Mass media

Greetings!

In today's post, I will talk about the impact Mass media has on us.
Mass media plays a large role in today's society. Charles Wright identifies four media functions, and they are surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission and entertainment.

The first function and probably the most important of all is surveillance. Mass media acts in a way in which it provides us with worldwide information as well as information that is within one's own country. It gives us fast updates about what is going on around us. Hence, in a way mass media actually make our world a smaller place to live in as information gets disseminate around very quickly.

Yesterday, I went to catch a movie entitled "Eagle eye". It depicts a very negative image of the technology that we used in our daily lives. In the movie, the two main characters were being ordered to do a series of increasingly dangerous situations. They were being threatened by a mysterious woman whom uses phone calls to communicate with them. Using the technology of everyday life, this mysterious woman track and control their every move.

Before watching this show, I have not realized how much technology has impact our lives. The amount is so great that if someone has caught hold of the main source of technology, he or she will be able to take over the world by having everybody's movement being track every second. This displays a very scary image of how much of technology in the form our mobile phones, electronic display boards and machines that each of us uses everyday.

Just like technology, mass media has influenced us in many ways. Our cultural beliefs and perceptions have been shaped by it. Unconsciously, our behavior and every moves have already been manipulated to suit what the media has "taught us". This is similar to how the movie has depicted how much we depend on technology and when technology is suddenly used to turn against us, how helpless we actually will become. Little did we know that, mass media has the same effect on us. If we were to walk out of our house, wearing clothes that the media has portrayed us a no-no, talk in a different manner, or argue a view which everybody feels is the norm or ideal, we would definitely gain a lot of unwanted gaze from others and negative comments. By behaving in this manner, we would also not be comfortable. Hence, in a way, the media has made us follow whatever it has taught us and when we try to be different, we feel out of place. Have you all experienced this feeling when trying to be different from the rest?

Intercultural Communication

Attitudinal barriers to intercultural communication is prevalent in Singapore today. Why is this so? Singapore is a multicultural society whereby there are several cultures such as Muslim, Chinese, Indian and Caucasians. Each culture having their own set of norms and rules. In communicating with different cultural groups, one tend to view things from his or her own perception which has been shaped by environmental factors such as family backgrounds, friends and cultures. Hence, it is inevitable that people perceive things in a different light as others. It could be positive or negative. This solely depends on one's open mindedness in cross-culture interaction.

From Thinking Through Communications by Sarah Trenholm (2007), she mentioned that the different attitudes that would hinder the likelihood of comprehension are "stereotype and prejudices, assumptions of similarity, a tendency to withdraw from novelty, and a deep belief in the superiority of one's own culture" (p. 356).

Personally, I feel that the main culprit in hindering Singaporeans to effective intercultural communication is "Stereotype and prejudice". One may correct me if I am wrong. As a teenage Singaporean girl, I encounter several occasions in everyday life going through stereotyping and having prejudices on certain group of people of the silliest reasons if one was to ask me. However, it has been so natural in our lives to stereotype and form prejudice that we did not realize that this will actually leads to us having a disadvantage in the form of future business dealings with different cultural group business partners.

All said, I believe that as a growing nation we will not be able to escape from the fact that we have to have intercultural communication. Therefore, forming stereotypes and prejudices should not be encouraged among groups of people. Let us all work together to achieve this aim for effective intercultural communication!

Group communication

Effective communication within a group is important in terms of getting the work which is assigned to one done.
In a group, which is most likely more than five people, it is quite hard to get the task completed if the group's dynamics is not there. The lack in group dynamics may be caused by several reasons such as the cultural differences, differing views...

As I searched the internet, I chanced upon this really cute hand drawn comic ( as shown below).

In this comic, the grapefruits ostracized the lemon? based on physical appearances. In this case, the lemon represents those whom are different from the norm and the grapefruits represent people who discriminates others.
In a group, this is undesirable. When a task is given, it is important that the group members can work together pleasantly so that quality work can be produced effectively as a group in a whole. The art of communicating in a group effectively is important throughout our lives. In school or at work, or even the daily socializing in a clique need us to communicate in groups.
Since we cannot avoid it, why not learn the skills in group communication?
Therefore, we should put our differences aside and work together as a team! This is done so by not offending or putting down any other group members just because he or she done not meet "the expectations". After all, each and every one of us is unique in our own ways. We are not in the right position to judge anybody unless he or she is really not doing his or her work.
An effective way in managing group communication is to either hide your displease with the group member and should not show any biasness towards him or her or to come clean with whatever that is bothering you with that group mate. This is to ensure that there would not be any situation whereby personal dislikes obstruct the completion of the task given. Being a responsible group mate, one should definitely not put down another group mate in front of others. This will not only influence the people negatively but also affect the group's dynamic altogether.
Think before you speak is really something that all of us should keep in mind when communicating. Even more should we during group communication. Personally, I feel that group dynamics plays a very large role in effective group communication.

New this week! "It's Over" by Jesse McCartney

Hello readers!
Yesterday I heard the song "It's Over" by Jesse McCartney over the radio.
I thought I could do a write up on this song after listening to the lyrics.



The lyrics goes like this:
In Verse 1,
We've run out of words, we've run out of time,
-the use of language in the relationship
We've run out of reasons, really why we're together,
-there is no more meaning in being together with someone
reasons such as, the love has gone, there isn't any more rewards out of the relationship etc.
We both know it's over baby, bottom line,
It's best we don't even talk at all, wooh.
-the emphasis that verbal communication is very important thus, when a relationship is dissolved, there is no point in making any more verbal interaction.

Don't call me even if I should cross your mind,
I'm in love, I don't need to hear your voice on my messages,
Lets just call it quits, it's probably better so,
If I'm not returnin' your calls it's 'cause.

[Hook]
'Cause I'm not comin' back I'm closin' the door,
-the usage of signs here in terms of symbols. "door" is the symbol to indicate that the girl has no longer a place in his heart and he is ending the relationship.
I used to be trippin' over missin' you but I'm not anymore,
I've got the picture phone, baby your picture's gone,
-the picture represents an artifact, which is used as a symbol of his love for the girl.
Couldn't stand to see your smile, everytime you dialed.

The comments after the few sentences of the lyrics are what I feel the elements needed in a relationship. These elements are also what we have learn in unit 3 of our communication class.
I feel that the lyrics of this song has described the part where a relationship has to be dissolved pretty well. What do you think?

Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication as defined by DeVito (2004). is " Communication that takes place between persons who have an established relationship; the people are in some way connected." Indeed, relationship is the most influential factor influencing our communication with others. It reinforces the dynamic properties of human interaction.

Thus, DeFleur et al (2005) has created a framework of 3 processes to define the role of communication in relationships, there are:

• Engagement
• Management
• Disengagement

Engagement is the first contact to richer the interpersonal relationship. That is our approach to people who we first get to know of. We either give the first impression of us being friendly and approachable or hostile and with an aura of "talk to me and you die".
However, many a times we cannot base on our first impression on getting to know someone because then we will be judgmental which a successful communicator should not be. Moreover, people we may dislike initially might eventually become one of your best friends. Take myself for an example, the good friends I have now are more or less acquaintance whom I do not really like in the very beginning of our friendship. Hence, even though our first contact with a person may be negative or may be positive, management of the relationship comes next whereby it determines whether or not this start of the interpersonal relationship will continue or will end.
Triple murder in Yishun

(click to enlarge =))
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/Story/STIStory_280569.html?vgnmr=1

The recent breaking about the triple murder in Yishun where

Two women dead from multiple wounds

Another woman is found dead at the bottom of block

A man has been arrested

This clearly shows the communication between these people have gone wrong. They have not manage the relationship effectively thus, resulting in deaths which is very unfortunate. As taken from the straits time, 20 September 2008., "loud quarrels and sounds of furniture being thrown were a near nightly occurrence." shows evidence for my statement made.

This leads to the third process in which DeFleur et at said about disengagement where there is a use of communication to dissolve a relationship. In this case, the murder had used non verbal communication to indicate an end of the relationship between the women and him(the suspected muderer).

All said, this framework indeed shows us the role of communication in relationships. Life is fragile, thus it is vital that everyone of us learn to be a successful communicator in order not to end up in a fight and result in outcomes that no one would want or expect of.

Perception

Perception is defined as the process by which we select, organize and interpret information. And it is influenced by psychological and social factors. Different people have different perceptions due to these reasons.
Just like the new apple iphone 3G, some people love it while some people find it like an eye candy and nothing else. Why the difference in perception? It all comes back to how a person define his or her mobile phone. Is it a phone for you to call and sms or for another purposes, and what are these other purposes?

What reasons that may influence one's selection in choosing this phone? Could it be the individual characteristics, mass media, social network or the environment? One may select this phone due to the knowledge he or she has on this muti purpose phone. One may also select this phone due to how mass media has portrayed it with its desciption of the phone. Perhaps one may has many friends who bought it thus, would love to have one himself. Or maybe one just want to show off to his peers that he has an Apple iphone.

After selecting and organsizing the information one have on iphone, he or she will intepret whether or not should one buy the phone.

In advertising the phone, the companies uses non-verbal communication such as the physical appearance of the iphone. This is done so by using printed ads or nicely animated videos to introduce the features of the phones.

WALL-E

Hi people!
Ok this is my second post this week and this will be a post which is more related to communications. Well, since this is only the second post I shall talk about something that is more light-hearted. Let's talk about the new animated movie 'WALL-E'

WALL-E is a 2008 computer animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. This film is about the story of a robot named WALL-E who is designed to clean up a very polluted Earth. Before watching this movie, I was asking my sister about the story. All she could tell me was that the show is nice and also the constant calling of the name “EVE” or “WALL-E”. I became hesitant as to whether I should proceed to watch this new movie. In the end, I still went to watch it and I realized why had my sister describe the show in such a manner yet still recommend it to me. It has a terrific story told well which transcends any age even without many words. Since this is a movie, it is definitely catagorized in the linear model of communication. We have learnt that the linear model is one which is of a one-way communication. The director of this film has used this model to send across a few messages that he wants his audiences to know.

These few messages are
1) The constant polluting of Earth may one day lead to an irreversible outcome.
2) Communication does not only take place verbally but also through actions
3) Humans over dependency over technology.

He has successfully bring across the first message by depicting Earth in the future to be like a giant waste land polluted with many un-recycled materials. He is using one of the persuasion appeals which is Logos to convince us that we should start to care for Earth and be more environmental friendly.

Next, throughout the show the most prominent word spoken through WALL-E is EVE. Everybody who had watched this show would know that WALL-E is truly in love with Eve even though WALL-E has not say it out in words. He expresses his feelings towards Eve by doing things to impress her. Not only that, the more obvious affection given is the way WALL-E looks at Eve. The movement of the 'binoculous' eye, the slanting of its eyes to one side as it looks at her is the most significant expression to let the audience know that WALL-E is in love with Eve. This is an example of a non-verbal communication that has successfully make clear to the other party what one is thinking without having to say it out clearly.

Lastly, although the focus of the show is about Wall-E the director has not failed to leave out a few pointers that he wants his audiences to take note of. Most of us would have realised that we can no longer survive without technology. Technology is all around us. However, the director might have felt that many of us has been abusing the use of technology. He brings across this message to us by putting it in a very exaggerate way as shown in the film where people depend on machines to do everything for them.

All said, I must say that this film is really good and clear in bringing the messages across even with very little verbal communication. Hence, verbal communication does not play such a big role in communication as much as I thought it does after all.