, Instagram, Snapchat, Netflix and Spotify are still my most used apps. However, Instagram's reign was quickly overthrown by the launch of Tik-Tok in 2018, after it's parent company 'ByteDance', acquired it's competitor Music.ly in 2017 and merged the apps. It became the most downloaded app of 2018 on the Apple App Store. Now, top creators such as Charli D'amelio has 134 million followers, and Addison Rae has starred in a Netflix original remake, entitled 'She's all that'. The algorithm means that users are recommended videos that they will enjoy, making it easy to go viral on the app even if you have a limited amount fo followers. Songs that go viral on Tik-Tok are guaranteed to be on the Hot 100 within a matter of days, products that are recommended or advertised are almost instantly sold out. The app has become so big, that the 2021 British Fashion Awards where hosted by Tik-Tok UK at the Royal Albert Hall. I was determined not to download the app because I saw it as just another way to spend more time on your phone. However, after having to isolate in the summer 2021 I decided to give it a go, I was instantly hooked and failed to delete it after a week as I had previously agreed with myself. I did however find the will power to download it in September, and haven't looked back. ]]> 2021-12-01 16:12:53 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923179369 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923270021 Whilst Instagram is still overflowing with photos that have been professionally shot, edited and finished with a filter, film photos became increasingly popular again in 2018. It's no secret that trends are cyclical, the most recent example being early 2000s fashion such as low rise jeans, making a come back. However, after Kendall Jenner shooting a 72 page editorial on a film camera for 'LOVE magazine' in 2017, the 'Kardashian effect' meant that film photos where catapulted back into mainstream. I bought my first disposable film camera from boots the summer of 2018 before I went to Reading Festival. Taking a photo and not being able to instantly see what it looks like, was something I had never experienced. The excitement I felt when going to pick them up a week after, having no idea how they would turn out, was what kept me paying £12 to have them developed after paying £11 for the disposable camera in the first place. Above, is a picture I took of some family friends in Antigua after spending December 2020 to February 2021 there, since the UK went into lockdown. I love the way the picture looks and how you can only capture a single moment, not being able to 'set it up'. It's like taking part in a mini camera lottery. ]]> 2021-12-01 16:48:53 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923270021 bellahazell https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923279246 I instantly fell in love with 'Sex and the City' after watching the first episode when I was 17. All the other cult classics such as 'Friends', 'Modern Family', or 'How I met your mother', I just couldn't get into. Infact, the last television show I remember being this obsessed with was Hannah Montana. However after watching Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) strut down 5th Avenue in her vintage fur coat, lighting a Marlboro Red, I was hooked. I loved how it was made in 1998, what now feels like a different era. During my time at 6th form, I treated the life lessons from the show like the Bible. By now, I must've seen the series five or six times. Patricia Field's style choices are often described as iconic, and helped to launch brands such as Manolo Blank. Whilst many older women make up the majority of the fan base, I cannot be the only Gen Z fan as the reboot series, entitled 'Just Like That', is due to be aired in December 2021. However, Kim Cattral who played Samantha (my favourite character) is not going to be starring in it, which many fans are upset about. Either way, I can't wait to see what the new series has to offer, and if it will be more politically correct, or 'woke' than the 1990s original.]]> 2021-12-01 16:52:31 UTC https://padlet.com/bellahazell/zrsj8gc16jpauknc/wish/1923279246