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Excuse me, let me offend you

If you search for any Instagram of celebrities and see the comments on their posts, it is not difficult to find rude comments and even curses. The arguments between haters and fans are also common on Instagram. There’s no rest for people with many followers. Those haters, leaving the impolite comments, are aware that they’re offending somebody and even intentionally do so to let them shame.

Why do people do so? The comments are a response to what users believe to be a violation of sets of expectations and norms which form these users’ moral values. The foundation of morality can be different among people and situations like the chart below.

For example, here’s a rude comment on Kardashian’s post.

She uploaded a picture of her closet full of fancy items and a hater left a comment saying “There are people on the street and starving and you show off your closet.” From the perspective of the hater, popular celebrities like her must take responsibility to care about the poor. If they don’t, they deserve taking offense! It’s quite unacceptable but the haters think like this. On the other hand, there are many rude comments that don’t seem related to moral value. For instance, here are the comments on Instagram of Sophia Hadjipanteli, a model with unique eyebrows.

She has embraced her monobrow to challenge stereotypes and break beauty standards which are set on women. She hopes to be an example for people who try to stay true to who they are. She even gets a lot of death threats because of her eyebrows. Unbelievable, but it’s true. It is so unacceptable for haters to look the way she does that it infuriates them to the point where they have to threaten in her life.

Every time she uploads her selfie on Instagram, the haters leave rude comments blaming her for being a unibrow model. It seems that they don’t have any moral reason(or excuse) for blaming her. But there is. From their perspective, being a model is such a holy ground for a “beautiful” person. Of course, Sophia being a model is not acceptable for them. That’s why they keep ridiculing her with impolite comments.

But she never let them be rude on her Instagram. She sometimes comments back the rude comments and makes them feel shame.

There are so many different moral values online. You might think that protecting your morality is important. However, don’t forget to protect it to the extent of protecting human right and freedom.

#languageandnewmedia #impoliteness #netiquette

CAUTION: EYES’re doing MORE than just watching!

Dear users

Holiday’s coming! Haven’t you planned for it yet? Why don’t you go abroad and experience a whole new world? Let yourself be in dazzling moments and unbelievable sights. You DESERVE it.

Planning for the trip, HOWEVER, is often annoying. You are bound to book a flight and search for accommodation to stay. And as you know, it’s absolutely annoying to compare every product by yourself.

In this case, what if someone who knows you well(maybe better than your mom does) recommends certain products that would be PERFECT for you? I can do this. I can predict what you want by collecting a pile of private data of you from a full range of apps in your phone. It’s a hassle for me but I can do this just for you. It’s comfortable and simple. All you have to do is just sit on the bed and click the ad links that I provide you. Just enjoy your holiday!

Best Wishes,

Facebook

How would you feel if you got this message from Facebook, one of the most beloved and trustworthy social media? It sounds tempting, doesn’t it? However, if you take a closer look, you will discover something creepy and tricky, what I made as bold.

Have you ever seen sponsored ads on your Facebook or Instagram news feed? If you don’t want it, you can hide the ad by tapping the menu on the top right corner of the sponsored post, and then choosing Hide This. Then the other ads will show up, anyway. There are various kinds of ads in general but think about a certain moment when you plan a holiday trip to Scotland. You’ve recently been going over Skyscanner, a travel fare aggregator website, and then you would see the sponsored ads related to Scotland travel on your news feed. You didn’t tell Facebook or Instagram you’re going to Scotland. You were browsing only Skyscanner, not those apps. But they already know before informed. Look at the image below, explaining this mechanism to Instagram users.

It collects your personal data from your app usage pattern such as liking, following, what information you see, and so on. And it is not just from Instagram itself but also from “third-party sites and apps.” Who knows what these sites and apps are? It is creepy to know anonymous “stalkers” have kept eyes on you. Of course, they’re not totally anonymous since Facebook or Instagram must inform its users that it uses their private data, not to violate Privacy Law. But who cares about the Privacy Policy written with tiny fonts? Signing in Facebook leads automatically to agreeing to its Privacy Policy.

Plus, there’s even a service called Facebook Connect. When you sign in some sites, you might see the option saying “Log in with Facebook.“ like the image below. It’s from Skyscanner, I mentioned before. It seems absolutely convenient because there’s no need to write down your personal information every time you sign in different sites.

In addition, it turned out that Facebook was sent private information from several popular apps even without users’ consent. These apps include Skyscanner and even religious applications. Religious behaviors are considered to be one of the most private parts of life but Facebook is tracking these behavioral data as well.

As you see, people nowadays are under Surveillance Capitalism. Zuboff(2015) asserts that “this new form of information capitalism aims to predict and modify human behavior as a means to produce revenue and market control.” Private human behavior turns into behavioral data, with which huge online platforms like Facebook and Google predict users’ future interest or transaction. This data is about its users, but the users don’t own it. It belongs to online platforms and their partners. They can generate huge profit out of this private information.

Some users may say that the fact that they use our data is not a big deal because people can also benefit from the personalized service provided. But people obviously know that they must not be deprived of liberty they gained by overthrowing the monarchy. It is horrible to live in a society like one described in George Orwell’s novel 『1984』 published in 1949. If so, why not with privacy? Human private data is a significant element of liberty.

Moreover, there’s another issue as well. Let’s move again on to Instagram Ads policy and focus on the underlined phrase below.

What ads are INTERESTING? What are RELEVANT to you? In fact, Facebook or Instagram is the one who DECIDES what is interesting and relevant to you. They have all this right to present what you see. According to Agenda-Setting Theory(Griffin, Ledbetter, & Parks, 2015), what you see can affect what you think about and what you think is important. The media “may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.”(Cohen, 1963)

It doesn’t have to be a serious political or gender issue. The power of those EYES on you is related to every aspect of your life to some extent. For instance, if you are frequently exposed to sponsored ads and posts saying all your colleges are working out these days, you might happen to take it into account to buy workout equipment like yoga matt or running shoes. This makes it certain that Surveillance Capitalism can predict and even modify your behavior.

Creepy, isn’t it? Do you still think those eyes on you are just watching you? Do you still think that it’s just convenient to let Facebook collect your private data? It’s time to be aware of its threat.

References:

Cohen, B. C. (1963). The press and foreign policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Griffin, E., Ledbetter, A., & Parks, G. (2015). A first look at communication theory (9th ed.). New York, NY.

Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30, 75–89.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6783409/Facebook-tracking-people-dont-ACCOUNT.html\

#languageandnewmedia #surveillancecapitalism

What makes you watch ‘Mukbang’?

Digital Communication is a complex of various modes. This distinct characteristic is called multimodality, which means the use of multiple semiotic modes, such as visual, aural, spoken and written modes, in a text to create meaning. People now commit themselves to more multimodal communication rather than just reading texts. And here’s an interesting trend that stands out as the newest multimodal content: Mukbang. This trend has been spreading rapidly and it is easy to see those videos on Youtube.

PewDiePie, a male Youtuber with the most subscribers around the world, filmed Mukbang as well. He explained that Mukbang “is basically people shoving food in their face for 30-40 minutes. It’s like an ASMR but fxxkin repulsive.” The term came out of Korean word “Mukneun Bangsong”(eating broadcast). As its meaning, it shows people eating. But it’s not the main point of Mukbang. The viewers don’t just see eating. They hear it. This is why every Mukbang Youtuber has the high-end microphones with extremely clear sound. This can be considered to be kind of ASMR but it differs in that it focuses on both visual and aural aspects.

People in the digital age seems to be somehow redesigned as a different creature from the past. We keep pursuing multimodal stimulus that can make us satisfied. Mukbang was very weird and when it first showed up, but it is not now. Therefore, there will be more multimodal contents showing up as we need more.

#multimodality #languageandnewmedia #asmr #mukbang

Why do people have private accounts?: The arts of impression management

Do you have your own Instagram account? If you do, do you by any chance have another account known only to your close friends?

Many Instagram users have ones. They set them as private accounts and confirm the follow requests from just a few friends, which means only close friends of them can see what they post. They generally share the sincere emotion and deep inside of themselves to these accounts. There’s no need to pretend. They can be who they are. The fact that they have followers who are intimate enough can relieve the users and make them confident.

For instance, as asserted in psychology, humans have several common cognitive traits. “A desire for consistency” is one of them(Cialdini, 2000). People generally want to seem consistent. They feel like others would blame for their inconstancy. Especially, social networks like Instagram are public so that anyone can easily offend them. Therefore, in cyberspace, people pretend to have a consistent stance on any issues. That’s possible as online circumstance itself facilitates displaying and concealing the ‘real’ self because it is anonymous to some extent, and people can ponder about and revise what they write on the Internet.

It is called impression management. Goffman(1959) considers social activities as the drama on stage. People perform more than one role to present themselves to others in different groups and contexts. We can perform the idealized self as we change masks on the different front stage. This is how we manipulate and control the impression. We craft the intended impression and identity, and it is much easier in cyberspace as I said above.

But it’s quite exhausting to keep being someone who I’m actually not. People can change their minds as they wish and can be indecisive, of course. It is never weird but natural. It is the same for other human minds as well. People can be depressed or angry but some of them don’t want to seem weak or mean so that they conceal what they really feel. But if we suppress this natural behavior and feeling, we end up getting tired and frustrated.

It is not, however, the absolute solution to stop managing the impression. Goffman(1959) asserts that impression management is an important part of socialization. Humans are socialized by performing various selves and discovering the ‘real’ self. Fortunately, with private accounts with selected followers, we can free ourselves from pretending beloved identities to some extent. It is the way we can relieve our stress and worry about online self-presentation.

That’s why Instagram users create a secret account. It’s the arts of impression management.

References:

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press.

Cialdini, R, B. (2000). Influence: Science and practice, 4th edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

#impressionmanagement languageandnewmedia

Being informed to be ‘Read’: Is it good?

Think about your reply speed when chatting online. Do you reply to messages quickly in general? Or do you just let them unread for a while and text back later? It may depend on who you are and who the sender of the message is. Some people used to reply right after they receive a message, whereas others do not. I even have some friends who don’t read every message they got for a month. It’s quite interesting to find that there are so many ways people communicate on text-based online media.

In face to face communication, you might be under pressure to respond immediately because it’s kind of awkward to pause for a moment while speaking. On the other hand, in Computer Mediated Communication(CMC), it’s rather flexible. The delayed replies are more inclined to be admitted. This can be said to be semi-synchronous interaction, one of the distinct features of text-based digital communication. This is well explained in the phrase below.

Unlike most written communication, text-based digital communication involves all kinds of opportunities for interaction between the people writing messages and the people receiving them, whether it is the more or less ‘real time’ (synchronous) interaction of chat and instant messaging or the ‘delayed’ (asynchronous) interaction of email and blogs(Jones & Hafner, 2012).

In other words, as having both synchrony and asynchrony, CMC is distinct from face to face communication and even old text-based communication like mail. Face to face interaction generally inquires synchrony as mentioned above. People are usually impatient of awkward silence while chatting. However, the thing is opposite in traditional text-based interaction. People are patient when they wait for replies by letter. In fact, they cannot even figure out whether the receiver has received their letter or not, which makes the senders just wait for the reply. Asynchronous interaction is common in this situation.

On the other hand, in CMC, it is possible for users to choose his or her level of participation. Technology enables them to choose when to reply, how to present themselves, and how much to reveal their emotion. Everything is up to the users. As people are granted a right and an ability to choose their level of participation in digital communication, they tend to interact more with some people but less with the others. To be more specific, they tend to text back some people promptly but just ignore the others. I feel it can be called selective interaction.

Moreover, what is interesting is that people know whether the receiver has read the message or not, unlike mail and blogs. For example, when someone sends you a message with the Facebook messenger, it marks ‘Read’(and the time when you read it) next to the message and informs the sender that you have read it, even if you don’t reply to it yet.

Then you, the receiver, can choose what to do next. There can be three options: to read it and text back right after you receive it, to let it unread and text back later, and to leave the sender on read. The third one seems quite interesting, which means not to reply although you’ve already read the message.

Most online messengers have introduced this function. Indeed, it’s comfortable for you to be informed of whether the receiver has read your message because you don’t have to engage yourself in endless waiting anymore, worrying that he or she accidentally miss your message. It might be thought to be a positive advance in CMC. Unfortunately, however, it recently poses another worry about left on read.

People feel miserable, stressful, and unwanted as they find themselves to be ruled out of someone’s selective interaction. The pause in conversation also matters because the time, when the message was read, is also marked. Many people nowadays agree that the quicker you reply to your friend, the more intimate you and the friend are. Therefore, it can also be said that delayed responses can ruin your relationship.

In conclusion, it’s time to reconsider the usefulness of marking ‘Read’ in online chatting. Is it still good? Well, I don’t think so.

References:

Jones, R. H. & Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding digital literacies: A practical introduction. NY: Routledge.

Fun fact: Memes can even create collective self-awareness

Do you know that memes not only entertain us but also create collective self-awareness?

If it is true, it’s quite a fun fact. Here’s an interesting case in South Korea, which can be called Princess Effect. The image below is the original one.

It’s just an image of a princess combined with texts saying, “I’m the princess. So what?” It begins to be used among many Facebook users when they would like to wittily ignore someone’s opinion. It gets more and more popular as her prim and shameless face entertains people. This meme also causes some mashup creation with Disney Princesses like images below.

Even there is a Facebook group named Gather up, Princesses. It has as many as 217k followers. People in this group tagged each other on a post, for example, saying “You have to do this cuz you’re the princess!” People call themselves as a princess and even acted like the princess for fun.

Even an emoji named I am a Princess Anyway is released and ranks first on popularity at Kakao Talk, the most beloved Korean messenger.

Nowadays, pretending to be a princess is almost one aspect of Internet culture.

The nature of human affected by media technology: Does it mean degeneration?

Can you imagine the world without social media? People nowadays, especially the young generations, are quite hooked on surfing the Internet. You might feel a bit stifling without a Wi-fi connection. Moreover, you might have trouble in reading intensively some printed books or journals, other than just scanning the pages and the headlines. It is one of the greatest concern that the older generation has for the younger.

Then, how would it be for people from medieval Europe? Did they feel same as you usually do? Not to mention, they didn’t. Middle Age was the age of written tradition. People were used to reading and writing in a linear way and focusing on a single flow of written paragraphs, except for, of course, those illiterate.

But I’m not saying that modern people like us are stupid or lack patience compared to medieval people. Instead, I’m saying that the nature of writers and readers can be formed differently by dominant media technology at that time.

On every page of the history of civilization, there was the upheaval in media technology from oral tradition to digital social media, deserving to be called Media Revolution. Technology, including media technology, is considered as the main factor of historical changes no matter how rapid or gradual they are.

Lewis Mumford focused on the influence of technology in his book(1934), saying the history of the clock. The clock became necessary as monasteries established the iron discipline of the rule to be opposed to secular chaos and to keep in order by making the monks be punctual. With this instrument, he said that the monastery was the seat of a regular life. After “modern” clock was built by Heinrich von Wyck in 1370, this time-keeping instrument rapidly spread outside the monastery, which brought a new regularity to urban life.

Media technology, such as printing, radio, and the Internet, has contributed to human history as well. Transferring from orality to literacy, that is from speech to writing, people experienced the transformation of their mindset (Ong,1982). In addition, even if they are parts of the same written tradition, printed books created human nature that totally differed from that of handwritten books (Eisenstein, 1983). To put it simply, It is said that feature of persistence that written, especially printed language goes with affected the nature of human, having made them logical and analytic, which raised the Renaissance, the Reformation, and modern science.

Then think about media usage of today. Due to hyperlink and various interactive user interface(UI) with which we’re faced every day, we take it for granted to take the leading position in reading and writing on media. We have the initiative, freedom, and even joy when navigating the websites. We, the readers are more active and choose the path by ourselves. Thanks to intertexuality of new media, moreover, we can broaden our perspectives and insights as the contents online are not self-contained systems but as differential and historical. Social media, the new media technology today, brings us the new concept of electracy.

Electracy is coined by Gregory Ulmer(2003), which means to digital media what literacy is to print. It can be the modern nature of media technology and human nature. As you can see below, it requires people completely different characteristics compared to the concept of orality and literacy. It means that new media technology raises a new kind of personality.

It is hard to judge it is good or bad. But at least it is certain that it is neither degeneration nor evolution. It’s just different.

References

Eisenstein, E, L. (1983). The printing revolution in early modern Europe. US: Cambridge University Press.

Mumford, L. (1934). Technics And Civilization. NY: Harcourt Brace, & Co.

Ong, W. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. UK: Routledge.

Ulmer, G. L. (2003). Internet Invention: From Literacy to Electracy. New York: Longman.

Importance of Cognitive Filters in Filter Bubble Issue

The phrase filter bubble was coined by Eli Pariser(2011), the president of MoveOn.org. As you can see in the picture above, this phrase contains the negative value of the filter bubble itself. The bubbles would prevent people from exploring different point of view other than their existing one and make them biased in taste, insight, political orientation, and other aspects of life. It seems so hard to escape from the filter bubbles because data these days are too overloaded for you to process all of them. Fortunately, algorithms help media users by collecting personal or social data and sorting them out.

Facebook, for example, has an algorithm called Edge Rank. It records every interaction for instance through Like, comments, and so on. Then it sorts out data in forms of Top Stories or Most Recent. Think about your recent Facebook news feed. Is there any information about getting parttime jobs near the town? Then you might have liked some job ads the other day or some of your close friends might have.

Therefore, the more algorithms provide you with personalized data, the more comfortable your media usage becomes.

But do you always take advantage of the procedure? Actually not. As a result, you get trapped in that comfort, even with not realizing the wall that blocks you. Those who worry about filter bubbles usually argue that the filter bubble is an adverse effect of rampant personalization by the algorithms such as EdgeRank, which make people not just biased but also inactive. In this point of view, it seems totally impossible to break out of the bubbles as long as you access to social media because algorithms, that is technical filters, are everywhere on the Internet.

However, you don’t have to worry about it! It is possible to find the way out if you think differently. It is wrong at the beginning to argue upon the premise that filter bubbles are only generated by technical filters. It is often thought to be so, but there is more. We humans are not just manipulated by the algorithms. We have free will and cognitive skills. Therefore, the procedure of the computers is not the only one that can create the bubbles.

The point is that the filter bubbles are also generated by the procedure of the human mind. Not to mention, they can be torn down by us as well.

According to Cognitive Dissonance Theory(2015), an authoritative theory in psychology and communications, when people hear a truth inconsistent with their existing belief, people ignore it and seek to another consistent one to avoid the feeling of discomfort(dissonance). The theory asserts that it is the inner drive of humans. In other words, people already have filters in their mind and go through a mental procedure when they explore the whole Internet world. And then, it would pose a threat to your life like technical filters do.

That is, it is even more significant to handle your own cognitive filter than to limit your media use or to require social media companies not to filter data. Of course, it is also important to train your cognitive skills in order to get rid of filter bubbles generated by the technical filters.

In conclusion, there is a way to get out of solid filter bubbles, and we, humans have the key: cognitive filters.

References

Griffin, E., Ledbetter, A., & Parks, G. (2015). A first look at communication theory (9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. USA: PenguinGroup.

Media Everywhere: Important Factor of Communication

Media is everywhere: It doesn't mean that we can see cellphones or TVs in our daily lives due to the advance in technology or the digital age. First of all, we have to keep it in mind that media can be more than cellphone, television, radio, and newspaper. They are tools that mediate human interaction and action and affect the way we relate to others as well as our ability to complete various tasks.

This kind of view can also be found in Understanding media: the extensions of man(1994). In this book, McLuhan said that media are the extensions of human sensory organs. It's media that affect the way we see, feel, hear, and even think.

For instance, the car we ride everyday is a medium as well. Imagine that you are driving a fancy car and watch what can be different from the situation where you drive a normal car.

First, in terms of DOING, you will drive gently and control their driving habits more than before because you would be worried about breaking the expensive car. For this reason, other drivers will be more careful as well when they drive beside your car.

Second, when it comes to THINKING, you will feel like you are in the upper level of social status. The same can be true of others.

Third, in terms of RELATING, you might attract more attention in social relationships on account of the impression a fancy car delivers(lots of money, fashionable, etc.).

Fourth, in terms of MEANING, if you are a person of success, expensive car driven by you will change the meaning of success itself. People will set their own goals to get a fancy car as a proof of their success.

Lastly, when it comes to BEING, the car as a medium can influence even the way you are. When you are behind the wheel of fancy car, what you do, the way you think, how you relate to others, and what it means can constitute you, yourself.

That is how the medium affects your doing, thinking, relating, meaning, and even being. As you saw from above, media can be both affordances and constraints in interaction and human action.

Media is everywhere, and they have tremendous effects on your life. It is important to keep this fact in mind and find some ways to use them properly to improve your communication with others.

References

McLuhan, M. (1994). Understanding media: The extensions of man. MIT Press.

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