Thank you!

We have come to the end of my blog-life. Initially, i must admit, it was a real chore.However, Being forced to analyze each unit has helped me understand them better and be able to apply them so im glad we had to. Doing a psych degree, it is extremely important for me to understand the basics of communication.

Thank you all for your support and awesome comments!

I sincerely hope you’ve at least learnt a thing or two reading my entries and you now better understand the concepts and ideas in communication.

Happy communicating! Here’s to you guys…

[Happy 21st Li!]

Online identity. Are you REALLY who you say you are?

All morning, ive been looking for a clip, something to illustrate how people change their identities online and pretend to be someone they’re not, be it a prank, movie, advert or documentry. This video basically says it all.

With so many social netwoking sites such as facebook, my space, friendster, high5, Zorpia ( and the list goes on..), people are so many avenues to socialize. These sites are extremely beneficial to us as they allow us to find friends whom we’ve not seen for a long time and to reconnect with long lost friends and to meet new people. Chatting roooms like IRC, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger and MSN allows us to interact with people without having to wait for a long time for replies like the email, thus the name ‘instant messaging’. These are all collectively know as Computer Mediated Communication.

Many enjoy using these programmes as it allows one to keep in touch with friends and meet new people without having to physically meet them and to reveal their true selves as it all takes place on the virtual platform known as ‘cyberspace’. Cyberspace affects not only how we communicate but what we communicate as well. Seeing that the individuals we might interact with have never met us and do now know how we look like, it is easy to tweak soem information about ourselves or even entirely change who we actually are.

In a survey done by ReadWriteWeb, they asked participants if they ever faked all or part of their identity in web activities. Out of 1,545 paricipants 20% said they always use thier own identities. People do this for mulitple reasons. On the internet, an individual can be the person that he or she desires to be. Being insecure about one’s identity could be a cause of this.

In the real world as we know it, people make their initial judgements by the way we look and carry ourslves. In first impressions, looking good and presenting yourself well plays a big role. On the internet, that element is no longer there (with the absence of webcams that is). People also fake their identities to engage in disgraceful acts such as cybersex or old disgusting men preying on young innocent girls and so on..

So although CMC can be beneficial to us, people tend to abuse it which makes it a dangerous and harmful environment.

Be true to yourself. Don’t need to cybersex and flirt and prey on young innocent girls and all ok?

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/fake_web_identity_poll_results.php

Aaayo, Im tired of using technology ayee!

Firstly, i was soooo frustrated with the internet. techology makes things sooo complicated and inconvenient sometimes. I typed such a loooong entry and the site lost it. Thankfully, i saved it onto word incase it screwed up. Clever me. UGGHH!

Anyway….

[Please click on the images to enlarge, gotta see it. ultra funny]

What is the world becoming to???Ha! Although i personally encourage what is portrayed in this strip but of course, my point is that is most definately not normal! Technology has infiltrated many aspects of our society and we have become very much dependent on it. People are so overly technology crazy, they need to get the latest most expensive and high tech devices just to be one up of their peers. Having these up-to-date, high-tech devices use to be a luxury but has now almost become a necessity.

Over the years, technology has been advancing so rapidly.Technological diffusion, known as the rate at which technology is adopted by society, is usually influenced by as few factors such as : the cost-benefit tradeoffs , and whether or not is it able to solve the existing communication problems.

Communication has evolved tremendously. When people though it was astonishing to be able to speak on the telephone instead of sending snail mails, mobile phones and 3G came about. Now people could not only hear each other miles apart, they could also see each other. Not only does almost every household have at least 3 television sets, programmes broad casted in other parts of the world can only be received in this small tiny red-dot of an island. I personally think that is absolutely amazing!

Likewise, the internet has also made great improvement over these years. Research and communication has been made much more convenient. With wireless telephony infrastructures, one can access the internet right from the small hand held device known as the mobile phone. access to information from all over the world is available in this tiny fragile device.

However…….

Having accessiblity to just about anything and everything; even communicating and interacting with people from home or other electronic devices, some don’t see the need to leave the comforts of their home. This can have great impacts on your healthy psychologically and emotionally and people lose their skill to communicate in real life.

FYI

IAD = Internet Addiction Phobia (A real diagnosis)

Technophobia = Fear / Dislike of technology

Technophillia = Strong enthusiasm for technology

By the way! I mean disrespect to this assignment with these strips. dont misunderstand! I think this is a really good assignment! If not for this blog, we probably wouldnt review our lectures and put any effort into inferring what we understand from the different units People just have to know where to draw the line.

Communication theory

•Little Miss Sunshine

•[[ By normal standards, the Hoover family consists of some decidedly odd characters. There's the a motivational speaker, Richard; his wife Sheryl, who's losing patience with his crisis and their marriage; their teenage son Dwayne, who worships Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence until he's old enough to become a fighter pilot; Sheryl's brother Frank, a scholar who lost his lover and failed in his attempt to take his life; Grandpa, who's been kicked out of his nursing home for snorting heroin; and Olive, the seven-year-old daughter, who will not let an obesity problem get in the way of her winning the Little miss sunshine pageant. She's been rehearsing her talent program with Grandpa and seems sure to win, so the family hops into a VW bus and drives Olive to the pageant for a chance to fulfill her dreams. The story follows their journey to california and depicts their relationships in the family and their various issues. ]]

•

According to the Limited effects theory of uses and gratification, audiences play an active role in choosing and using the media and consumed the texts for several reasons such as:

•Entertainment

•Diversion- to escape from every day problems and routine

•Personal relationships – using the media for emotional purposes and as a substituition in other areas of life

•Personal identity – Find ourselves reflected in texts and relating to it or to learn behaviour and vaues

•

Thus, it was important for the makers of this movie to incorporate aspects to appeal to the masses. Little miss sunshine therefore reflects many aspects of our lives.

•Relationships: Parent and child relationships which many families can identity with. Parents Richard and Sheryl respected their children’s decisions and tried not to interfere ( taking the silent vow and trying for the peagant). They gave them both support and encouraged them toward their goals. Like many siblings, relationships are not extremely close; however, when a sibling is facing a difficult time  of their lives, they provide each other with support and stand by each other- this is one aspect i can identity with as it reflects the kind of relationship of my brother and i.

•Romantic relationships: Two examples of romantic relationships were portrayed in this movie- one, between the parents, and another between sheryl’s brother, Frank and his partner.

•Goals in life, determination: Despite being overweight, Abigail was deteremined to achieve her goals of being crowned ‘little miss sunshine’ while her brother dwayne was willing to keep silent till he was allowed to persue his dream of becoming a figher pilot. These simple goals in life and their determination to succeed is one almost everyone can identify with.

•Humour for entertainment: Much humour was injected into this film for entertainment. Therefore, although some may say they dont identify with any subjects this film deals with with regards to his or her personal life, humour never fails to appeal!

I can personally identity with this movie in more areas than one. These issues affect us all in one way or another at some point in our lives.

I say, it’s a must watch!

Cultures

Culture provides guideline as to how we live our lives, what groups we belong to and who we are. Across the globe, all over the world, every country has unique culture and customs.  Personally, the japanese culture intrigues me most. Despite having all sorts of trends and being so advanced in technology, Japanese stay true to their culture and in what they believe in, while as other countries develop, they tend to adopt the western cultures and way of life.

One stark difference between the Japanese and Western countries, for example America is their take on displaying public affection. While it is perfectly all right and at times even encouraged to express your emotions openly in the west, hugging and any sort of physical contact is seen as impolite in Japan. It is also considered a shameful act to kiss in public in Japan.

Chewing gum is -believe it or not- not accepted in Japan! It is also considered rude to be the only person eating something. Strange as it may seem, come to think of it, it actually does make perfect sense..

One should always take off their shoes when entering a Japanese house or restaurant. However, westerners as we know, have the habit of walking around in their own homes or when visiting, with their shoes on. Although it is all right, as a visitor, to not abide by most of their cultural norms, this is one that foreigners should particularly observe.

Of all of the above, this may seem the strangest to foreigners: It is considered rude to look into the kitchen of a house that one is visiting. While many are used to hanging around the kitchen chatting and sometimes giving the host a hand, this might seem almost strange.

This last one i found may be the most pleasantly surprising ( was for me at least!) : Civil court proceedings are avoided as Japanese emphasize relationships based on trust rather than contracts. Therefore most problems of a civil nature are discussed through third party mediation. The only time people go to court is when there is no hope of maintaining a relationship between two parties. And, this is really interesting…the number of lawyers in Japan is one-fiftieth of that in America!

Of all the the norms that japan has, i think this is one that every country should adopt. Although there would inevitably be people abusing this, i think it is indeed a good practice.

Interesting right?  

Group Communications..

When we get together in groups, be it for casual purposes or work-related purposes, many communication aspects come into play. This takes place practically everyday in school, work or even play. Every group is unique as they are made up with people with different personalities and from different walks of life. However, there are typical characters that are similiar in most groups. There is always the ‘loud hailer’, the  Mr ‘whatever-ya’ll say-goes’ or the ‘Ms lets-get-things-done-pronto’. These charcacters usually drives the other group members up the wall but as i’ve come to learn, they all play a crucial role in group communication.

People communicate in groups for numerous reasons. As the saying goes, the more the merrier; with more people there is more input than there would be with just an individual and this this known as group synergy. Aside from that, communicating in group helps to meet the needs of individuals such as the need for control, affection and inclusion.

However, when interacting in groups, problems are bound to surface more easily as compared to working independently. Identifying the needs of the group and an individual’s in crucial and people tend to influence each other to best suit their needs. What striked me most in this unit is the task and maintainence roles. As I mentioned earlier about the labels that people have in a group; i have come to learn that having such characters in every group is indeed necessary as they help the group to accomplish its tasks. (ie. opinion seekers/givers, energiser, evaluator-critic, recorder, orienter etc.)

As important as it to carry out the tasks and to complete them, it is also important to enhance the social climate of the group and to maintain the relationships between its members. Some of these roles include compromiser, follwer, harmoniser, group follower etc.

Within each group of friends it is easy to identify which of these roles they take on. After this lecture, it made me start to classify and label which roles i thought the members in my different groups of friends play. Sometimes, we might get frustrated with our friends for their typical behavious in particular situations and try to understand why. This has really given me insight and i now better understand that these characters help to keep the group together and helps to sustain and strengthen the relationship amongst the group!

Knapp’s the Man

*this is an interesting read! Applies to us all, i think? i hope… 

Knapp Model of Relational Development (by Mark Knapp)    explains the development of a relationship as a series of 10 stages in 2 phases; namely, Coming Together and Coming Apart.

Coming Together:

1. INITIATING: At this stage, individuals try to present themselves well to the one he/she has an eye for. They are cautious and safe with regards to the things they do and they way they carry themselves.

2. EXPERIMENTING: Individuals start to carry out ‘small talk’ and disclose personal information about themselves. They get to know each other by sharing information on their psychological, social and cultural background.

3. INTENSIFYING: Feelings for each other are  disclosed and both individuals display increased commitment, awareness and participation in the relationship. Both individuals adopt the ‘we’ mentality.

 ( The phase of limerance- something i read somewhere: Where everything seems perfect and you’re on cloud nine.. Every Downside of the individual seems like a plus point at this point.. but c’mon, SNAP OUT OF IT!)

4. INTERGRATING: Both parties now puts together their individual characters into a relational unit. They now encompass their social networks, and identity. and PROCLAIM their “COUPLESHIP”

5. BONDING: At this stage, the couple then settles down and formalises their relationship. They now bound together by significant public rituals such as marriage, engagement, and having a child.

Coming Apart

6. DIFFERENTIATING: At this stage, individuality is reaffirmed for either one or both individuals. Communication and interaction is affected due to over conflict. Having an intense differentiation, might reflect that thhe relationship has developed too fast for individuals

7. CIRCUMSCRIBING: The couple then starts to restrict conversation to a safe area. Relational interests and commitment would start to shrink and they avoid or brush aside related topics (“i dont want to talk about it’)

8. STAGNATION: To avoid the pain of having to break up and disolve the relationship, the couple then just goes through the motions of the relationship. There is an absence of excitement and joys at this point. Some may develop ‘scripts’ of typical responses to their partners.

9. AVOIDING: At this second last stage of coming apart, individuals then start to avoid each other and withdraw both emotionally and physically. Due to the lack of communication, channels are then sealed and boh parties ‘take the hint’.

10. TERMINATION: For the better or worst for the 2 individuals, the relationship is ceased. Both parties then move on from the relationship.

We often see these very steps in progress- be it around us, with our friends or something we ourselves encounter . However, we dont actually realise the critical steps individuals painstakingly go through to make a relationship work.

I feel that once a couple reaches (or is about to reach) the very first stage of coming apart (6), something has to be done to rectify the problems immediately, or it will go downhill; sometimes so fast, even without our realisation. Although i believe, in some relationships- (with intense hard work), it can be salvaged even at stages 7 and possibly even 8. BUT! As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

So never stop working on em’ relationships.

Interpersonal Communications…

As we go on doing our mundane day-to-day activities, the one thing that varies each day is the people we meet. Everday we interact with many people; be it your parents, the security guard, the cleaner, the bus driver, your teachers or friends; we have conversations that could either last hours or  just a mere greeting. The type of interactions that is carried out is dependent on several factors.

There are 2 perspectives; namely, Quantitative and Qualitative.  Qualitative speaks about each unique relationship due to the different mindsets each individual has during the interaction, culturally, socially and psychologically. In terms of qualitative, the number of people and the context of physical interaction also plays a part. For instance, many of us would much rather prefer to speak up in a class when we have friends around us for support as compared to when we are in a class on our own.

I feel that they both play an important role in determining the type of interaction that might take place. Relationship is one of the most influential factors that determine the type of interaction a group/two people will experience. The more familiar we are with the individuals we interact with, the more warm and comfotable the communiction will be. It is also evident that the number of people is a determing factor, seeing that many of us are more comfortable in approaching or starting a conversation when we have company then when we are alone.

We also learned that in forming a relationsip, as well as coming apart in a relationship, there are 10 distinct stages. These stages are known as Knapp Model of Relational development. This was really interesting for me as we have always known the rough sequence of how 2 individuals come together and start a relationship and if it doesnt work out, an invinsible gap between them gradually grows and they eventually fall out. Learning in detail these stages has helped me paint a clearer picture of the process and to better understand it.  I will go into discussing these stages in my next entry (Soon, Hopefully!)

In Response to Terry Gault’s Comment.

Reading up on both Albert Mehrabian and Paul Ekman has really been interesting and enriching for me, an aspiring psychologist. Ekman and Mehrabian have been two very influential people in the field of communication.

Mehrabian’s research and experiments have helped to identify how individuals communicate like-dislike, power and leadership, discomfort and insecurtit, social attractiveness or persuasiveness through subtle and nonverbal means. Many individuals in the managerial and leadership posts often rely on these findings.
Ekman is better known for his studies and researches on emotional expressions and the
resulting physiological activity of the face.

In my last entry, I mentioned that I felt verbal communication is just as important as nonverbal communication. However, research has shown that cues in the nonverbal “channels” of communication are in fact often more important than words, which I stongly agree with. There are several “channels” of nonverbal communication, namely;
        -facial expressions
        -cues in our voice (vocal paralinguistics)
        -hand gestures
        -body movements (kinesics)
        -touch (Haptics)
        -space and distance (Proxemics)
        -appearance
        -nonverbal cues associated with our eyes (Oculesics), and many more.

I agree with Terry on the an example that he stated on how a simple sentence such as “You are going to do this for me”, could imply several meanings through our tone and facial expressions. Although we are aware that a simple sentance can be put across is numerous ways, we don’t realise and give credit to the major role nonverbal communication plays in our everyday lives. Also, much of the emotions we gather from interpersonal communications as Terry had mentioned, are often put across through nonverbal cues. Words often help us to pave the way of a message we want to put across, however, emotions that we want to convey can usually only be picked up from our nonverbal cues.

Evident from the date of my last post, what i said in my last entry holds true. I simply cannot be consistent in updating my blog.

Quite a bit has happened in comm 101 during the last 2 weeks or so. What i mentioned in my previous entry; about how communication has evolved overtime and the different models of communications (which i meant to go over last week in an entry but failed to do so), came out in our first communications test. Sadly, i didnt do as well as i thought i would. Oh well.

Communication is essential in our lives. Within the communication discipline, there are several sub-fields. When we speak of communication, the most common idea that comes to mind would be interpersonal communication. Commonly known as the verbal communicaition between individuals, as it is the most frequently used context. Alongside with interpersonal communication, non verbal communication is also widely used in our everyday lives. As much as verbal communications assists in the delivery of our message, non verbal cues also play a crucial role. In fact, it has been proven that non verbal cues may be more significant in some situations as compared to verbal messages.  As a psycholgy student, i strongly agree with these findings. Non verbal cues portrays how an individual truly feels. As we are more conscious of our verbal communications because, more often than not, we think before we speak, however, our non verbal cues come subconsciously, thus sometimes, they could ’give us away’. Discrepancies between the verbal and non verbal communication are an indication that something is not right.

In many families, there is a habit of the television being switched on or radios being turned on as soon as an individual in the house has woken up. With the fast-paced society we live in, it is important for us to be up-to-date with the latest news and the on-goings around us, or just to have your ‘daily dose’. This context is known as mass communication. (For instance, I used to need my daily dose of glen ong and rod/ then became flying dutchman on class95 every morning ).

 With globalisation, international communication helps us to communicate with other nations, or international organisations and to learn on ways we can improve ourselves. Within any company, industry, groups or even cliques we form, group and organisational communication helps us with problem-solving and decision making within the group.

In all of the mentioned above, Persuasion is applicable to any context of communication. Persuasion is used to shape, change or reinforce an individual’s behaviour or mindset to suit the message that you are trying to put across.

Aside from the many contexts in which communication is used, there are also several perspectives in communication. This has been an exhausting entry. Im not even sure i made sense, but i’ll continue… hopefully… soon.

Night night.