Binge Drinking in the UK

We are told more and more these days that binge drinking is ruining our society. With statistics that seem to be quite unbelievable often reported to us in the news. Fairly recently it has been reported that the UK has the highest alcohol consumption in the whole of Europe with the average units of alcohol being consumed in one occasion reaching 6.3 units.

However with all these facts given to us on almost a daily basis and information on binge drinking and its effects readily available is society really taking any notice?

The answer to that question in my opinion is no.

As a student, who are known for enjoying a drink or two, I would argue that all the information that is given to us is not making any difference to the way young adults think about alcohol. Both myself and my friends are aware that when we go out it is very possible that we will consume more than our recommended units of alcohol for the night. However we will also exceed the amount of cigarettes we should smoke in order to stay healthy, the obvious answer being none, and if we decided to go for something to eat before hand we would also probably exceed the recommended calories for one sitting.

This is obviously not something that most people my age would do every night of the week, but after a long week I do not see this being a problem as a way of letting off steam. And despite this I still consider myself to be a healthy 21 year old. That being said I would in no way glamourise binge drinking and certainly would not recommend it to any children that I may come across. However I do argue that as an adult who knows all the facts and is aware of what the occasional binge drink does to me it really is my choice.

I feel that the government should be aware, when addressing the country's 'binge drinking epidemic' that not every person who exceeds their daily units is passed out on the street or throwing up in the back of an ambulance.

To me it would make alot more sense for the Government to be addressing teenagers who may feel peer pressure to drink, and who are not legally allowed to drink rather than adults who know their own minds and can make their own decisions regarding their life and how they choose to live it.

Afterall people have been doing things that aren't particularly good for them for years. Binge drinking was not the UK's first epidemic and I am sure it will not be our last.

Jezebel- Commercial blog network

Jezebel is tongue in cheek gossip news blog. The heading 'Celebrity, Sex, Fashion, Without Airbrushing' suggests that this blog is a no holes barred look at all areas of gossip, rather than just focusing on one thing.

Jezebel seems to be aimed at young professional females, who may be interested in gossip and have time to look at the blog whilst they are at work. It could also interest people who work in the gossip industry and have to keep up to date with this sort of news. Although gossip is the main focus of the blog it also involves some harder news stories including one blog entitled 'Your birth control is killing unborn babies, fatheads'.

Jezebel is updated very frequently at regular intervals throughout the day. It also states at the top of the blog how often it is updated, which presently is 44 times in the last 24 hours. The fact that the blog is updated so often shows how their chosen audience would be looking at the blog all through the day.

The blog covers all areas of gossip including celebrity news fashions as well as taking a tongue in cheek look at womens magazines. The blog also includes news and reviews of television shows. Jezebel covers areas that may also be covered by womens glossy magazine, however appears to do it in a more bitchy way, rather than glamourising the world of celebrity and fashion.
Jezebel has a sarcastic tone to it and seems to make fun of the things that their posts are about rather than taking them entirely serious. They seem to appeal to their audience by using humour in their posts.

Jezebel allows their audience to comment on all of their posts and photos. It also uses links to go to related websites and information.

The design of Jezebel is very effective. It is easy to navigate around the site and different areas on the blog are catagorised to that the audience can find what they are looking for, or can see what they are interested in immediatley. It also uses effevtive graphics to illistrate their posts and what they're blog contains.

The only way that I could see that the blog would make money would be through advertising.

Online Population

A massive 1,244 billion people worldwide use the internet today. This is 63 per cent of the population. Today 15 million households have internet access which is a staggering rise from 1998 when only 2.2 million households had access to the net.

The internet is growing in popularity with more and more young people using the internet every day. It is estimated that 90 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds now regularly use the internet.

Today the internet is no longer associated with the idea that it is just used by 'geeks' with many people using it to keep in contact with family and friends, keeping up to date with the news and shopping.