AN EMPOWERMENT OF “FEMINIST” THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

On March 2017, most of us must be aware about “WOMEN MARCH IN KL” which is creates diverse of opinions and critics. A group of about 30 activists marched in the heart of Kuala Lumpur to demand for women to be treated fairly or can be called as Feminist.

The definition of feminism is evolved through the years. One hundred years ago feminism was linked with the women’s suffrage movement and the right for women to vote. In the 1960s feminism become about the women’s liberation movement, a fight for equality with men in the workplace and at home, and reproductive rights. But to sum it up, feminist is “the belief that man and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes”.

With the widespread of today technology, people are getting more information about feminist, their organisation and movement. In the digital age, feminists have taken to social media platforms to give their voices a larger audience. According to Holmgren, founder of the Dead Feminists Society of Minnesota claims that the best thing that’s hap­pened to the women’s movement in this country is the opportunity for young women to find their voices and use them, especially in social media. Another example has shown that the Internet is the best platform for the organization to spread the information is when Emma Watson (Hermione Granger” in the “Harry Potter, hehe) as the the ambassador for UN women campaign known as “HeforShe” revealed that she use Facebook and Twitter to spread the message. Using the hashtag #HeForShe, the organization was able to reach people around the world. Other than social media platform, there few organizations create their website and blog to spread and share about feminist.  I have come across with 3 sites which is International and also Local who’s actively discussing about women issue and promoting the feminist.

1.       1.ALL WOMEN ACTION’S SOCIETY (AWAM)

AWAM is an independent feminist organisation in Malaysia committed to ending gender-based violence and upholding equality and rights for all.  They are non-profit organisation and being established since 1988. Based on feminist principle, AWAM is passionate to securing women’s rights, bringing about gender equality, building capacities for women’s empowerment and social transformation and supporting women in crisis

AWAM activity and programs are not only limited to women, everyone are welcome to participate in their project. Among the project that being handle by the AWAM is AWAM’S white ribbon run, feminist camp and also, forum such as Malaysia: the women of dream and White Ribbon. For anyone who interested to join their organisation, may apply it through their official website: http://www.awam.org.my/. They also offer a place for an internship and volunteerism. 

2.     2.  Association Of Women For Action And Research (AWARE)

AWARE is Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group. AWARE is dedicated to removing gender-based barriers. AWARE believes in the rights of women and men to make informed and responsible choices about their lives and to have equal opportunities in education, marriage and employment, and in the right of women to control their own bodies, particularly with regard to sexual and reproductive rights.

 Since its formation in 1985, AWARE primarily has carried out research and discuss into numerous issues affecting women, including workplace sexual harassment, poverty of older women and Singapore’s compliance with UN anti-gender discrimination standards. AWARE are more focus for women as their target audience but both genders are welcomed to be part of their team or become a donor.

3.       3.Angry Malay Woman – A Malaysian feminist blog.

This site is handling by Alicia Izharudin, a Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies at University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. She earned her PhD in Gender Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 2014 where she spent a great deal of time buried in research on the gender politics of Islamic cinema in Indonesia. In her blog, she mostly discuss about women and religion. Without specifically focus on her target group, Alicia seems to more care about women when most of the post from her blog discuss about how woman should be treated and the rights that supposedly belong to woman.

These 3 blog mostly deal with dissent and disagreement both from user and guests by providing an judgement how women should really be treated and by giving cases relating to women around the world that suffer from this inequality. They also conduct various of activity to get involved with the community.

In conclusion, with the existence of technology has make information in the tip of finger. You can access about almost everything (religion, gender, ethnicity and etc).  And without you noticing it, the information that you receive from the Internet has shape your identity. 

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND IDENTITY

IDENTITY

Basically, we do know that identity is something that differentiates one man from another. We also use the same term to name objects. In a simpler explanation, all of us have an Identification Card to identify who we are. But that is not just it. Identity is what has been developed and the product is our own self.

According to David Buckingham, identity is something we uniquely possess: it is what distinguishes us from other people (PERSONAL IDENTITY). Identity also implies a relationship with a broader collective or social group of some kind: we imply that our identity is partly a matter of what we share with other people (SOCIAL IDENTITY).

We usually think that people have particular ‘attributes’ that they carry inside them and we believe that people have somewhat fixed ‘inner essence’ (qualities beneath the surface). We also say that some people have ‘different levels of power’ which means they are more/less able to achieve what they want in their relationships with others, and society as a whole.

Foucault rejected this view. He believed that the self is being defined by a continuing discourse in a shifting communication of oneself to others. He also rejected the idea of people having some sort of inner power, because he believed power is a technique or action in which people use to communicate/engage, thus: Power is exercised, not possessed.

Foucault developed a theory: Technologies of The Self. Foucault describes this theory as the means for an identity search or self-construction through processes of life including speaking and writing. From what we know, classical view of identity is a something which is fixed. Meanwhile, Foucault came in later and says that an identity is defined by interactions with others, which is not a fixed thing within a person. It is a shifting, temporary construction – an ongoing process. This theory was described as ways individuals act upon themselves to produce particular modes of identity and sexuality. These “technologies” include methods of self-contemplation, self-disclosure, and self-discipline. People construct themselves as a way to construct their identity with the help of technologies such as blogs, social networking sites, mobile phones.

We will look at identity from three perspectives:

1)      Gender

2)      Ethnicity

3)      Religion

A)  GENDER

From birth, children are assigned a gender identity and are socialized to conform to certain gender roles based on their biological sex. Children are taught the difference of gender roles within the sexes, shaping masculinities and femininities. Basic gender roles are colors: Blue is for boys and pink is for girls. Another example is the toy products: Cars and robots are for boys and dolls are for girls. Maybe a woman’s iconic skill is cooking and knitting while men should be good at fishing and carpentry work.

Judith Butler (1988) argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo (520)”. In other words, gender is not the starting place. Gender is constructed repeatedly through time by the act of your performance. Gender is informed by what is already historically established, thus, performed and followed by the people around you. We are forced to follow these gender roles because there exists a party that has established the binary gender system as determinate. However, if gender was not properly performed, a different repetition of acts will take place and would result in a different gender. There are also social expectations and taboos that discourage us from doing so.

With new media technologies, dominant gender divisions can be put to an end. The Internet can be used as a platform to educate public on gender diversity. However, the traditional groups that were put together because of perceived biological similarities need to find new means of connection based on choice.

B)  RACE AND ETHNICITY

According to Eugenia Siapera in her book, Understanding The Media, stated that Manuel Castells (2000) accepts that race and ethnicity still exist in the network society, but he argues that they no longer have any power to provide strong common identities. This is because any race and ethnic is defined by their clear and relevant territorial basis – which provides common ethnic bonds. However, they (race and ethnicity) have lost their historical significance due to the delinking between identities and spaces. In other words, because ethnic identities are no longer bound to specific territories, and because also space itself becomes delinked from geography, ethnicity cannot provide meaning for individuals living in the network society. We no longer hold ourselves rooted in particular territories, as we are letting the participation of different networks come to us. These different networks may also be not bounded to geography, but they create their own space.

New media technologies bring positive and negative impacts on race and ethnicity.

From positive views: We can say that race and ethnicity could proliferate/increase rapidly with the existence of the Internet. The Internet also allows communities from all around the world to socialize and get together to pursue a political goal. For an example, the Internet allows communities from all around the world to communicate and protest bombings in Syria and Palestine. There are even websites to collect donation for the victims of the bombings.

From negative views: With the existence of new media technologies, the issue of ethnicity diversity occurs – multiculturalism. As of now, we can see that new culture always comes along and influence or assimilate in our original culture. For an example, Malaysian youth nowadays prefer Western food than local ones. They even prefer shops from foreign companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and Sushi King. Westernization can also be seen through fashion. Teenagers prefer foreign brandings and designs for their clothes and footwear such as Adidas, Nike, Levi’s, Diesel and Guess.

C)  RELIGION

According to Anthony Giddens (1991), the meaning of “identity” from the classical views is different with the modern times. Identity is not fixed and static, but it is an ongoing process and a project. So does new media technologies have an impact on religious identity then? Basically, religion is fixed because it was based on dogma – a set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. However, the modern society could use the technology as a platform to carry out various functions which have made such institutions go virtual. Religion is accessible when we are traveling, and by this, I mean we could just log onto the Internet and go to some websites on religion, search for religion teachings, and again there are mobile applications, etc.

Another point of the connectivity between religion and technology is that this relationship resulted in the resurgence of religious identities. These may be the reaction to the lack of clear guiding and moral principles for modern identities. In other words, people use technology to exhibit their understandings on religion in various ways and creating a new kind of identity that promotes the same religion but have a hidden agenda. Examples are as shown below:

"We Hate Islam" facebook page promotes anti-Islam.

Sisters In Islam (SIS) official website.

ConvertsToIslam is a website made by people to promote Islam teachings and discussion.

REFERENCES:

Buckingham, D. (2008). Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. London: MIT press.

Butler, J. (1988). Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal, 40(4), 519. doi:10.2307/3207893

Siapera, E. (2017). Understanding new media. Place of publication not identified: Sage Publications.

Internet Usage

The internet generally defined as a global network connecting millions of computers. Internet or also known as "Net" first started being developed in the late 1960's and transmitted its first message on Friday, October 29, 1969. 

According to Internet Live Stats, as of August 12, 2016 there was an estimated 3,432,809,100 Internet users worldwide. The number of Internet users represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population. The largest number of Internet users by country is China, followed by the United States and India.

Usage of the internet has increase from time to time. People use the Internet to get a quick access and communicate with others through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Skype. The internet also serves as a source of entertainment for people due to the relative ease at which one can download music and stream videos online. 

We carried out a survey to study the Internet usage in daily life. There are 100 respondents that took part in this survey. Most of them are the undergraduates students. A majority (57%) of them use the World Wide Web browser (WWW) every 6 hours per day. 85% of respondents primarily use the Internet foe education and work purposes. The survey is divided into five categories of Internet usage which are Online News/ Information, Education/Work Purposes, Online Shopping, Social Networking and Games and Entertainment. 

74% respondents chose to use the internet to inquire online news and information daily. The type of news that they read the most is the local-related news (34%). Instead of that, the other source that the respondents will use to find the information besides Internet is by going to the library (31%). Sometimes, people are more convenient to use the Internet to seek for the daily information because by using their mobile phone or any other devices, they will get everything they need with one click. 

Based on the research for education and work purposes, 79% of respondents use the Internet daily and 89% preferred online source to find their assignment materials. Besides, they are more comfortable to search the information online (58%) than brainstorming among friends. This research is acceptable because by using the Internet, the students can get all the information accurately and they can use less time to finish their assignments.

Next, in this research, a majority of 42% respondents use less that 2 hours to shop online in a day. Most of them chose Lazada as their shopping website (64.8%) but somehow, most of the respondents still prefer to do an outdoor shopping instead of online shopping (70.1%). In my opinion, the reason why they choose outdoor shopping because it is easier for them to look at the quality of the items that they are going to buy. 

In social networking, the respondents (49%) spend more than 5 hours in a day to use the Internet. From all the types of social networks that we listed in the form, 36.4% respondents used Instagram more often in their daily life. Nowadays, the technologies have already control our mind and our life too. As we can see from the survey, the respondents are tend and like to use the social networking application named WhatsApp as a way for them to do the discussion. By using the application above, they can easily connect to each other no matter where they are because everybody will receive the same information.

Other than that, 41% use the Internet for games and entertainment for less that 2 hours in a day. Although the Internet has become a disease that no one could avoid from it but somehow, 59 out of 100 respondents still prefer to hanging out with friends and family rather than play games or enjoy entertainment. Besides that, only 17% respondents are willing to sacrifice their sleep or delay doing chores in order to play more games and watch movies. Last but not least, 55 out of 100 respondents disagree that they would feel incomplete and lonely if they could not play games or enjoy entertainment.

As a conclusion, it is true that Internet has become a need in our daily life because it can make our life easier. But somehow, we cannot really depends on the Internet itself. There are still some people who could live without Internet and continue their life happily. The choice is in your hand whether to rely on the Internet or not. 

Please drop your comments below if you are agree or disagree with my opinion.
Thank you and have a nice day :)

Second Life

An escape to (second) life

Second Life is an online virtual world. It is a platform principally 3D-based user –generated content. The Second Life users or commonly known as residents, can create their own avatar, virtual representations of themselves. Well, with the avatar all set up, the residents are now can explore the world, meet other residents, socialise, and setup businesses and services with one another through its own virtual currency, the Linden Dollar. Linder Dollar is exchangeable with real world currency. With money in hand, the users are able to create their ‘world’ according to their own interest.

This online virtual world is totally legit. The users can spend their money for shopping and also can invest their money for property. Users can be millionaires if they know how to utilise their money.Those hard core users are even have their own private islands! What an interesting life isn't?   

Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer online role-playing games but the developer, Linden Lab insist that Second life is not a game. Online games usually involves manufactured conflict and game objectives. However, Second Life emphasizes free choice, just like our life we are living in, full of choices.Users are able to interact with each other in several ways. They can communicate through chat and instant messaging. Users can do almost anything that they can do in their physical lives.

Second life has developed so much since it is first launched in June 2013. Due to constant development, a number of difficulties have arisen around Second Life such as moral issues (pornography) and mostly technical stuff in the Second Life itself.

Now, enough with the brief explanation on second life. (Pardon me if what I have provided is not enough)

To be able to live in Second Life is amazing. Let’s take a second to stop and think deeper about this Second Life.There are cases where a couple going through a divorce when the wife found out that her husband has an affair with another women in Second Life. Quite surprising in my opinion. Click here for more details.

What will happen if fact and fiction started to collide? Write down your opinions and comments down below. You are welcome to share anything related to Second Life :)

for more information:

criticism of Second Life
Second Life impact on first life

Get a (second) life

Mobile Media & Everyday Life

Nowadays, people depend on mobile media in their everyday life. They go online just to socializing with friends at their personal social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The mobile phone or smartphone with high technology built in specifications enable us to use different types of media such a mobile music, mobile videos and more. 

The mobile media depends on the mobile specifications and connectivity. The latest mobile phone usually enables us to use high technology media such as video calling to friends and family inside or outside the country. Besides, a mobile phone is the combination of radio with a telephone. In the United States of America, the police used a phone to communicate within in particular area (walkie-talkie).

Do you know, the first people who invent the first mobile phone in this world are Martin Cooper? He is an American.

Until the 1980s, the official mobile phone was created. In the 80s, only the rich people and businessman have the mobile phone. This is because the price of the phone is too expensive and other ordinary people did not afford to have it. 

Here is the evolution of 1G to the 4G mobile phone.

1G

Motorola DynaTAC 8000Xm is the first analog telephone. They labeled is ‘The Brick’. During 1983, it is marketed to the world. It is the first analog telephone. It is invented by Martin Cooper from the US. 

2G

NOKIA

These 2G phone conversations were digitally encrypted. It is created to call other people within in a country. It is more efficient to use as a communication device. The power usage allows for smaller batteries. It also stated a text message that usually called SMS.

3G

It is invented in the early 2000s. It is made of optical fibers. This mobile phone is faster in term of speed and data capacity. It also provides more services such as digital photographs, MP3, Multimedia Text Messages (MMS).

There is also 3G mobile phone that used QWERTY keypad and it is very popular during this time. The famous phone brand that has QWERTY keyboard is 'Blackberry'.

4G
SAMSUNG

The 4G phone is more develop whereby it becomes quicker and easy to access wireless internet.  The 4G mobile phone user also enjoys stream video from the websites such as YouTube, Yahoo, and Google. 

In conclusion, the evolution of mobile phone will change and become more advance. It is being debated that mobile phone creator developing the features of it based on what people needs in everyday life. So, what do you think about it? Is it necessary for them to keep on upgrading software, apps and phone connectivity for us?   in your opinion, if you are one of the mobile phone creators in the future, what features that you want to make it and why?

Consumptions and Digital Divides

Digital divides, by definition, is the gulf between those who access to computers and the internet, and those who do not. Originally, it was describing a gap in terms of access and usage of information technology. As the years go by, with almost everyone on planet Earth has owned a mobile phone or two, it has become a gap of inequality in a way that who have more bandwidth or those who have less.

Research has shown that the digital divide is more than just an access issue. There are three determinants of digital literacy; information accessibility, information utilization, and information receptiveness. Even more so than accessibility, every user needs to know how to consume the information.

Do you think digital divide in Malaysia is diffuse equally? Does everyone have access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT)? The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) compiled a report on the internet usage of Malaysia in 2012. They stated that only 60.7% of the population had access to the Internet. This is approximately half of Malaysia’s population. In addition, a survey conducted by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has shown that 42% of the Internet users are of age 20 to 29. Excluding students who were assumed to have no income, it was found that those earning less than RM1000 per month did not use the Internet frequently. From the survey, it could be concluded that wage, age, and educational level have the direct impact on the internet usage activity in Malaysia.

All in all, digital divides are real and exists globally and in Malaysia itself. My question to you are, how do we bridge the gap persists in digital divides? Rather, those who have access to the internet, how do you consume your everyday ICT? Are you aware of your online pattern(s)? Do all users behave the same way?

ONLINE NEWS

In the most recent decade news coverage has entered a phase in which news associations are less hesitant to put resources into online operations. Can online news replace traditional media? Or online news can actually complement it? What do you think?

 

There is good and bad everywhere in all aspect of life, not excluding the online news. Media bias; politically-speaking, lack of sensitivity, discrimination and many more are the examples of bad practices in online news. Those are happening because of the press freedom as well as the freedom of speech in online operations. Apart from that, the online news gives us no cost, unlike the traditional newspaper. There are also various factors of having online news such as the ability to give comments and opinions, continuous updates, different viewpoints as well as more of news choice. Of course, there are plenty of reasons and that’s what makes online news preferable, don’t you think?

News blog and online news are all news located in different medium and perspective. Based on the sites of news blog and online news that I have observed, the online readers are mostly free to comment or give an opinion on the topic discussed. They may sometimes be emotional and bizarre but most of the commentators are brave enough to give their very own stand, whether it is against the topic or vice versa. To the online counterpart from printed newspaper, most of the comments will be selected based on what is appropriate and so. They will mostly pick comments that give the very best description about the news topic discussed and somehow, it happens to be biased.  

I would highly recommend the Malaysian nations to read and absorb news from The Star; whether The Star Online or The Star newspaper. Of course, everyone has their own reason for choosing any particular news media but from my perspective, The Star can be categorized as the most un-bias news media. Other than that, chedet.cc is one of my favourite news blog (put aside the political part). The blog is run by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir and personally, I like the content of the blog as he gives most of the things to be considered in life. Mind to share your preference?

Whatever we choose to live with, we can think of the pros and cons. It's on us to decide which to be considered as good and bad. Think wise :)

Nice day ahead, everyone!

The Trends of Digital Technology

The Internet has brought about a huge impact and changes the ways we do things and on many aspects of our society. During Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad era, he has implemented the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) as the concerns of development of ICT initiative in Malaysia. The Malaysia’s Internet initiative and development began in 1990 with the establishment of Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS) and the subsequent launching of Joint Advanced Integrated Networking (JARING) as the main Internet Service Provider. 

Digital technology already penetrated the whole world impressively. However, what do you see the impact of the digital consumption brings either towards the use of mobile phones and laptops used by all users around the globe? Basically, social media showed a healthy growth especially in Malaysia because people nowadays can easily access the Internet due to the development of new media and digital consumption. The statistics from Malaysia Digital Association stated that Malaysians spends an average of 18 hours using the Internet each week, of which 7.2 hours a week are spent on watching online videos vs. 10.6 hours on TV. 42% of Malaysian netizen watch TV content and movies via the internet while 80% of Malaysian netizen stream or download online video content each month.

(2016 Malaysia Digital Landscape: Exploring The Digital Landscape in Malaysia - Boosting Growth For A Digital Economy, http://www.malaysiandigitalassociation.org.my/event/2016-malaysia-digital-landscape/ )

We can say that Malaysians are really depended on the internet nowadays. The diffusion of the internet in Malaysia makes us easier to assess and satisfy our needs. Meanwhile, Facebook recorded the top social sites accesses by Malaysians via desktop. 

(Source: comScore MMX Total Malaysia 6+, Home & Work Locations, Desktop & Laptop February 2016).

While for mobile phone, Carat Consumer Connections System 2015 mentioned that Malaysians cannot live without their mobile phones because it is essential for them to stay in touch with people. These are the trends of internet access through the social media via the digital media.

In a narrow scope, students’ life with their smartphones and laptops every day consumed the use of internet really make sense today when we talk about the role of digital devices. Most students tend to use their mobile phones to connect with the people around the campus, get in touch with their families and also for their sake of satisfaction of social life. So we can say here that the development of digital technology really makes a huge impact for all walks of life thus we must appreciate the good use of technology itself for the beneficial aspects.

'CMC' dan kehidupan + Social Presence Theory

'Computer-Mediated Communication' ataupun komunikasi yang menggunakan komputer sebagai perantara adalah satu komunikasi yang popular pada abad ke-21. Kemunculan laman sosial seperti Facebook dan Twitter,menjadi kan 'CMC' ini semakin popular. Secara amnya, semua manusia pasti akan terlibat dengan komunikasi atas talian seperti mesej secara talian, Instant messaging, dan Direct Messaging adalah jenis-jenis komunikasi yang menggunakan komputer.

Saya memang banyak terlibat dengan komunikasi sebegini. Pada zaman sekarang, masyarakat seolah ketagih untuk menggunakan komunikasi sebegini. Mereka lebih gemarkan komunikasi sebegini, kerana mereka bebas untuk menulis dan bercakap. Tetapi dalam kita melihat kelebihan komunikasi menerusi komputer ini, terdapat juga keburukan komunikasi sebegini.

Jika mengikut pada pengalaman yang pernah saya alami, komunikasi sebegini boleh membuat ramai rakan siber saya salah faham akan mesej yang cuba disampaikan. Sedia maklum, komunikasi sebegini amat berbeza dengan komunikasi yang secara berdepan.

Saya percaya bahawa En. Jamali (pensyarah saya di UNIMAS) ada menerangkan bahawa teori “Social Presence Theory” merujuk kepada tahap menonjol seseorang yang terlibat dalam berinteraksi dan juga boleh disebabkan oleh akibat yang lain. Teori ini diperkenalkan oleh Short, Williams & Christie (1976). Kiranya, teori ini menjelaskan bagaimana seseorang individu itu merasakan physical presence antara dirinya dengan orang lain. Dalam hal ini, saya ingin menjelaskan bahawa teori ini menekankan penglibatan media sebagai kayu ukur untuk kita kaji tahap social presence seseorang itu. Bagi pihak pengkaji juga, mereka melihat aspek-aspek sesuatu media itu dalam usaha menonjolkan kesempurnaan berinteraksi. Hipotesis yang dibuat adalah:

===============================================

                    More possible (according to the

physical, visual & audio of a media)

                                        |

                                        |

                                       ˅

                    More potential for “presence”

===============================================

Penyampaian interaksi yang sempurna adalah melalui bersemuka. Namun, jarak akan menjadi penghalang untuk bersemuka lantas kita menggunakan kaedah CMC iaitu dengan penggunaan alat-alat teknologi seperti telefon mudah alih, komputer, dan faks.

1.       Jika kita menggunakan faks atau emel untuk berinteraksi, maka kita hanya akan menggunakan tulisan. Oleh itu, potensi untuk menonjolkan seseorang itu secara fizikal (social presence) adalah sangat rendah. Hal ini menunjukkan bahawa penyampaian interaksi adalah sangat tidak sempurna akibat ketiadaan audio dan visual.

2.       Jika kita menggunakan telefon untuk berinteraksi, maka adanya audio dalam berinteraksi dan penyampaiannya adalah lebih jelas daripada menggunakan tulisan kerana kita mampu mengenal pasti dan menggambarkan orang yang ditelefon seperti bercakap secara bersemuka (namun tanpa visual) atas nada percakapannya untuk meneka emosinya. Oleh itu, potensi untuk melahirkan “social presence” adalah rendah namun lebih baik daripada penggunaan alat peranti yang mengharapkan pada tulisan sahaja.

3.       Potensi untuk mewujudkan “social presence” adalah lebih tinggi jika seseorang individu menggunakan alat peranti teknologi yang membolehkan visual interaktif seperti aplikasi Skype, Face Time, VOOV, dan sebagainya. Hal ini kerana kedua-dua aspek (audio dan visual) adalah terlibat semasa berinteraksi. Kita mampu melihat ekspresi muka dan juga mendengar intonasi percakapan orang tersebut. Oleh itu, kita mampu merasakan keberadaan orang tersebut lebih dekat di sisi berbanding dua contoh situasi yang sebelumnya. Maka, kadar “social presence” adalah tinggi.

Jika melihat pada teori Social Presence, komunikasi akan menjadi lebih efektif sekiranya kehadiran mesej itu difahami, dan komunikasi secara berdepan mempunyai kehadiran dan kefahaman mesej yang tinggi berbanding komunikasi menerusi komputer sebegini (menulis). Ini yang membuat rakan siber selalunya akan salah faham, kesunyian, dan mungkin akan timbul pergaduhan.

Bagaimana dengan anda? Adakah anda juga mengalami perkara yang sama seperti saya dalam konteks ini? Apa pendapat anda berkenaan komunikasi sebegini?

Does Internet really make us stay connected?

With the outburst of the internet growth, everything has become possible. By a single click in your search engine, it could bring you to different countries or different time zone. Undoubtedly, technology has make our life easier, especially in terms of communication. Technology has ease communication between two parties.

Computer mediated communication (CMC) is a "communication that takes place between human being via instrumentality of computers" (Thurlow, Legal & Tomic, 2004). CMC  allowing us to converse from different rooms in the same house as well as from opposites sides of the country. Compared from face to face communication, CMC have no limit in terms of time and place. CMC happen anytime and anywhere.

Also, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has prompted a more subtle revolution in the way we communicate.We share more personal information and also communicate with larger audience. This computer mediated communication indeed gives us more opportunity to know more people, have more access with the side of country and allowing us to stay connected 24 hours. But are this technologies or our smartphones actually getting in the way of socializing? Or could technology make us more alone?

For an example, while waiting for the next flight to depart, I see a group of family in a small circles. You would expect the family to be conversing and talking to each other. But to my surprise, no one is talking. They even not staring at each other. Instead, each and everyone of them is staring down at their little rectangular device in their hand that seems to give them more satisfaction than talking to their family. Nowadays, the same situation as above has become normal view or "norms" to us. Since the invention of texting and the ability for message to be sent at rapid speed, society seems has shifted from conventional conversational method to communicating mostly through emoji and texting. People are busy with their smartphones, getting fit in with the latest trend and frequently updating their social network till they seems to lost in their virtual world. Society happens to be more engaging with their smartphone rather than their partner or family.

To conclude this, I leave a few questions for yourself to ponder;

(i) Do you find yourself surrounded by people who are staring at their screen instead of having face-to-face conversation? Are you ever guilty of doing that, too?

(ii) Do you ever try to put your phone down to be more present with the people in the room?

(iii) Is our obsession with documenting everything through photograph and videos preventing us from living the moment?

End of note: This is not about giving up our phone but about using them with greater intention. Conversation is there for us to reclaim. For the failing connection of our digital world, it is the talking cure 💛

Globalization and New Media 2

The definition of globalization can be used to state that globalization is not a uniform process but it contains various context and has the different effect for different people. On the other hand, we can see that globalization has the tendency towards the synchronization, homogeneity, integration, unity and universal.

As the globalization of media has a big impact on the media sector, it also has the impact towards:

1)Cultural diversity

2)Economic aspects

3)Technological aspects

Cultural Diversity

 The media has become the main transmitter of culture. Where we can see that globalization has made new media become well known to the people and it has larger audiences and make the distribution of culture become broader. For example, we can see that Korean culture are now well known to the K-pop fans.

Economic Aspect

 As for economics aspect, globalization engage in various aspects like foreign transaction, investment and the diffusion of technology.

Technological aspects

 The rapid change in the globalization give impact to the technological changes. The use of new media in everyday life has made the interactivity among people become the fastest interaction.

Globalization & New Media

           In this 21^st century, we wake up and we look around, we will always find a gadget within every turn. I bet there is even high possibility that everyone will at least reach for their mobile phones as a way to start the morning stretch. You who are reading this with the help of Internet to access the virtual world, reading it from a screen, or maybe print it out and read it when it is inked onto a paper, are actually the consumer of technology in which may involves few devices to get here: Internet. Printer. Computer. Handphone.

          That is the easiest example to show how advanced the world we are living in right now. Advanced technology. First, comes the involvement of media in which it is a medium to communicate, to convey information. Then comes the “new media”. What is new media? New media refers to the means of interactive mass communication in which its content are most commonly shared on the Internet, accessible by the use of a digital device.

A basic distinction of OLD MEDIA & NEW MEDIA is as follows:

OLD MEDIA	NEW MEDIA
One-way communication	Two-way communication & interactive
Traditional newspapers, books, television, radio broadcasting.	Online newspapers, blogs, social media, live video conferencing.

           The access to the internet gives us the ability to connect to the global society. We are constantly communicating now than we would in the last decade. Some people never even log out from their social media accounts anymore. People hang around with their phones almost all the time.

1.     1.  WORLD WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Marshall McLuhan presented a concept of “global village” in the mid-1960s where he predicted that there will be the next medium of “an extension of consciousness”. Physical distance is clearly an obstacle for people to socialize, but not with the existence of Internet. The Internet allows social spheres to be expanded and makes people throughout the whole world become closer following interactions between the social participants. This interactive communication happens to show a distinctive difference from the traditional media in which we no longer knows the sender and the receiver. This is because it is not permanent and therefore, both the statuses of the sender and the receiver will keep on exchanging as long as it is ongoing. I guess there are no more obstacles for me to contact my friends from the Philippines, for an example. Lots of social media websites are made and if I was thinking of them, I could always tweet them on Twitter, write something on their wall on Facebook, DM them in Instagram or Skype or send live chats. I can even view their profile to get updates on how their life has been, just to fulfill the phrase of “keeping in touch”.

2.      2.  AFFECTED JOURNALISM

However, globalization may bring the tides onto journalism. Prior to Internet’s arrival, online journalism, blogs, comments from netizens has changed the profession. This is because there is a huge increase in numbers of news sources coming from individuals that represent the alternatives to journalism. Accurate and truthful reporting and investigative reporting may still be on the table, but the overall impact of new media has made the directions and quality of journalism unclear. Not to mention, different news sources make different conclusions. This then creates confusion and the message will not be delivered perfectly.

But then again, the various news sources provides an in-depth look into the message and additional knowledge as a sum of different news. This is because I believed mainstream media is one-sided. Therefore, the need to look towards different perspectives is very important in digging the whole story or to convince us that it was right all along. This new media also enhance interactive discussion where the questions that bother anyone regarding the topic can be shared and discussed to find a convincing answer.

3.       3. CULTURAL IMPERIALISM

Cultural imperialism has become an issue in communication. According to Mirza Jan (2009), who wrote Globalization of Media: Key Issues and Dimensions, cultural imperialism is defined as a kind of cultural domination by powerful nations over weaker nations. It refers to the unequal flow between civilizations by favoring the more powerful civilization. It could exist in a form of films, music, information, and news. Mirza Jan states that these unbalanced flows bother many nations. At first, it was only seen as a cause of cultural erosion and change. So many products and cultural influences of the United States flow into foreign countries that the traditionalists are afraid that American ideas, images, and values will replace their own. Thus, the term “Americanization of media” and “Westernization” were created. For an example, fast food is viewed as a representation of America’s marketing dominance. Franchises such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), McDonald’s, Star Bucks, Burger King and Pizza Hut have a lot of outlets all over the world. Although it looks like it is just some normal international business, the traditionalists think the opposite. Somehow in the long-term, we might end up having younger generations listing out all the foreign brands and not the local ones in a way of saying that the identity of our nation will be forgotten.

             I guess that is what I had in mind about Globalization and New Media for now, however it wasn’t all there is. There are a lot more examples regarding this topic which I hope people will swallow the 3 points I had written and processed it within your imagination to reach for your own interpretation of how both the globalization and the new media affected your life environment. The global media has affected the whole world or even shaping this century into a new world. Somehow I hope this review widens our understanding of the globalization and new media in the surface.