Review of Class

I liked the way the weekly assignments were designed. I can explain my reasoning for my answers to the questions whenever I had time within each week. I am also able to read other people’s comments on the same questions and see different perspective. There is also the chance that someone commented on my post and then I learn about that person’s views on my stated answers, which again lets me see a different perspective, thus expanding my own perspective. I also think that it’s great that there are many useful and active means of contacting the professor and having questions answered on a more one-to-one basis. As for improvement within the class, I do not think that there are huge problems that need to be. Everything seems satisfactory, but revisions on the instructions to make them clearer, and looking over the course schedule would help make things easier for us as students. To me, it seems that the instructions are not as clear as they could be, and the schedule appears like there are too many “weeks-off” that are too close to each other and within the later part of the course as opposed to being more spread out. Of course, there are probably reasons behind this, due to the professor’s other possible scheduling conflicts and such.

Concept that needs more discussion

I think that how the self-concept is constructed needs further construction. There was not much discussion about interpersonal communication’s self, a topic that includes the looking-glass self-concept. One constructs a view of oneself through the numerous interactions within the course of an individual’s life, and the continuously knowledge that gets built up after each new experience. If parents and others tell one specific girl that she is beautiful continuously, praising her and spoiling her, that girl may deem herself as beautiful. This then raises her self-esteem and self-confidence in herself as a beautiful person, which should normally garner attention and thus influencing her daily behavior and attitude. This may include activities such as spending more time and money on herself with the reasoning that it is worth it. She may feel inadequate about other traits other than her beauty if the dialogues of her interpersonal relationships are solely centered on beauty rather than intellect, athleticism or other traits. Thus she may solely focus on keeping that beauty or enhancing it, feeling that this beauty is the one good trait that she has. There are many ways in which the relationships that one has affects how one sees oneself and also the world and thus behave within that reality.

Most Interesting Concept

The most interesting concept that I encountered from the class is would be nonverbal communication’s chronemics. I knew before that nonverbal communication is important as well, considering the impact of first impressions and how verbal messages are interpreted differently based on nonverbal cues. However, I had not given a lot of thought about how present and future time may affect human behavior and thus used as nonverbal messages. There is the dimension of psychological time orientation, involving the way that an individual may think about time, view time as, and experience it. One may focus on the present or the future, or even feel anxious about time obligations from both time perspective categories. There is the way that bodies may influence the nonverbal behaviors that one exhibits, the biological time orientation. Finally there is the cultural time orientation where one’s culture influences the perspective of time. Time is important and how one views and spends it determine how one acts within a daily basis.

11/15-11/21 #3: How Media Affects-Hegemonic Messages

Within the section, “What media messages do to receivers”, Trenholm discusses the effect and possible change that occurs from being exposed to and absorbing these media messages and what they are saying. One of the ways that media affects audiences is through hegemonic messages that silence the powerless. In this manner, media controls what is heard and what is not, what to think and what not to think, making the audience only aware of what the powerful want the audience to see, looking and following the status quo, and not what the powerless and weak have to say or what is truth instead of misrepresentations. There are cases where the media illustrates an inaccurate picture of the world, making it seem as if what is shown in television shows are the norm. Hegemonic messages also creates a hierarchy of power, in which powerless voices stay powerless, in fear of repudiation and retaliation, thus making Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence, where ideas that are popular are expressed, those that are not and are of the minority remain silent.

Within hegemonic message, there are cases where the audience is left unaware of a powerless party, due to the media’s control of those voices. For instance, an incident of hegemonic messages and how messages or lack of messages affect the audience, US involvement with Laos during the Vietnam War with its massive bombings and its “secret war”. Within this secret war, despite the signing of the Geneva Treaty that made Laos a neutral country during the Vietnam War, the US went ahead with their secret plans to deal with possible infiltration of the Communist half of Vietnam that was backed by the Soviet Union. By their actions, they left the indigenous populations of Laos to deal with thousands of bombs that they are still dealing with after a few decades, and most of the population left unknowing of this poor and despairing situation. In fact, the US would not be aware of it without the presence of incoming refugees from Laos within the US.

11/15-11/21 #2 : Medium is the Message

I do agree with McLuhan’s statement that medium is the message. I think that the media format that one uses to send the message is what initially brings an audience to listen, see and receive the message. Although the message may be important, presentation and its aspects affects who will be the audience, how well the audience will pay attention and listen to the message, how they might react and respond to that message, and whether the context and intent of the message will be understood. For instance, as McLuhan infers, television is a cool medium based on the scale, diversity, and impact of this medium that presents the message. Television, as Trenholm stated, “in terms of media penetration… ‘is the most mass of all mass media’…[fulfilling] many functions for its viewers…” (2008, 316). Not only are there networks that specifically cater to a particular interest, such as fashion, cooking, and the news, but televisions hold such a wide range of audiences and as well as penetration into the everyday household, captivating many generations. It is because television has both visual and auditory means of presenting messages that may be more powerful than simply one means. Television also provides a wide array of how to send the message; for instance, political issues could be discussed explicitly as in news programs and reports, or it could be woven into a television show aimed at entertainment, such as the Simpsons. The message is important, as it is what is trying to be stated to the target audience, but its medium is what helps in making that audience aware of that message and its intent.

11/15-11/21: Cyber-Exclusive Relationships

Ever since the internet boom, people can chat, take classes and even meet people online, so it is no surprise that there are people who have made friendships that exist exclusively online. However, I am not one of those people. In my opinion, cyber relationships are tricky since there is lingering uncertainty about these relationships despite methods to ensure the safety of the creation of these cyber relationships. As cyber relationships have taken a massive hold of society, it is apparent that there are methods and measures to ensure safer means of creating a cyber relationship, but there is still a level of uneasiness with the unknown, especially since there are dangerous people lurking cyberspace where they may wear a friendly and assuring mask to lower one’s guard, lulling a person into a false sense of security and ease. Then afterwords, there are still dangerous things that could happen, even if it is a relationship in cyberspace, afterall, what can happen in cyberspace. This is for the context of certain situations in regards to friendships that are existent only in cyberspace, so this view does not apply to all relationships that exist in cyberspace since I have taken online classes before, and have used Blackboard for its online chat rooms, making peer relationships as well as student-teacher relationships, as I have with the blogs, emails, and yahoo messenger used for this particular class.

Still, exclusively cyber relationships are not for me. In addition to my distrust of these type of friendships, relationships that exist solely within cyberspace do not really work for me, especially on a long term basis, which is what I would like within my friendships. I personally like to have face-to-face interaction within my personal relationships. Computer-Mediated Communication is great for supplementing the relationships that I already have, especially when we are too busy or too far away to meet, but there is something about face-to-face relationships that seems unfiltered and unhindered by faulty internet connections, and the flat and sometimes smudgy computer screen. I am not opposed to these cyber relationships since others’ perspectives are different, but for me in general, relationships exclusive to cyberspace does not work for me.

Wk 13.3 Looking-Glass Self

The concept of the looking-glass self is vital in understanding the construction and development of self. One’s self-concept is built upon learning about oneself through one’s interpersonal relationships, especially within interactions with those others who may “appraise” that person, which forms who one is: good characteristics, bad faults, where one fits into society. When someone gives a comment to a person about an aspect of that person, one would tend to begin take notice about that aspect and react accordingly. As Trenholm notes, this begins a cyclical process as one’s response triggers additional reactions from others, which may reinforce the idea that one is this, thus building up one’s self-concept. Parents may tell their children that they are smart, or that they are pretty or give them complements about a certain aspect, and from this positive reactions and given attention, these children may play up these characteristics and within this cyclical process, gradually enforce that particular aspect of themselves within their self-concept. The concept of the looking-glass self is interesting because just as one gains knowledge and understanding of the world through learning, especially from our important others and society, one also learns who one is through interactions within one’s interpersonal relationships.