The Authorization of LGBT by Liana and Wai Ling

Crashing over the unprecedented pace of the technological globalization, blogging is apparently sitting a very heart of the modern society all over the globe. Well to say that blogging is, as one of the advanced virtual communication tool, highly and easily accessible to everyone which has become a mainstream part of our everyday existence. Speaking of which, it is be of something that matters indirectly and implicitly on each individual’s life. To be no doubt, blogging literally serves as creative colossus of online literacy world that has been broadly opened a central corridor for the creation of self-expression and community development which exercises of the creation of the identity.

In the time of far-reaching changes like present day, blog is generally recognized as a quintessential newborn for computer-mediated-communication (CMC) in which it is often presented in various forms of manifestation and structure (Pluempavarn & Panteli, 2007). While there are wide diversity in the way people have benefitted from the act of blogging, blog is usually playing a major role in the personal memoir and public discussion (Herring et al., 2005; Huffaker, 2004). Moving toward increasing visibility and availabilities of all different blog post types on the Internet, many of them come with much closer interface between other blogs regarding its contents and information being published through which their respective links are compatibly shared (Blood, 2002). Despite to the fact that the phenomenon of blogging lies a labyrinthine network of virtual interactivity among the mass, it has been redounded to the characterization and underlying strength of self-exposure which devoted to be foundation stone of enhancement and maintenance of the individual’s identity within the social context. Hence, this would be correct to imply that those who actively participate themselves in the online blogging are presumed to be more likely to intensify their own existential plum of defining who they really are.

So, let us talk about some of the examples of the existing wedding blogs that have been opted for as our case studies like STYLE ME Pretty (SMP) and equallywed. By looking through the overall design framework of these two blogs, what is such interesting that they are specifically created for the part of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community. Similarly, both blogs are widely occupied with the details of every single LGBT couple’s marriage ceremony including the place of the wedding, photographers, entertainments, attendant attire, catering service, venue decorations and guest invitations. Seen in this light, these blogs tend to be characterized in a more personalized, individualistic, affectionate kind of self-presentation and communication and fully being used as the similar manner of writing an online diary or personal journal. Though Foucault (1988) stated that writing had greatly evolved into a powerful component in the way that bordered much on the emphasis on the nature of preservation and construction of one’s self, so far pinpointed that “taking care of the self in and through writing is one of the oldest Western traditions” (p. 27). They extend beyond the informative role of exchanging the ideas and conducting debating sessions, rather develop into another ultimate vehicle for the bloggers to get in touch with the audiences who have never approached them before by expressing their intimate feeling and thoughts to them. This is mainly due to massive marginalization and discrimination towards these groups of people by the majority of society. Their living styles and behaviors are seem to be rebelled against what the dominant cultural value dictates and therefore, they have heavily been isolated and disengaged from their particular community. Accrue to this, these experiences leave them exceptionally vulnerable to lack of greater opportunity to voice out their opinions and concerns. This resulting provides those blogs a useful platform to toss around and steer the crowd attention to the predicament of these marginalized group which establishes the spectacular recognition of their potential and qualities as a person between themselves. As Foucault (1988) mentioned, 

“Technologies of the self…which permit individuals to effect by their own means, or with the help of others, a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thought, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality.” (p. 18)

In this regard, those online creative expressions represents a viable signifier to the technology of self, not simply making sense to their individual differentiation in the society in that LGBT people acquire power to write whatever they want to the extent of leading them to be the person they want to be.

There are two wedding blogs that we have chosen which are STYLE ME Pretty and equallywed.  Firstly STYLE ME Pretty is a blog that covers weddings from both heterosexual couples as well as the gay couples. One post on gay marriage entitled “Intimate Beachfront Gay Wedding in Phuket, Thailand” by Thia Laurain posted on July 28, 2015 which could be reached at http://www.stylemepretty.com/2015/07/28/intimate-beachfront-gay-wedding-in-phuket-thailand/. Secondly equallywed is a blog that covers weddings for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. One interesting post on the lesbian wedding entitled “Tucson, Arizona Desert Wedding written by Guest which could be found at http://equallywed.com/tucson-arizona-desert-wedding/ for further reading.

STYLE ME Pretty blog is addressed to the enthusiastic brides who seek for stylish weddings. Viewers that participated in the blog are people aged 21 and 37 with the median age of 27. In order to participate, users or guests are to register to STYLE ME Pretty login page at https://www.stylemepretty.com/login/?redirect_to=/registry-guide#register which leads to the webpage as shown:

Other than that, users of STYLE ME Pretty could follow on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Snapchat as shown below:

There is a platform whereby users and guests could leave a comment for STYLE ME Pretty blog as shown:

In contrast the equallywed  blog is aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The participation of equallywed ranges from the blog’s editors, guests (those who share the same interest of LGBT wedding), wedding vendors such as  Stroudsmoor Country Inn, the Westin Cape Coral Resort, Nola Dukes Band, Blanc de Bleu-Miami, One Atlantic Events and many more. Participation to equallywed for guests is to firstly register to an equallywed account at http://equallywed.com/profile/register/  as shown below:

1.      Register an account>>account details>>profile details>>social profile>>click ‘register’ 2.      Subscribe to equallywed 3.   Follow on Facebook

equallywed is a digital magazine that displays comments and suggestions through a media platform which ascertain the value of LGBT relationships. It discusses mainly through news articles published by users and guests. The link to submit write-ups (articles) could be reached at http://equallywed.com/submissions/  that would lead to a webpage as shown below:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that the “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy and freedom of expression and association” (American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], 2014).  As a conclusion, these two wedding blogs exhibit the lavish wedding planning to the community of LGBT. These two blogs also supported the LGBT’s rights to have the same livelihood like the mainstream society.

References

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). (2014). Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/lgbt-rights

Blood, R. (2002). Introduction. In J. Rodzvilla (Ed.), We’ve got blog: How weblogs are changing our culture (pp. 9-13). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.

Equally Wed Editors. (2009). Retrieved from http://equallywed.com/

Foucault, M. (1988). Technologies of the self. In L. H. Martin, H. Gutman, & P. Hutton (Eds.), Technologies of the self: A seminar with Michel Foucault (pp. 16–49). Amherst, MA:

University Massachusetts Press.

Herring, S., Scheidt, L., Wright, E., & Bonus, S. (2005). Weblogs as a bridging genre. Information Technology and People, 18(2), 142-171.

Huffaker, D. A. (2004). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom. AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98.

Pluempavarn, P., & Panteli, N. (2007). The creation of social identity through weblogging. Bath, UK: University of Bath School of Management.

Strong, D., Lepperd, E., Weers, S., Greene, E., Hurwitz, G., Thienes, C. (2007). STYLE ME Pretty. Retrieved from https://www.stylemepretty.com/     

Blurred lines in the patterns of media usage by Daphne

     Living in an era where more than half of the world’s population is highly dependent on the new media certainly blurred the boundaries between life, work, and play. Though the new media does not necessarily pose negative influences towards its users, it could bring about detrimental consequences if not controlled such as estranging relationships with our loved ones or stress due to work. Can we ever recall a time when we see a group of people seated at a table that are not engrossed with their own mobile devices (e.g. phones, tablets)? Instead of engaging in deep, fruitful conversations with the people around us, our eyes are all glued to the screens seemingly showed that we are more interested in the virtual reality than the reality itself. 

   Source: https://hornsofgreatlength.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/blog-pic.jpg?w=300

     As hurtful as it may sound, Tabachnick (2013) admitted that technology no longer serves its purpose for leisure but instead follows us everywhere like a puppy. Work has taken control over the household and parents have slowly stopped nurturing their children through physical activities and rather spoil them (especially their eyes) with mobile devices. Not only families but friends or couples also find themselves caught in their own bubble when the whole purpose of getting together is to actually interact face to face. I do admit that I am addicted to my phone but I learn to resist the urge to check it whenever I am in the company of my friends or family. But let’s face it, everyone will start checking their phones at some point and it’s contagious! So can we blame anyone for that? Frankly speaking, we are all to be blamed. 

Source:http://www.segelasinfo.com/2016/11/6-benda-wajib-bagi-anak-millennial.html

Take Facebook as an example. Since it started in 2004, Facebook has garnered over 1 billion users from all over the world and it is not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon (Oremus, 2014). Originally used for connecting people, it gradually turned into a lucrative company that also helps to promote businesses and products as well as generating news faster than televised ones and those in print. As a result, the term ‘social media’ comes to fore. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined social media as; “A platform whereby content and applications are no longer created and published by individuals, but instead are continuously modified by all users in a participatory and collaborative fashion” (p. 61). This means that users can create, share, and exchange information without having to meet in person. However, the term has been around earlier than assumed as Kaplan and Haenlein discovered but was not widely known at the time.

With an abundance of information that can be obtained through our fingertips, there is no denying that everyone is hooked on this current form of media. Facebook is not the only one. Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, to name a few are basically controlling our daily life with all kinds of features that encourages us to share information. 

Source: http://the-hotel-lobby.tumblr.com/image/147601400096

 Despite that, it may resort to oversharing and could lead to an invasion of privacy. No matter how much we try to protect our privacy, it is beyond our control to erase it completely from the Internet once it is widely circulated. We find ourselves using these social networking sites to showcase our life and reveal rather private moments for the whole world to see. Unfortunately, it also turns into a space for sugarcoating our life in order to hide our personal demons and true emotions. Work-wise, technology is crucial in handling tasks cheaper and faster especially for software companies where they rely on developers from all over the world (Whittle, 2015). Work can now be taken home but the struggle to maintain a good work-life balance is inevitable and also overwhelming because having to prioritize one over the other.

Source: http://freshtips.club/2016/11/06/funny-secret-plan-posted-on-facebook-fb/

Source: http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi0xYjQzYTc5NTZkMmE0YjY2/

       I am fortunate to have been raised without technology constantly taking over my life though I was also exposed to the Internet as early as 10 years old. I enjoyed being active outdoors and having real quality time with my family. Yet nowadays, I see many families paying more attention to their phones than actually talking to each other. Personally, I find myself and the people around me picking up the habit lately but only when necessary. Therefore, it is hard to encourage “unplugging” among the family either on weekdays or weekends as we rely so much on the new media to function. However, it is possible to practice this as early as possible in order to keep a good balance between work, life, and pleasure. It is just a matter of initiative and control.  

Reference

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.

Oremus, W. (2014, February 3). Facebook was born 10 years ago. Here’s what it   looked like. Future Tense. Retrieved from: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/03/facebook_10th_anniversary_social_network_turns_10_looks_back_at_its_history.html

Tabachnick, D. E. (2013). Technology is blurring the line between work and play. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/technology-is-blurring-the-line-between-work-and-play/article8412565/

Whittle, J. (2015, October 2). How technology blurs the lines between work and home      life. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Retrieved     from: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/blog/how-technology-blurs-the-lines-between-work-and-home-life/

Double-edged Sword: Mainstream and Online Journalism by Zheng En and Mikha

As Siapera (2012) asserted, internet itself had threated the status of the journalism through several features; time, money, heteronomy and cultural change. But is it true that these features had become a risk for the journalists or were merely a transition to evolve into new type of journalism? Siapera (2012) added that this new media had built a new relationship between people and news as well as others’ views on politics. From here, I’d like to raise a question: When does news become politic? I think that international news has been handled politically by both traditional media and new media, thereby deteriorating harmony among countries.

 Source: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index2193.htm

Speaking of the recent political chaos, the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam has been heavily discussed by both official broadcast media as well as the unofficial one (e.g. blogspot) around the world. Notably, like other international news media, Malaysian media has been playing its roles by analyzing and executing consistent follow-ups on the case as this incident happened in Malaysian airport itself. The recent follow-up of the case posted by the broadcast media (Arirang News, 2017) and online journalism official website (Choe & Paddock, 2017) is about the video posted in which the son of Kim Jong-nam notified the world that he and his family members are in the safe condition. However, doubt remains and the accuracy of information spread by the video is questioned by the expertise whether the person in the video is really his (Kim Jong-nam) son and whether this person is speaking the truth about the safety of his family and himself as their whereabouts is kept at secret.     

  Source: http://www.returnofkings.com/89090/3-reasons-for-the-downfall-of-mainstream-journalism

Blog as defined by Rettberg (2008) was invented in 1997, as some kind of log kept on the web, shown in the reverse chronological order and the content and themes will be determined by the blogger. As we have understood, because the content of the blog is fully controlled by the blogger without the authority surveillance, the blogger can post their comments and thoughts on the matters they care for. In this case, we have found a blog known as ‘Malaysians Must Know The Truth’ (Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah, 2017) had reposted several contents related to Kim Jong-nam assassination. Unlike the information published by broadcast media and printed contents, the blogger may share the information and opinions that are opposing the general feeds. Instead of blaming the North Korea for their unresponsive and denial act, the blogger had placed his concern on the ‘proactive’ actions taken by Malaysian authority which might draw more severe political chaos in future.    

       Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30311/10-Amazing-Blogs-About-Blogging-to-Star Reading-NOW.aspx

In terms of similarities structure between print media and blogging, only one element discovered; the title of the news which aims to draw reader’s attention on the topics they had discussed on. However, we identified news tags as one of the differences between print or broadcast media and blogging. In print media and broadcast news, the section in which news should be allocated is arranged according to their content. For instance, the news about assassination of Kim Jong-nam will be placed in the headlines section or the international section of the newspaper. On the other hand, the blog will only be posted based on themes without separating the news types into categories because the blogger can publish any content they want. For example, Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah (2017) posted the opinions of others on Kim Jong-nam news on his blogs today, but he might shift his concern towards other news for the next day. However, with help of labels posted under the blog, readers can find the related keywords connected with the blog feeds they look for.

Source: http://izquotes.com/quote/195521

The news content is usually similar to each other in terms of the subject of discussion. In fact, convergence does happen in both broadcast news and blogging news. Convergence, as explained by Siapera (2012), represents same content written by one journalist circulated in all types of news platform including the digital news which allow the media organization to publish themselves and cutting down cost. As an example, The Star, one of the media organizations in Malaysia did publish their news article in print newspaper and distributed the news on their website as well. Blogging website also obtains convergence. Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah (2017) shared the news about Kim Jong-nam assassination using The Guardian and opinion from a journalist named Zan Azlee. On the one hand, the structure of the narrative in both print and broadcast news are rather objective with charts, the interview session with the government officers and reenacted scene of the incident. On the other hand, the fact that blogging portrays none of these elements and projects much more personalize ideas on the subject matter is supported by Siapera (2012). For instance, Ramos-Horta and Rogers (2017) proposed their views on the case of Kim Jong-nam might trigger another world war in the coming days. Besides, this case was related with the tyranny governance of the ruler that violated the rights of their citizens.   

Source: http://allnewspipeline.com/Censorship_War_Govt_Waging_On_Truth.php

When coins display two sides of the story, content of the news possess both advantage and disadvantage when it goes through the network. To define what is good and bad of online content, we need to refer the analytical view given by Siapera (2012) through several elements. Manovich (2001) identified hypertextuality as one that makes online news content appears much more flexible than print journalism in which “the user can have direct access on the database and information” through links provided as the former can extend in time and space (as cited in Siapera, 2012, p 135-136). Nevertheless, these accessible links can be vicious when misleading information is delivered publicly on the network sphere. Thus, users need to be keen while using the network and be selective on what to read especially when it is related to the sensitive topic. This makes more sense when multimediality comes into the picture in which there are a lot of accessible platforms and websites. Conversely, we notice that most of the contents in official online news such as the Star and New York Times are very much similar in reporting Kim Jong-nam’s assassination; starting with the video posted by Kim Jong-nam’s son, followed by the process of the incident, and ended up with who Kim Jong-nam is alongside with his social life.

  Source: http://www.journalismfestival.com/news/the-lack-of-trust-in-mainstream-media-and-the-rise-of socialmedia-as-publishers/

Another element is the interactivity; users are free to leave their feedbacks in the comment section regarding to the news posted in the blogging websites. Furthermore, interactivity of online content can be shown through the immediacy of news posted online by print and broadcast news which renew their content daily. This is not applicable in blogging website because blogger only posts when they are capable of doing it, thereby slowing down the rate of updates feeds. The last element will be collecting authoritoring or participatory dimension of news as defined by Siapera (2012) as posting different opinions about the news which differ from the objective views posted by the official organization. It is brilliant to have network that could support such element but user needs to have precautious and be objective while reading the opinion that might overlook the deceitful information and offend people (Siapera, 2012).   

 Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/509540145316612413

In short, people nowadays prefer online news over print media and broadcast media due to technology advancement which allow them to instantaneously grasp the information. One thing that the online content users should keep in mind is that not everything written online is true. Hence, objectivity is a must when reading the content.

References

Arirang News. (2017, March 7). Kim Jong-nam's son says his father was murdered [video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNd1-K3DWlw

 

Choe, S.H & Paddock, R C. (2017, March 8) Son of Kim Jong-nam appears to surface in

Youtube video. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com

/2017/03/08/world/asia/kim-jong-nam-son-video-north-korea.html

Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah (2017). Sure we support Malaysia against N.Korea but don’t forget Najib regime created the mess – why let them politicize issue for ge14 votes? Retrieved from http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.my/2017/03/sure-we-support-malaysia-against-nkorea.html

Ramos-Horta, J., & Rogers, B. (2017, March 04). Kim Jong-nam's assassination is a wake-up call to the world. The Diplomat. Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2017/03/kim-jong-nams-assassination-is-a-wake-up-call-to-the-world/

Rettberg, J. W. (2008). Blogging: Digital media and society series. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Siapera, E. (2012). Understanding new media. London, UK: SAGE publication.

 

The Young People and New Media by Poh Ling

New media ownership is a term to describe new media and information technologies among children and young people by considering ‘new’ media in their respective context of media in comparison with those in the olden days (Living, 2002). In the modern economy and society, we can reach the worldwide information through media including newspapers, television, radio, internet and so forth. For the purpose of having objective statement, we have collected our data analysis from different backgrounds of people; female and male, age between 20-25 years old, gadgets indicators and time indicators.

Photo Source: http://www.strategy-plus.net/blog/3186-2/

Most of the candidates are students and some are fresh graduates; which means that they have the same similarities of having laptop and smartphones. According to the data that we gathered, we found that those two gadgets are really important especially the young generations nowadays. After all, electronic gadgets are getting cheaper and lighter compared to the past. The importance of new media and their role is prevalent through the information distribution in different forms of information, communication and technology (Das, 2014). The data analysis shows that the most frequent gadgets used are smartphones and laptop - this consists of all ethnicities and gender. MP3 player and tablet only appear as preference.  

GIF Picture Source:
http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/31207/how-to-create-animated-gifs-of-prototype-mockups-like-the-ones-on-dribbble

Besides, we are also curious about the time consumption they spend in a day with the new media. We listed out 13 categories: education, entertainment, finance, food and drink, games, health and fitness, music, photo and video, productivity, shopping, social networking, sports and travel. In the educational wise, different people spend their time differently. The data analysis illustrates that the most time that they spent is as long as three (3) to four (4) hours. The next category is entertainment. While there are three of them spent their time for three (3) to four (4) hours and seven (7) to eight (8) hours respectively, none of them spent their time until nine (9) to 10 hours for entertainment. In terms of finance, there is as much as nine (9) of them who spent the very little in using new media. In search for foods and beverages through new media, students tend to mostly spend one (1) or couple of hours a day searching and ordering their food from franchise fast food (for example, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut). Because the youngsters usually spend their time in their studies, they only spend less than three (3) hours in gaming during their leisure time.

As a conclusion, new media has made our life easier by delivering the latest news and information globally. Nevertheless, we should be careful in using the new media in order to avoid from misusing it.

References

Das, M. M. (2014). Role of new media communication technologies 
en route information society. Challenges and Prospects, 5(1), 20.

Livingstone, S. (2002). Young people and new media: Childhood and the changing media environment. London: Sage. 

Inequality in New Media: On Preference and Priority: A choice or fate? By Nur Syahirah

There is no doubt that the usage and ownership of information and communications technologies (ICTs) are increasing and giving significant impacts to society’s daily lives. In fact, with the advancement in ICT such as the internet, society today is not restricted to a certain time and space. However, with such advantage, the image of inequality is bound to come into picture. According to Acilar (2011), the world has recognized the notion of digital divide as the cause of evident knowledge gaps between the information-rich and the information poor that exclude certain societies in the world to be part of the steadfast growth of technology advancement. Acilar (2011) argued further that the digital divide that exists between richer and poorer countries in terms of availability of complementary assets such as skilled ICT professionals and telecommunication networks illustrate the unequal access of ICT utilization in which should be taken into a critical considerations. 

Photo Source: http://au.educationhq.com/news/35702/joining-forces-for-a-better-future/

Photo Source: http://ritchiesinuganda.blogspot.my/2012/03/helping-girls-to-achieve-at-kyebambe.html 

As enlightened by Stiakakis, Kariotellis, & Vlachopoulou (2009), digital divide leads to digital inequality in which they stated five forms of digital inequality. The five forms are the inequality to technical means in which some community has no access to proper internet connections, inequality with regards to autonomy use, inequality with regards to skills and lastly, inequality in terms of social support. Hilbert (2011) stresses that digital divide also takes into picture the aspects of age and gender with significant differences in their usage and ownership. In relation to understand digital divide further, a simple questionnaire was given out to 10 students of different age, gender and ethnicity. This was carried out in order to identify as well as analyze the similarities and differences on the three aspects mentioned earlier among the students.

The questionnaires were given to 9 female students and 1 male student from Malay, Indian, Chines, and Iban ethnicity. In totality, all 10 students own at least one new media namely, laptop, tablet, smartphone, MP3 player and game consoles. 70% of these students possess laptop and smartphone, 20% own a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone and a MP3 player whilst 10% of them own a laptop, tablet and a smartphone. A few categories were listed out in finding out how many students spend using new media on education, entertainment, finance, food & beverages, games, health & fitness, music, photo & videos, productivity, shopping, sports and for travelling. Most of the respondents spend their time on new media from 1 to 2 hours daily. In comparing the time spent among the respondents in using new media, the most time spent is on games with the usage for financials coming in second. The usage of new media on food and beverages, sports and shopping come in third. In discussing the similarities and differences in new media ownership, it is apparent that owning new media among the Malay, Chinese, Iban and Indian is nothing distinctive. In fact, each ethnicity own at least one new media and use them base on personal preferences. In comparing in terms of age, there is no significant differences in terms of the usage of new media and the age range as the results have shown that respondents use their new media in accordance to their personal priorities.

Photo Source: https://www.templatemonster.com/category/food-restaurant-woocommerce-themes/

Photo Source: https://www.techinasia.com/talk/online-shopping-catching-women-india

Photo Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dailymail.online

In conclusion, through the mini research that was carried out with only 10 respondents, the digital divide was not utterly distinctive. However, this does not confirm that it does not exist in the bigger picture among the global society. From the mini research, though, the conclusion that could be made is that the usage of new media is dependent on the preferences of the individuals. This could be supported by Ericsson Consumer Insight Summary Report (2015) that highlighted on how consumers trends are now involving internet in which many aspects of their daily lives are revolved around their personal online habits such as shopping, socializing, studying, traveling, listening to music, and even eating and exercising. The report also suggested that consumers are now mostly using the internet from the influences around them. This relates to the result of the mini research in a way that the respondents own and use the new media align with their personal preferences and priorities.

References

Acilar, A. (2011). Exploring the aspects of digital divide in a developing country. Issues in Informing Science and Information Techonology, 8, 231-244. http://iisit.org/Vol8/IISITv8p231-244Acilar248.pdf

Ericsson Consumer Insight Summary Report. (2015, December). 10 Hot Consumer Trends 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/consumerlab/ericsson-consumerlab-10-hot-consumer-trends-2016-report.pdf

Hilbert, M. (2011). Digital gender divide or technologically empowered women in developing countries? A typical case of lies, damned lies, and statistics. Women’s Studies International Forum, 34(6), 479-489. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2011.07.001

Stiakakis, E., Kariotellis, P., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2010). From the digital divide to digital inequality: A secondary research in the European Union. Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 26, 43-54.  doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-11631-5_4

Let's Pour Out Some Different Experience on CMC by Wai Ling

Photo Source: http://archive2.cra.org/resources/crn-archive-view-detail/visions_2025_interacting_with_the_computers_all_around_us/

       Nowadays, computer mediated communication (CMC) has been long established and integrated into every single part of human social life. Within the presence of its technological advancement, CMC is extensively appealed as part and parcel of human living manner and behaviour that could fully accommodate to CMC’s functional accessibility and availability. In other words, people nowadays cannot live without indulging in the world of CMC, even for only one second. 

       One of my experiences was when I was inviting my friends to have a simple and casual gathering during my last semester break. Back then, I badly missed my secondary school friends and all of sudden, I asked them via WhatsApp as if they would be free to meet up. However, most of them replied vaguely after they had read through on it. At that moment, I felt a strong sense of awkward and ambiguity that slowly made me frustrated along the conversation. 

Photo Source: http://giphy.com/search/whatsapp 

       According to how lack social context cues theory is discussed by Siegel, Dubrovsky, Kiesler and Mcguire (1986) as well as Sproull and Kiesler (1986), Walther (2011) notes that the existence of CMC is inherently regarded as generator to resist an individual’s temperament and their normative conduct which possibly managed to regulate in the condition of face-to-face communication system (Walther, 2011). As such, I might not get what they actually wanted to tell me and this eventually led to misunderstanding. 

Photo Source: https://www.lifewire.com/using-android-widgets-3892078

       Engaging in such paradigm, it is perceived that social clues reduction came to elicit the effect of emotional disorientation, behaviour estrangement and cognitive bewilderment as the CMC users would more likely to develop characteristics and personality of anomaly, egocentricity and impulsiveness over their mode of visual interaction (Diener, Fraser, Beaman, & Kelem, 1976; Singer, Brush, & Lublin, 1965; Sproull & Kiesler, 1986). As I could not stand it anymore, I started pushing them to give me an answer by texting them again with capitalized words to show my anger and irritation.

References 

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