week of december 6-8 question 3

What I liked about this class is the fact that I never had an online class before. It was very different than any other class I have taken in my college education. Even though it is online, when we do are online blogs we get to comment on our classmate’s blog entries. I never had a class where we turn homework we get to comment on our classmates work. I like the fact that this class makes the homework more relevant to our lives by having us do journals. What the journals does it helps us analyze a social interaction that we had with someone who experiences the world differently than we do. Or it could help us analyze a conflict that we had with a loved one. Because if the journals it gets us as a class to see what we did right or wrong in a social situation. I don’t feel that this class needs any improvements. I feel that even though it’s a online class I felt that I could communicate with the instructor if I wanted to.

week of december 6-8 question 2

Another concept in communication that I feel needs further discussion is the concept of mass communication, mostly the functions of media. The book discusses the functions being surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission, and entertainment. I feel that all of these functions are important and I will tell you why. I feel that the first two are very important because it gives us information about what is going on in the world around us. But there is a downside to this function. The thing about it we as a nation cant accept the news that is put out at face value. We need to dig deeper other than just accepting what we are told. Cultural transmission is important because it allows us to learn about other people’s culture. It allows us to see the world at the comfort of home. The last one is entertainment. Need I say more. Entertainment gives us joy in our life and that’s one of the most important things.

week of December 6-8 question 1

One of the most interesting concepts I found in the book is the subject of nonverbal communication. I find this fascinating due to the fact that you can tell if someone is mad or happy based on their stance. I find it fascinating about how you can read a situation without the other person saying a single thing. Due to this class I could tell if someone is mad at me. Characteristics of someone being mad and trying to identify these using nonverbal cues are easy for me now. When someone you love is mad at you they tend to use only one word answers. For example when you ask how they are doing, they say “fine”. If you say that you love them, they say “ok’. But also you learn to read the whole situation instead of going with your gut. If you think that someone is mad, you must first ask what the weather is. It might be cold and the other person is cold, but they don’t want to say anything.

Chapter 11 question 3

When it comes to the function of media, in the book it describes that it had four functions which are surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission, and entertainment. The first on to show info, the second is the analysis of info, the third is education, and the fourth is to entertain people. I feel that all of these are important for media, but I feel that the most important are correlation and entertainment. The reason why we engage in media is to be entertained. It doesn’t matter what program you watch or listen to ranging from Howard Stern to Oprah, we watch them because we find their programs interesting and entertaining. Correlation is analyzing the info that we are given and we must decide if the info we are given is accurate. I feel that this is a good function of the media to expose lies because the fact of the matter is that we aren’t taught to question media that much, we tend to go on face values, instead of trying to find the truth. That’s what news is all about, trying to find the truth, and I think that media does a good job with these functions.

Chapter 11 question 2

When it comes to Marshall Mcluhan’s theory that the medium is the message I totally agree with that theory 100%. The reason why I believe this is because he does explain his theory clearly. In the example in the book he says that print media tries to be rational and television tries to makes it more sensational. Most newspaper just tries to give the facts and if someone wants to express their opinion it is in the editorials. Television news doesn’t try to separate opinion with news. CNN always tries to just deliver facts, but other cable news station such as MSNBC and Fox news put their opinion in when telling the stories of the day. The problem with this is television host such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity try to appear as legitimate news anchor, but they are more like personalities. They are paid to give their opinion about a certain matter, not tell the facts. So people like Glenn Beck will only talk about matters that he knows he could spin it in his favor. So yes where something is broadcasted can change the message.

Chapter 11 Question 1

When it comes to the world of networking on the internet I really haven’t made friends with anyone online. It’s not like I feel that I am better than anyone, but it feels that you could fool anyone on line. Anyone could pretend to be anyone on line. I am a 5’10 male from California, but online I could be 5’4 supermodel women. Because of this aspect I really don’t try to find friends online.
When I talk to people online it tends to be with people I know. But thanks to social networking sites you are able to communicate with people that you aren’t able to communicate with on a regular basis. An example of this could be a someone that you met long ago and you forgot their number, but thanks to sites such as myspace and facebook you are able to get into contact with that person.
When it does come to making friends online, I chose not to make friends based on that aspect.

Chapter 6 question 1

When it comes to the controlling of a relationship it could be damaging to a relationship. There are three patterns of this called, rigid complementary, competitive symmetry, and submissive symmetry. For complementary it is when one partner is in control. The competitive part is when two individual compete for top position, and submissive is when both people don’t want control. Even though I find problems with some of these positions I feel that rigid complementary is the most difficult to change. I feel that submissive is also damaging, but the thing about that is neither one of the partners tries to take control. No one is trying to one up each other.
I feel that the rigid complementarity is to most difficult to change. It takes a big person to relinquish power. To give up power and become an equal takes a big person to do. I feel this is damaging to an individual due to the fact the other person might not feel equal.