Invasion Alert! (7th entry)

Invasion Alert: Development and Adoption of New Communication Technologies (NCT) are on the rise!

The development and adoption of NCT are occurring at a rapid speed. So fast that our traditional media technologies are on the verge of being eliminated. You don’t agree? Well take some time to examine your surrounding. You may find that your handphone is next to you and your computer or laptop is right in front of you as read my blog. Before you were reading my blog, you were probably reading some news from Yahoo!News, or even enjoying Hong Kong dramas from some website. You may be even listening to podcasts from YouTube.

These are some forms of NCT. The modern generation’s reliance on NCT has become so strong that sometimes we joke about not being able to live without them. Wait. Is that a joke or the truth?

Since the emergence the Internet (considered as first few break-throughs in technology and ‘pioneer NCT’), there has been huge observable changes of how NCT has influenced our daily lives.

1) Cable and multi-channel media technologies created the provision of new media products – this is reflected in the increase in production of greater numbers of television programmes varied genres.

2) Firbre-optics and satellites improved the speed and extent of data transmission and distribution – this has allowed us to enjoy live telecasts of football matches during the 2010 FIFA World Cup from Africa.

See, another advantage of NCT:

Japan releases improved map of Earth

3) Increase in the quantity and quality of media received by consumers – we can now watch 3D and HD movies from our cinemas.

So how is this a threat to the traditional forms of media?
Well, due to prevalence of NCT, the demand of traditional media products have dipped by a significant number. This is because NCT provides us with new ways to communicate and access information, they also encompass the functions of these traditional media products. For example, the rise of iPhones have reduced people’s reliance on cell phones, radios, computer as it incorporates all functions that these electronic devises contain into a simple gadget. 

Another good example I would like to share would be Starhub TV – their incorporation of games, internet and many interesting features into their TV:

– It’s More than a TV

Do the traditional forms of media just ‘sit and rot’?
Well, some may eventually be redundant in the near future, but there are signs that others are attempting to ‘regain their authority’. Like, The Straits Times. From our everyday newspapers, it has found its place on the Internet, iPhones and even our social networking websites. It is one successful example that has discovered ways to adapt and maintain its position in Singapore’s media industry in the new world where NCT prevails.  This spirit of remaining competitive today is the key to survival in this ever-changing world.

Do you still refer to traditional forms of media? Or are have you grown (over)dependent to NCT? Do share you thoughts! 🙂

Internet is not a Mass Media? (6th post)

This week in school, we’ve started to cover Mass Communication [theories though 😦 ] I have been interested in Mass Communication since Secondary School. It is my dream to be working in the communications or media industry when I complete my studies. So, hopefully, I’ll fall into that 30-40% that Ms Hui (our comm 101 lecturer) mentioned. (*u*) daydreaming in progress.

HAHA! Okay, let’s cut out the crap and get on with serious work with this week’s blog entry. Today’s topic is a little boring because it’s going to sound very theoretical. I’m going to share with you about what Mass Communication is and their characteristics. Mass Communication is a form of communication. (duh~) It occurs when institutional sources address relatively large, heterogeneous and anonymous audiences physically separated from each other. Institutional sources refers to an organized group. For instance, people who function as a company – there are different positions and roles that people in the group take up and they abide by certain rules set. Also, the sender of the message, cannot be the receiver too, as mentioned above, they have to be physically separated.

Which reminded me of these adverts by Mediacorp:

and many more.

Okay, there are generally 4 questions which encompasses the characteristics of media messages. And you can use them to check if the media you are consuming is a form of  mass media:

Do the messages come from institutional sources?
As said earlier on, mass media messages are to be produced by complex organisations at a great expense – large amount of time and money is devoted to its creation. Within these organisations, are professionals would can perform their specialised roles.  An example would be a television drama produced by Mediacorp. For the production, camera men, directors, actors, video editors and many other experts are employed as they are necessary for the creation of the media text. These experts are equipped with specialised skills that are applicable in these fields which enables them to be able to take on the specific job – the presence of a high barrier for entering the industry.

Are the receivers of the message invisible? 
They are the audience of the mass media – characterised by the largeness, anonymity and heterogeneous nature. Invisible receivers have minimal and no direct contact with the media sources, as such do not receive personalised messages through mass media. Receivers are free to accept or reject the information transmitted through the form of media.

Are interposed channels used for the messages?
This means that institutions are to use technologies as tools to encode and spread their media messages to their receivers. As a result, the receiver of the message must also be equipped with the necessary tools to decode the message. For example, consumers of newspapers must be literate enough to read and understand the news articles printed. 

 Are the messages non-exclusive and temporal?
Do you notice how different adverts are aired during different times of the day. Well, this is one way of interpreting mass media’s non-exclusiveness and temporal characteristic. Mass media texts are spread publicly and are often strategically timed to reach most consumers of media or majority of this target audience at one shot, literally –  all audience at one time within a short time frame.
One good example I could think off my head right now would be the idea of sending out more buses carrying commercials advertising about healthy lifestyle during peak hours. Commuters, generally working adults and students will have a high probability to read them off the buses as they watch these vehicles whizz by them at bus stops.

One important finding in class this week was that Internet is not a form of Mass Media.  Why? It’s because, its excludability and the receivers of the messages are not invisible. In order to have access to the Internet, one must be equipped with an Internet connection, which is a luxury that not everyone can afford – according to http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm: Jun this year, it is estimated that only 30.4% of the world population has access to Internet.

To add on, people can be selective in their choice of information from the Internet, they can choose to search only contents that they are interested in and ignore others that they see as unimportant. On the other hand, information in the newspaper comes as a ‘package’, once one buys it, one is unable to remove unwanted information from the ‘package’.

What are the other forms of media that are or are not considered as Mass Media? 😀

We are… Super Junior! (5th entry)

According to Trenholm, a group refers to a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent and develops shared patterns of behavior and a collective identity.

There are many different groups that we can participate in, broadly categorized as the social and non-social groups. For example, your family and friends, they fall under our social groups where by you share your personal time with. As for colleagues, they fall under non-social groups as the interaction we share with them are usually more work-oriented than personal.

However, it is possible to have groups that can are both social and non-social. For instance, having your working partners becoming part of your social circle as a result of the bridge of friendship formed after interacting for some time or vice versa – your friends becoming people whom you work with.

An example that I wish to use to demonstrate such behavior I have described above is the famous Korean Boy band, Super Junior. Yes, I am a (totally sensible/sane) fan of theirs, NOT solely because of their charisma, but also their music, dance moves and also THEIR COHESIVENESS.

Anyways, the above is a short clip of an interview of them at the backstage of “Music Bank”. In the short promoting their new song, “A-CHA!” as well as introducing the next act of the show. In the clip, you can observe their type of interaction, interdependence, shared behaviors and collective identity (all the characteristics of a group).

Interaction:

The way that interacted with one another in the interview is rather limited but one can see the different task and maintainance roles that each member has taken on. The 1st man seen in the video, LeeTeuk, seems as if he is the interviewer, constantly cueing his other members to speak. The role that he has taken on is the initiator and coordinator. This interview is carried on by the other members who acted as the information givers and  elaborators: The 2nd guy, SungMin, informs the viewers the popularity of their new song while the 3rd man, YeSung, elaborates on the kind of song it is.  This is followed by the 4th and 5th guy, ShinDong and EunHyuk, who added humour by ridiculing their song. These 2 members also take up the role of energizers, helping their group to spice up their interview.

As for the other members at the back who did not have a chance to speak, they are tasked with the maintenance roles. From their smiles and nods in agreement with their other members, it can be seen that they have taken up roles as the encouragers, harmonisers, followers and even the observers.

Interdependence:

It can be seen throughout the video that each member is dependent on the other on cueing their parts in the interview, which makes the whole interview more lively and interesting – which is a strength of being in a group. Group members lend one another support, providing greater volume of quality inputs to an interview.

Shared behaviors & Collective Identity:

This is demonstrated when they introduced themselves at 0:05 – whereby they all did their signature hand gesture (the palm) and introduction in synchrony; and when they did their dance moves together at 0:50. Plus, throughout the interview, the other members seem to agree to whatever was said by each member by nodding their heads and smiling, this also signify that they trust the individual and believe that he is an expert in demonstrating the point.

Though few of their members are not included in this interview (some left, while other were enlisted into the army), I earnestly wish that some day, all 13 of them will get back on stage as a complete team, SUPER JUNIOR.

Knowing you –> Marrying you (4th post)

http://www.breakingdawn-themovie.com/

This week’s topic for the blog is really hard – as in it is hard for us to find resources recent enough to discuss what Ms Hui had covered on Tuesday. The topic of the week: Interpersonal Communication. The specific area we were taught in class was about interpersonal relationships. Had a real hard time wrecking my brains and hunting for suitable media sources… from MVs, to lyrics and finally to movie trailers…(again)

And it’s Twilight! Okay, i can hear some fan-girl screams. Anyways, the 4th movie is coming out in November! And the trailer is out!

Here’s a brief synopsis of Twilight for those who aren’t a fan. Twilight is a story built upon 3 main characters, Edward Cullen, from the vampire clan, Jacob Black, from the werewolves clan and a (fortunate) girl, named Bella Swan, who is well-liked/deeply loved by both. This film focuses on the development of the romantic relationship between Bella and Edward and the efforts of the Cullens and the  Quileute wolves in protecting Bella from evil vampires.

Well, let us decipher the human-vampire relationship via the framework: Engagement, Management and Disengagement, the 3 processes by DeFleur et al. These will help us explain the role of communication in their relationship.

Engagement:

(From the 1st movie) The Cullens had caught Bella’s attention when she first arrived in school. The first impression they gave off was that they were mysterious yet good-looking and did not mix with the other students in the school. Bella first talked to Edward in biology class which was an unpleasant conversation as Edward appeared to be disgusted by her. However, Edward saves Bella from a van crash few days later. Confused by Edward’s actions, Bella confronted him. Edward explained that the reason was because he was unable to pull himself away from her. He was thirsting for her blood but also in love with Bella. Bella loved him back, despite that Edward was a vampire. (Well, this is where they start to engage to one another – to be attracted to each other.) 

In the later part of he movie, Bella was being hunted by other vampires, and was repeated protected and saved by Edward. All these events caused the bond between the 2 characters to strengthen and eventually a budding romantic relationship between the 2. This was emphasized at the end of the movie, with Bella dancing with Edward at their school prom, expressing her desires to be changed into a vampire – her way of communicating her love and committment towards their relationship through this ‘ritualistic’ act.

Management and Disengagement:

The human-vampire relationship was constantly challenged with various hardships. It was not easy managing the relationship. Though Bella and Edward had never really separated, there was a time when Edward decides to leave Bella because he had to protect her from the dangers that their existence has brought.  There was an event when Bella had a paper cut which aroused the killing intent from Edward’s blood-thirsty brother. Edward saw the danger that vampires (like himself) could pose to Bella. As such, Edward decides to dissolve their relationship (disengagement) and move far away from Bella without giving her any clear explanations or leaving any forms of contact behind – an act out of love and protection. This resulted in Bella’s depression. However, the 2 patched up at end of the 3rd movie. They got engaged and even married in the 4th movie – steps closer to fulfilling Bella’s wish to be changed into a vampire.

 There were also other hurdles in their relationship.

1) A third party: Jacob. Jacob – Bella’s childhood playmate who is also in love with her was against Bella loving Edward and even marrying him as he thought that he was not human enough for her. When, Bella fell into deep depression, Jacob  had been there for Bella. He accompanied her and helped her walk out of her pain, he also tried to persuade Bella to choose him instead, attempting to dissolve Bella’s feelings for Edward. He successfully made Bella realise her love for him, however, these did not interfere with Bella’s undying and greater love for the vampire. In turn, Bella made it clear to Jacob that they will remain as friends. Also to make up for her incompetency (to the vampires, particularly Edward), Bella became more determined to be changed into a vampire. 

2) The Volturi who were the royalties of the vampires had made a law that no human are allowed to know the existence of vampires. The Volturi saw human as inferior to vampires, which also meant that human-vampire love was prohibited unless the human is being changed into a vampire. 

I truly wonder what other obstacles would Bella and Edward face in the course of their relationship. Perhaps, Jacob would find a new love interest in this upcoming movie… Can’t wait for the November to come!!!!

Actions = Words (3rd entry)

There was this movie called

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

that was released last month. Have any one of you seen it? Well, it’s a (plain, old) concept whereby apes are used. 

Basically, it’s about a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. He experimented on chimpanzees, doing genetic alterations to these animals. However, this genetic therapy also has side effects – the chimpanzees began to develop intelligence that is almost compatible to that of a human being. The story goes on showing how trust is being built and broken down between the protagonists (the ape and the human). The climax is when the ape goes around releasing his fellow ape-mates and giving them the doze that made them as intelligent as he was. It seemed as if they were going to take over the world that humans have been ‘ruling’ for the tons of years… In the end, (after a great war between human and apes) the apes decide to live on their own in their natural habitat, their newly found home.

What I find most interesting about this movie is the heartwarming interactions between the chimpanzee, its caretaker and the caretaker’s father. It reminded me that animals too, (to a certain extent) have emotions and may react rather vigorously to one’s actions or words. They can understand the communication between human beings and also even communicate with humans non-verbally (once trained to do so).

In the movie, the most prominent ways that the chimpanzee communicated with its caretakers was through eye contact, body language and also sign language – which was taught by its caretaker. These are different forms of non-verbal communication. Non verbal communication occurs when a tool other than words is used to create meaning in the mind of the sender and receiver.

As the saying goes, “Eyes are the windows to the soul”, from the trailer above, you can see any several instances where the apes try to express their feelings through their eyes. Under the magic fingers of the animators, you can see the different scenes showing the apes’ frustration, curiosity, compassion and plotting of thoughts (1:36) very clearly. However, communication through eye contact is much more limited as compared to the 2 other types of communication.

Body language, on the other hand, ‘speaks’ much clearer than the ‘eye language’. It can convey abstract ideas better than our eyes. Kinescics (study of body language) has allowed me to spot and analyze the actions of the chimpanzee in more detail. There was one great scene in the movie whereby the protagonist’s father was blamed for crashing a car borrowed from the neighbour. Though the chimpanzee, couldn’t hear or even understand what the situation was about, but the sight of having fingers pointed against the old man’s chest had angered the ape. It immediately charged out in fury in order to protect his friend. (see 1:07 of trailer)

However, from the horrified looks of the onlookers, the act of the ape was seen as outrageous and dangerous. I believe the violent and strongly defensive way the chimpanzee used to stop the other man was perceived as an attack from a wild animal rather than a simple act of protection – which unfortunately had the chimpanzee kept in captivity for this violent act. This scene showed me that body language is subjective, they will not be understood by others if they do not act or behave the same way as the former does. Further more, it is an unfamiliar animal that these people are dealing with, a wild and untamed beast, hence people would be inclined to form negative impressions of the creature.

A way of non verbal communication that is able to convey non-abstract ideas clearly is sign language. Sign language attaches various non-abstract ideas to a series of hand signals/symbols. It can be seen from the trailer at 0:33 and 0:56 where by the chimpanzee learns and applies sign language taught by its caregiver. Sign language enables the ape to better communicate its needs to its caregivers, it even eliminates the barriers of having miscommunications due to different languages spoken. Yet i feel that the lack of tone in such a language fails to give communication a fuller picture. Which, is a weakness across all forms of non-verbal communication. They are unable to fill the receiver up with the ‘extent’ of action or exact type emotions that the sender of the message is trying to convey through sound.

Though at the end of the movie, it was REALLY AMUSING and disappointing that the chimpanzee could speak human language, i still thought that this movie is a really good piece of educational material for non-verbal communication…Anyways, I chanced upon another article which i thought, might be related to non-verbal communication too… Meditation for Peace. Do you think meditation a form of non-verbal communication?

Not new news… (2nd entry)

Kumar publicly admits he is gay

By Jeanette Tan | Singapore Showbiz – Wed, Sep 14, 2011 12:10 PM SGT

http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/kumar-publicly-admits-gay-041036800.html

Kumar in an interview with Yahoo! Singapore last year. (Yahoo! file photo)

Our very own drag queen denied it in 1993, and in 2005. But now he has come out of the closet.

(B2: Are you thinking what I’m thinking B1? B1: I think I am, B2.)

I  have always been suspicious about Kumar’s sexual orientation. According to this interview he said that he has finally revealed his sexual preference because he felt that he no longer had the need to hide. Being 43 now, he said that “When you’re 40-something, people take you seriously. And when you tell people you’re 40, anything you say, they will believe.”

Maybe because of the wisdom and experience obtained over the years…but i still do not get how does this link to being open/concealing about being gay. Anyways, it’s not always that case that you will trust everything some 40-plus adult said. No offense to all those friends in their 40s out there!!! It’s not like I’m pointing out that people of this age cannot be trusted. It’s just that I hold that belief that there is no definite conclusion or claim to any subject.

okay, enough of side-tracking….back to Kumar.

Kumar had been denying that he is a homosexual till recent years. The reason behind, I think, is partly due to the fact that homosexuality is illegal in Singapore. So perhaps, another reason to why it took so long for Kumar to be truthful about it would be that he did not want to disappoint people who are close to him or cause a huge commotion about it. He must have been struggling to master that LOT of courage to do that.

However, the new generation of Singaporeans of now more tolerant of the homosexuality, as we are more exposed to many vast ideas coming from all over the world. Thanks to globalisation and the prevalence of the mass media.

A little background info on him:

According to wikipedia (yes, my favourite place to help me start off research projects)

Kumar had performed at places like Boom Boom Room and Gold Dust (places which I’ve never heard of…) He is still performing at 3 Monkeys Cafe and Hard Rock Cafe as a comedian or as drag queen.

I also did a little research about how he became a drag queen. In another interview done in 2008, Kumar said that when he was about 25, he had a friend who told him that he had the potential to make money “if I could wear a sari and entertain people for an hour. ” And, (tada~) here he is – Singapore’s very own drag queen, and he’s also our very 1st drag queen.

However, I believe many people, upon hearing that he’s a drag queen, and seeing that he plays this role extremely well, would’ve guessed that he liked men instead of women. Why? I guess this is because of the  mental framework that we have developed overtime – a cognitive schemata.  It’s as if we’ve made a checklist in our minds to help us categorize or evaluate a person.

Well, as for me, this is my checklist for a gay:

Gays usually have unique fashion preferences, for example likings towards feminine clothings. They would have feminine facial features or gestures, accompanied by soft and gentle voice. They behave like girls. They may also be very particular about their outer appearance, sometimes even MORE than women and are interested in topics about “hot guys”. One more hint is that the guy has no crushes on the opposite sex/girlfriends despite being good-looking.

How did i actually get impression of gays, it’s once again, thanks to the mass media.

Well, based on my impression of gays, Kumar basically fulfills about half of them. Further more, being a drag queen, which he said he was rather comfortable being in, creates even a greater impact and deeper impression in the audience’s mind. We become inclined to view him as a person with ‘unclear sexual orientation’ or simply a gay.

Sometimes even if we don’t say it out loud, (i think) Humans still tend to form closures about people. This not only applies when we try to note down first impressions of people we interact with everyday, but this OFTEN happen to celebrities that we see very regularly on our TV screens. I guess, it is human nature to ‘automatically’ want to category people through stereotyping.

Referring back to the lather article i mentioned, being a drag queen has caused him serious problems with his family.

from the article:

“My father didn’t speak to me for seven years after I took to the stage,” he says.

As for his mother, “She thought I was a male prostitute when I started doing this.”

The negative tags that people have placed on drag queens and gays are the factors to why he faced such troubles.

However, the positive side is that he is able to joke about gender really easily as is he, neither female nor male, as he said in the article.

Though it is unavoidable for Humans to not put labels on people (especially those unique individuals, eg: geeks, popular guys), I feel that we should always get to know a person personally before making ‘right’ assumptions/claims about this person – basically, look at the bigger picture. We should not just focus on what is obvious but also include minute details that are often ignored or forgotten during our analysis (figure and ground).

Okay, to end off, I’ll show you guys a video of Kumar appearing as a guest star in Dick Lee’s concert in 2004, hope you like it and DO COMMENT! 🙂

WTF did they (not) censor it? (1st entry)

With reference to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14644374

Lady Gaga and Beyonce on China song blacklist

“Hits by Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Take That are among 100 songs that have been placed on an internet blacklist by China’s culture ministry.

Music websites have been given until 15 September to remove the offending tracks, which officials say harm “national cultural security”.

Those that fail to do so risk being prosecuted by the Chinese authorities.

The internet in China is tightly controlled, with content deemed inappropriate often blocked or removed.

A notice posted on the culture ministry’s website said the 100 songs had not been submitted for official approval.

It is not clear whether the directive is aimed solely at illicit music download sites or those operating legally.

But a 2009 directive, which aimed to tackle “poor taste and vulgar content” as well as copyright violations, said all hosted tracks should have official sanction.

Most of the banned songs are from Taiwan or Hong Kong, with several from Japan.

Among the Western acts, Lady Gaga has six banned tracks: The Edge of Glory, Hair, Marry the Night, Americano, Judas and Bloody Mary. Beyonce’s Run the World (Girls) has also been outlawed as well as Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, which has lyrics about a menage a trois.

The list also includes the Backstreet Boys track I Want It That Way, which was released more than a decade ago.”

Simple as it is, the topic I shall be touching on would be censorship of pop music.

What exactly is censorship in music? According to Wikipedia, (ranked 1st for being “the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet” by “Five-year Traffic Statistics for Wikipedia.org”) censorship in music means

“practice of restricting free access to musical works”.

Not only in China, but countries such as Malaysia and Singapore practise strict censorship in music. They remove sensitive or rude messages before these artistes’ music are allowed to be broadcasted on the national radio and TV. While the authorities may put their hands into censorship in music, some music artistes may  produce “clean” versions of their songs themselves so as to ensure that the promotion of their song will not be limited to only countries with lax censorship practices.

Examples of artistes who face censorship issues include P!nk, Eminem and Lady GaGa.

Why is there a need to instil censorship in music?

Well, I think this is due to the Social Constructionist Perspective that both the local government and a significant number of people takes. Through the social perspective, people use culture familiar to themselves to relate to the media texts that are presented to them, finding similarities between the information received and their knowledge of their culture.

However, this perspective often results in controversies as the culture of people from different societies and backgrounds usually differ by a large extent.

Take a look at “You and I” that was released few weeks ago by Lady GaGa.

A conservative nation such as China would deem the contents of the video as offensive. This is because the hints of sex, experimenting on human beings (rather unethical), cross-dressing and nudity in her video is socially unacceptable in their country. However, to an American who has been widely exposed to the culture, he may be acceptive of “You and I” as the society that he is being brought up in is more tolerant of these contents. Therefore, the Chinese may less capable of comprehending the contents presented in the video as compared to the American.

I do understand that such censorship is necessary so as to minimise controversies that may arise due the profanity it contains. However, if we view the video through the eye of a person with cultural perspective, we would be able to uncover the authentic meaning behind the video.

While the GaGa way of presenting her music in her videos has always been a shock to many, taking it from an objective stand, I feel that the song has a hidden intention (the Logos):

According to the lyrics and reading the background information from wikipedia, this song is a story about herself. She used to have a boyfriend whom she loved so much that she wants to love him all over again. The video portrayed that regardless of how much she was being changed/experimented upon (be in by her ex or by the music industry) she is still willing to get back with him. This shows the strength and determination of one towards love.

This is a message that I will never get if I had watched a censored version of this video and not taken the culture studies perspective to view this GaGa video. And I believe this is the same as to all the other censored videos. If people allowed themselves to be more open and neutral, censorship could be removed/relaxed. They would also be able to have a greater understanding and appreciating for such songs like GaGa’s on a higher level, thus minimising misunderstanding.

From the above, I am able to conclude that we should not be confined into just applying a single perspective of processing information we receive through different sources. Instead, we should make use of more than one type of perspectives to get the greater picture of the content that is being communicated so as to better understand the sender of the information and also to instil greater understanding of one another’s culture.

Hopefully, in the near future, there would be minimal need to apply censorship on music so that the true artistic value of music can be fully appreciated. Or is censorship still necessary?