Communication

we are mediated.

[media-thoughts]

Lithuania’s Media case study on Ukraine crisis

What we found:

Russia – a threat, enemy, aggressor;

Ukraine – a country, fighting for it’s people, independence, lands and needs our full support.

Lithuania’s media:

Describes situation in Ukraine as a horrifying war and it is Russia’s fault and responsibility;

Sets agenda, that we are all in danger, makes constant tension. 

Media in Lithuania displays Putin from the worst possible perspective and sometimes tends to exaggerate the truth.

Putin has neurotic disorder;

He used to abuse his ex-wife;

“The world is one step away from war because of Putin’smental disorders”.

Putin blames, threatens and tries to intimidate Lithuania? (Headlines)

“Is Putin preparing Hitler’s used scenario with Poland for Lithuania?”

“Vladimir Putin threatens : If I wanted, Russia’s units would be in Vilnius after 2 days”

Lithuania’s president – Dalia Grybauskaitė

„After Ukraine it will be our turn“

„The threat is real“

„If terrorist Russia won‘t be stopped, it‘s aggression may spread“

Due to a constant priming of an upcoming war, Lithuania‘s government confirmed, that from this September mobilization in our country is restored.

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Who sets the agenda?

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Morning routine: Checking all social networks multiply times, then go back to sleep

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Mass culture

With the spread of mass media industries, a new form of culture was emerging— Mass culture.

Mass culture is culture as commodity

Produced for sale rather than as an expression of spiritual or communal feelings

No interest in education/taste improvement of the public

Treated as a business, where investment must turn a profit or the business will be closed down and capital shipped somewhere else

Mass culture is:

Cheap;

Disposable;

Sensational;

Forgettable;

Based on excitation that lasts for only a short time;

Devoid of real meaning.

Mass culture lacks:

Authenticity;

Emotional attachment by its creator;

Moral impact;

Ability to provide community;

Aesthetic quality;

Complexity.

Mass culture depends on Mass media and vice versa.

[media-thoughts]

The Tinder Effect – The negative side to the modern day dating phenomena

THE TINDER EFFECT. So sorry guys! I decided to take a break from the regular ‘Tinder Tuesday’ posts of men’s profile picture fails and provide my thoughts on how apps like Tinder and other online dating sites have changed the face of dating for the modern single to something that I personally find really difficult…

[media-thoughts]

In Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, Douglas Rushkoff argues that humans live in a “distracted present” as a result of a constant access to content via smart phones and portable tablets. Sherry Turkle echoes Rushkoff in Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, as she suggests that humans have come to expect more from technology and less from one another due to social media’s immediate and constant presence.

“Distracted present” is a very good term to describe the way people live today. I use three social networking websites: Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram. Facebook is my least favourite, I only use it because it makes everything convenient and, well, I have to admit, everyone is on FB and most of the apps are connected to it. It is very hard to avoid FB.

Instagram I use for keeping memories. Also for aesthetics. I find it fun to take pictures of beautiful places, so my posts on Instagram are not “like seeking” but are there so I would remember those moments of my life.

Tumblr is my favourite website. I use it for aesthetic purposes and also for finding people who think alike.

The distracted present comes into the picture when I realize I act quite differently in different social networking platforms. I have three different approaches for those three different platforms. And then there is me in real life, who is a combination of everything around me and inside of me. By always trying to keep the right face on, you get distracted. Suddenly, things happening on Tumblr are mor eimportant than those happening in real life or vice versa.

Our minds are constantly overflowing with information we have to categorize: is this for me in real life or this is for me on FB, or neither? I am talking face to face with a person and at the same time I am writing a post on FB, of course I am distracted, of course people no longer know what is important.

[media-thoughts]

FtF vs. CMC

In face-to-face communication, physical features such as appearance, facial expressions, gesture and postures is exposed to others, which can help to convey nonverbal information to help with the communication. Face-to-face communication is formed naturally in emotional, cognitive and physical aspects. Those nonverbal languages are the cues that lack in CMC communication.

Some argue that the lack of nonverbal cues in CMC may decrease one's capability of fostering and managing accurate impression on others. Additionally, the lack of nonverbal cues leads to the fact that CMC communication involves less emotional elements than FtF communication does, which contributes to less richness and interpersonal and expressive cues that may provide more positive impression.

While other holds the opposite opinions. Walther suggested in his research in 1996 that CMC can actually improve the interpersonal bond between senders and receivers because of the lack of nonverbal cues and demographic messages. Walther argued that nonverbal and demographic cues that occur in FtF communication play a distracting role; while in CMC communication, hyperpersonal interaction is created in which senders pay more attention on the strategy of delivering message so that the self-presentation is enhanced and optimized, which eventually improve the interpersonal interaction.

Link

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CMC characteristics

Communication occurring within a computer-mediated format has an effect on many different aspects of an interaction. Some of these that have received attention in the scholarly literature include impression formation, deception, group dynamics, disclosure reciprocity, disinhibition and especially relationship formation.

CMC is examined and compared to other communication media through a number of aspects thought to be universal to all forms of communication, including (but not limited to) synchronicity, persistence or "recordability", and anonymity. The association of these aspects with different forms of communication varies widely. For example, instant messaging is intrinsically synchronous but not persistent, since one loses all the content when one closes the dialog box unless one has a message log set up or has manually copy-pasted the conversation. E-mail and message boards, on the other hand, are low in synchronicity since response time varies, but high in persistence since messages sent and received are saved. Properties that separate CMC from other media also include transience, its multimodal nature, and its relative lack of governing codes of conduct. CMC is able to overcome physical and social limitations of other forms of communication and therefore allow the interaction of people who are not physically sharing the same space.

The medium in which people choose to communicate influences the extent to which people disclose personal information. CMC is marked with higher levels of self-disclosure in conversation as opposed to face-to-face interactions. Self disclosure is any verbal communication of personally relevant information, thought, and feeling which establishes and maintains interpersonal relationships. This is due in part to visual anonymity and the absence of nonverbal cues which reduce concern for losing positive Face. According to Walther’s (1996) Hyperpersonal communication Model, computer-mediated communication is valuable on providing a better communication and better first impressions . Moreover, Ramirez and Zhang (2007) indicate that computer-mediated communication allows more closeness and attraction between two individuals than a face-to-face communication.

Anonymity and in part privacy and security depends more on the context and particular program being used or web page being visited. However, most researchers in the field acknowledge the importance of considering the psychological and social implications of these factors alongside the technical "limitations".

My thoughts:

CMC does allow more closeness. BUT it is a false feeling, to which we shouldn’t really give into. You are chatting with a person who is hundreds of miles away. You realize you will probably never meet in real life with this person, so you give all sorts of kinds of information about yourself, sometimes revealing more than you ever do to your friends. But this information does not disappear, it is never lost. So people should really think before writing something very personal. Privacy is a very fragile thing.

[literatelobstersareliterate]

TED Talks: Facebook and Google / Secret Revealed — How Facebook and Google limit the information available to you  (by Wlklleaks)

[wildcat2030]

Mediated Reality & Wearable Computers

Professor Steve Mann of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is recognized as the “Father of Wearable Computing.” Using eye glasses that project computer generated content, Professor Mann is able to mediate his reality.

(by U of T Engineering)

[media-thoughts]

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON CHILDREN

A study that covers media’s influence on children’s education.

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The mass media, internet and other sorts of technology have all become major things in our society.  It seems as if mass media, internet, cell phones, and all these other high tech gadgets are needed tour society function and sadly help us human beings to function as well. If one day the internet and these forms of technology were taken away from us, what would become of our society? Would we be like wild beasts going crazy because we don't know what to do with our lives? Sadly in today's society technology has become our best friend that we can barely live without.

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In this clip shown below is a scene from South Park that shows how human beings are so in need of technology that we don't know what to do when the internet is taken away from us.

Sadly, I can only relate to this. A few days ago we didn’t have internet for two days. The scary thing was, that without internet, I felt like I lost a limb. I didn’t even need internet at that moment, but I still, I felt bad and quite useless. After a few hours that feeling was gone. I think this is a message for me, I should really relying on the internet so much. (At least SouthPark proves I am not alone on this).

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Impact of media use on children and youth

The average Canadian child watches nearly 14 h of television each week. By his/her high school graduation, the average teen will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom. Studies show how time spent watching television varies between different age groups and cultures. This is especially relevant when studying the effects of excessive television exposure on disadvantaged populations.

The amount of time that younger North American children currently spend watching television has not decreased significantly. A substantial number of children begin watching television at an earlier age and in greater amounts than what experts recommend. Evidence suggests that television’s influence on children and adolescents is related to how much time they spend watching television. As a result, with prolonged viewing, the world shown on television becomes the real world.

Television viewing frequently limits children’s time for vital activities such as playing, reading, learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills. In addition to the amount of time spent in front of the television, other factors that influence the medium’s effect on children include the child’s developmental level, individual susceptibility and whether children watch television alone or with their parents.

More information about this HERE

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Press Freedom Index

The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organization's assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It reflects the degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations, and netizens enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom. Reporters Without Borders is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and does not measure the quality of journalism nor does it look at human rights violations in general.

Four EU countries ranking ‘partly free’

Of the 197 countries and territories assessed during 2013, a total of 63 (32%) were rated free, 68 (35%) were rated partly free, and 66 (33%) were rated not free. The partly free EU countries are Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

A number of EU membership candidates and hopefuls are also categorised as partly free. Montenegro and Serbia are in 74th, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are 96th.

Macedonia and Turkey share 120th place with Congo Brazzaville. The least media-free countries are North Korea and Turkmenistan, both ranking 196th in the world. 

In Europe, the impacts of the economic crisis have accelerated restrictions to media freedom and increased pressures on journalists. In Greece, the state broadcaster was closed down. In Bulgaria, reporters are repeatedly victims of police violence and in Hungary lawmakers have implemented repressive legislative media reforms. In Croatia, Italy and Slovenia journalists face prison terms for critical reporting, which is in the public interest, EUI stated in a communiqué.

In 2014 Lithuania was ranked 32nd, Hungary 64th.