Chapt 5- Facebook Addict

"Facebook beats Google for Visitors"
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/1044234/1/.html

Facebook is undoubtedly one of the leading websites amongst millions of other websites that prevail the world wide web. It is however, not surprising at all to know that the number of visitors frequenting Facebook beat that of Google ones. For every computer user that i spot in school or anywhere else, at least 8 out of 10 have their Facebook pages up on their browsers. However, i do not blame them for patronising their Facebook pages so often. I myself have turned into what they call a Facebook addict; I am on it every minute of my life that I am logged on to the internet; which is pretty much 4 hours of a day at the least (while the most could go up to 14). Who can blame us though? Facebook at present is the most effective,popular, well-connected and exciting source of Computer Mediated Communication(CMC) which acts as an awesome socialising network database.

Perhaps one of the reasons for its popularity is,ironically, its credibility. Unlike dubious chatrooms like IRC that was the "in" thing of the 1980s-1990s, Facebook does NOT cause a shift in the basic definition of self. Unlike IRC chat where you do not have to reveal who you are while attaining your anonymity, Facebook users mostly put up real pictures of themselves and have to be honest about who they really are. If they do not, there might be a chance that their pages could be 'flagged', or rather, reported as spam or fraudery. If they do not put real pictures of themselves however, their chances of socialising would be slim. Either way, it ends up in a lose-lose situation.

It is true that users still differentiate their VL(virtual life) and RL(real life) to a certain extent, and that it enables those who have not been able to find acceptance because of their physical characteristics in RL to be themselves online. However, these concepts are only applicable to a small extent. Facebook is more of a social networking site that ENCOURAGES you to portray who you really are in real life via pictures and information. If you do try to bluff your way through, there are many connections you would have already owned, such as your friends or family who would know about it- and that would only bring you shame of desperation. Also, on Facebook, gender bending is not very possible. First of all, it would mean putting up a photo of someone else, and that itself could lead to your profile being reported for fraudery, or worse- being sued by the owner of the photo. The other option would be not putting a photo at all, but gender bending at the same time- which would just backfire because no one would want to be friends with you if you didn't have a picture of yourself anyways.

Due to this, i partially believe that the theories that apply to CMCs might not be applicable to the techonological advances of social networking at present- it might even be a little backdated. What do you think?

Chapt 4: The most effective types of mass media

We have all seen it, heard it and even know it by heart. For most of us, it involves listening and having a glance at it at least once in a day. What i'm referring to is the television screen on every MRT station in Singapore. Personally, i can confidently say that the mobile televions on MRT stations are one of the most effective forms of channels in the country. I mean, if i were to own company or business and intended to advertise my line or product, it would be a dream come true if I were able to advertise it at the tube... can you imagine the flow of human traffic,the restless humans waiting for the train with nothing else to do but to stare at the only form of 'entertainment' there is, the number of pairs of eyes looking at your advertisements every single day? In fact, i have actually almost perfected my memorisation of the speech for the all-time advertisement, which is the advert to encourage vigilance on the MRT in case of a terrorist attack...and I am pretty sure that the rest of the regular train commuters almost have too.

Last semeseter, I was taught by a teacher who had recently flew in from New York. She once exclaimed to the class that she had gotten really frightened and extra vigilant after she witnessed the same advertisement at the platform while waiting for the train- apparently, the advertisement had made quite a big impact on her. I suppose we could apply the hypodermic needle theory here, implying that the mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on the audiences. Perhaps this might be true in this case, but it is only because it is an advertisement about safety and precautionary measures to take so as to avoid a mishap or a dastardly attack-every single person knows that there is a possibility of the even occuring and therefore, would take it seriously. If it were to be an advertisement for say, a beauty product, the theory might not be appropriate, as audiences are active with the ability to resist media messages. In my opinion, the hypodermic needle theory may be true to a certain extent and only applicable to certain types of media.

I suppose this issue brings about truth to Marshall McLuhan's theory that "the medium is the message". It is true to some extent that the medium is more important than the message. Imagine seeing an advertisement that exhibits the same message (about vigilance on the MRT),but instead as a poster or picture form in the papers or the magazine. First of all, viewer count will be drastically discrepant. Secondly, the audience would not think too much about it and might totally forget about the message. Displaying it on mobile televisions at the platform itself comparatively, i would say, would create quite a scare to any commuter.