Entry #7- CMC

Hellooo! This will be my last post here since our submission date of this blog is due in just a few days’ time! :D

Alright, let’s see! This week’s topic will be on Computer-Mediated Communication, also known as CMC. This is no “alien issue” to us yes? Haha.. ‘cos some of us uses this form of communication everyday! Be it.. Facebook, MSN, e-mailing, gaming, Skype-ing, etc.. All these mentioned are perfect examples of CMC.

For instance, take me for example. My computer will most likely be on the minute I return home. Initially, it wasn’t much of a choice as most of our assignments require us to use the computer. However, as time passed, I found using the computer had already become a habit for me as it not only allows me to do research for our projects, kill time while surfing the net, it also allows me to stay connected and be updated with my friends’ lives with the help of MSN and Facebook. Something I like most about CMC? You don’t necessary have to interact with people directly to get to know information about them. An example would be entries on their personal blogs.. Or their updated profile and photos on Facebook! I’m sure you guys “track” some of your friends’ whereabouts through them, right? (Don’t bluffff~) LOL.

Like what Ms Hui said in class, some people tend to reveal more about themselves behind a screen. For instance, I know of people who chat online almost every single day for hours! Some even through their personal gadgets such as handphones etc. However, you rarely see them talking face-to-face. It leaves me wondering sometimes thinking, “are they really close to one another?” I guess this issue can be linked to one of the sub-points under the influences of CMC, which are under Personal Identity:

- Anonymity
- Interactive, but not transactional
- Text-based
- Information is ‘traceable’

Since you’re communicating behind a screen, you can make yourself into anyone you like and nobody will come to know it. ICQ, public chatrooms and so on are websites where people may “pretend” to be someone else in order to increase their appeal to others. A boy becoming a girl, a 40-year-old becoming a 20-year-old and many many more. Some encounters may even be as awkward as the example stated in class regarding a father and a daughter that took up different identities online and ended up having an arranged meeting with one another. Embarrassing!

Another interesting fact under personal identity would be that it is all text-based. A person can be a shy and quiet person . Someone who doesn’t talk much in person. But when he is online, he can turn into someone who’s exactly the opposite… Friendly..warm.. interactive.... I’m someone who doesn’t differ much in person and online.. So, my question is, which one of these characteristics that this person adopt differently, should we say, is the person’s “real” self?

Entry #6- The Sixth Sense?

Just a couple of days ago, I was pretty amazed by this video shown to me by a friend. Coincidentally, it links back to what we have covered in our comms lecture, which is- Technology! Before we carry on any further, watch it!

Your thoughts?

Have you wonder what's it like if one day you do not have to do much thinking? *Tadaaa* That day is nearing~ Looking at this creation! It's like a "personal thinker" for lazy people, don't you think so? Haha..

With this new "device" costing a mere 350 bucks and has functions that literally helps you to "think" and makes you trouble-free when it comes to deciding items, may sound convincing.. Helping you do all the thinking and decision-making, no effort needed to be put it when it comes to researching on stuff, etc..

However, on a second thought, do you really think this is something we really desire? Mm, I beg to differ actually. Why?

The most direct effect of having something you can rely on, is you being dependent on it. In this case, when this tiny little creation can work most things out for you, the likelihood will be that you will have the tendency to slowly rely on it overtime, and gradually become lazy to even make small decision such as what cups would you want in your kitchen, etc. No kidding okayyyy~ And then, will your mind deterioriate as it is not used frequently. After which, it may cause your memory to worsen and this may cause your efficiency on things to decrease! Sounds scary to me~ :/

Secondly, did you take note of one of its function of which it helps you to "label" people? Initially, I found it trather intriguing as that enables you to know more about a person in just a couple of seconds. BUT, coming to think of it, if I were to put myself in the other person's shoes, I'll feel that it's rather intrusive.. giving each individual no personal space. And, so will the interaction between two parties decrease 'cos, when u already can find out all about a person without opening your mouth to talk to them, why do otherwise? Oh well, at least this is what I think for this particular function. Frankly speaking, I don't like it!

Last but not least, let's all be frank shall we? With this thingy available, won't we take all things for granted? Meaning, we will not appreciate it when someone helps us check stuff like our flight timings, take a photograph, and so on as we would be thinking "iyoo, why so kay-poh when this genius thing of mine can do it all in one click".. Right people??

So, I'll still prefer to stick to my regular cellphone, laptop to access the Internet and my close ones to do stuff for me. :P Hahaha, sorry for being biased here though.

The question now is, does the advancing of technology benefit us necessarily? Tell me what you think! :)

Entry #5- So, is this why we are like that?

Let's talk about culture today!



From the notes:

• Culture are "templates for living"


• Tells us who we are, what groups we belong to and, how we live our lives

Even without me saying, most of you guys already have an idea on what culture is, no? Without further ado, let's jump straight to what I want to touch on, which is, the characteristics of culture, NOW! :)

The characteristics of culture include:

• Culture is learned.

It is obvious that we, as humans, cannot choose which family we want to be in before we're born. In the family in which we're destined to be in, has its own existent family members (e.g. grandparents, parents, siblings etc) and their way of life. Hence, after becoming a member of the family after birth, the adults/members of the family slowly nurture us and mould us into the way (in their opinion) they were brought up when they were young. In another way, teaching us about their beliefs(e.g. religion), habits(how things are managed at home) and many more, that can be ranged from the dialect or language they use for communication (e.g. some of us may speak Cantonese at home), the way they communicate in the family(e.g. verbally and non verbally/mannerisms) where certain gestures or usage of words can only be understood within the family and not by others, etc.. that we know nothing of initially then slowly as we grow up, we find certain character traits of ourselves resembling those of our parents. Well, do yours? Perhaps this is due to the fact that we learn how things are done in our own family as we grow up and every family's culture differs from one antoher. Hence, we can only say our family work in "similar ways" but not the "same". 'Cos no family are exactly identical. Am I right to say that? :P

=> In short, we follow the set of rules that are set within our family and abide by them as we grow up.

• Culture is shared.

Like, duhhh, isn't it! I do not know if I'm right to say that no culture belongs to an individual. It is rather shared among many people of a certain part of the world in which the culture belongs to a single community and not to any single human being. Am I right or wrong? Reason for me saying so is due to the fact that though our family may be different in one way or another, there are similarites that we resemble on a whole with other families. For example, people in the same religion group such as Christianity, have common beliefs and teachings written in a bible where their personal set of rules are adopted from there. And since bibles all have the same content, likelihood will be that there can be more than a family who form the same set of values and beliefs. However, the only difference would be that the method those values and beliefs are brought to the people around them, varies.

• Culture is dynamic.

Culture is dynamic becuase people are dynamic! Since a culture consists of people that belong to it, it is constantly reformed by those individuals. Alright, do you have any "policy" or "rule" at home that you do not like?If yes, the probability of you bringing the "policy"/"rule" to your next generation is almost zero. Why? 'Cos when you start your own family, YOU and your partner will be the ones who'll be setting the rules! And since you and your partners come from different families, you guys will compromise with one another with some rules from his/her family and some rules from your family. Like this, a "new" culture is formed. Agree?

• Culture is multifaceted.

Just as there're dynamics to one culture, it is also true that a person can belong to more than one culture at the same time. That is to say, culture is multifaceted. As each individual, we are never defined by just one characteristics, isn't it? In addition, we belong to many different cultural groups at any given time.

Take me for an example! I am an undergraduate student and I am also a member of my family, a Chinese, a musician, a female, (the list can just go on and on)... I can easily fill this page with a list of different culture groups I belong to and so can you! Like me, a friend of mine, is too, an undergraduate, member of his own family, a musician, a female and so on.. However, though we share the culture of musicians, she belongs to the subculture of the guitarists ,while I belong to the subculture of the pianists. See the difference? And yet we all belong to the subculture of the performing group in which we perform!

• Cultural identities are overlapping.

Lastly, the overlapping of cultual identies simply refers to the core values that are very important to us in a particular way and using your itto justify your own actions or behavior. A silly example would be when asking someone why he or she does something in a particular way, he or she would probably answer you, "'cos I'm brought up this way what~~". (I'm not sure of how true this is though.. just my own personal thought) Hee :P

After discussing about the characteristics of culture, does it help you understand why sometimes you behave in a particular way and not the other? Or, why the way you respond to something may be different from your friends? Mmmmm, though not culture may not be entirely the reason to your behavior, but it does play a big part right? :D