Too Attached

One of the theories we discussed in class this week was explaining how media and technology have not only been integrated to our society but have changed it entirely. It has perpetuated the way we think, the way we move, the way we interact, and basically, the way we live. When we think we can live our lives separate to technology, we are mistakened. It is no longer just a part of society; it has become our society.

I was at the AdMu vs. FEU Finals game last Saturday to cheer and to perform our much-awaited drumline performance during the halftime show. I was watching live in Araneta witnessing Ateneo's 4-peat unfold exactly as it's happening but you know what i was thinking about? "I wonder what my Twitter feed's saying about all this?" I wanted to know how the people on Twitter are talking about the 4-peat even as it was happening right in front of me. I thought it was a bit weird because i was so used to reading about big events that when a big event happens and i witness it for myself, i can't help but think of how i would just read about it

It's a kind of attachment that has become far too deep to detach - technology and I, technology and us. Even though we deprive ourselves of the thing/object/gadget itself and live without the technology, the idea of technology and the way it works have been implanted in our heads and it's never going away.

Media Dependency, huh?

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(the entry above, or the lack of it, is the result of what i learned in the Media Dependency Theory or the pilosopo side to my learnings rather. Because of the "Availability of alternatives", maybe you can go through other people's blogs instead to see what we all learned in comm this week if mine didn't suffice.)

I just got home from the Ateneo-Adamson game today in Araneta Coliseum. Other than the disappointing loss we incurred from Adamson who we haven’t lost to in 14 years (Yep, no joke), the Blue Babble Battalion felt that what was more disappointing was the dead-fish crowd of Ateneo against the hyped-up Adamson crowd. 

“Mag cheer kayo!” was what a bunch of my bandmates said as they pour all their energy into their drums but the crowd remained quiet and in their seats. I’ve then realized that an Ateneo crowd during the UAAP have become a culture far too hard to change. 

Cultures vary across organization. All the schools’ crowds during UAAP games vary from each other - each with their own cultures and identities. UE, for example, has a crowd that cheers and jumps to every point whether it be a 2 pointer or even a 1. Just the mere fact that the ball is with their player, they're ecstatic. Though they lose, they don't stop creaming their lungs out. The DLSU crowd, i feel, has the best coordination when it comes to their color -green. In other schools, you see a sea of different colors but during a DLSU game, they seem to be ALL in green or at least that what it seems like to me. NU also does a lot of their hand movements during cheers. Other schools have their own gimmick and their own trip. I'd mention all the schools but i'm not quite familiar with most of them yet (Rookie). I do know however, the crowd in which i cheer with - the Ateneo crowd. 


The Ateneo crowd's identity is the quiet seated people wearing blue or at least that's what it felt like during today's game when the Adamson crowd was completely eating our crowd with their loud cheering. This culture may have grown out of the Ateneo crowd in the past who really prefer to be discreet than be all wild like the crowd of other schools. 


I'd delve deeper into this if only it would make the Ateneo crowd more alive than it was today.

One.

This week, we learned more about the Adaptive Structuration Theory. It was explained that a structure is shaped by the rules made and implemented by its members (i've talked about this in the previous post as well).

Structures don't necessarily have to be fixed or have to come in a specific form. An informal structure, like the Blue Babble Bench, can be considered a structure and in effect have (unwritten) rules too.

Babble Bench Rules:

This entry was made in the said bench with the help of other members. Pictures were also taken as the entry was made. The rules below are not official written down rules. They are only reflections of what we think the rules are based on experience.

1. All members of the Babble may sit in the bench during their breaks and free times with the freedom to do anything they want (ex. Sleep, do homework, talk, eat, and in my case write a blog). As much as possible, people who aren't part of the Babble are not allowed to sit aside from friends of members. The Sec C foyer, if not used for Tambay Weeks of other orgs, is usually our homebase in Ateneo.

2. Should anyone leave food in the bench, it is considered communal and all members may partake of it. There are times when food is intentionally brought to be shared (ex. Carlo's blueberry cheesecake).

3. It is proper to greet everyone in the bench as you come to let them know of your presence. It is highly encouraged.



4. Bags/objects that are left in the bench by members should not be fiddled with by other members without the permission of the member who owns them (Pen, laptops and drumsticks and some other misc things are exceptions). Also, members in the bench must watch over these things when the owner is not around.



5. Members can place dibs on unreturned JSEC plates that're left on the bench.



All these rules reflect one very important concept for the Babble - Unity. Unity is what makes this structure the way it is and this is where these rules are based on. Without unity, there wouldn't be a Babble so it's quite proper how these rules all work on being united and sharing what we have with each other.

A Structure in a Structure

This week, we were introduced to the Adaptive Structuration Theory. We haven't delved deep into this theory yet but on what we've discussed so far, here is my personal understanding of it so far.

This theory explains that social institutions are created and molded by it's rules. The rules make us, kung baga. With the rules that are set, a certain social structure is built. With everyone in that institution going by the same rules, they are molded the same way.

In my highschool, Assumption College, there were rules that needed to be followed to make us the assumptionistas that we are. We wouldn't be the same girls if not for the rules and principles we all lived by during our stay there. Rules on simplicity were heavily implimented to address the school's aim for this value.

Here in my college, Ateneo, it works the same way. These rules make us the atenistas we are and we will appear to be in our future jobs. I'd like to think the concept of "Magis" is a big part in the making of an atenista. Magis is the Ateneo Way.

The way i see it, these structures gave me some rules that i've instilled in me to make me the person i am now - i am the product of the structures that i've been part of. I become my own person with the help of all the structures i've been part of. Not only school, but also with the group of friends i'm with, the media i expose myself to and my family and what we all live by. Or at least, that's how i see it.

Flock of Birds!

Groupthink: thinking as a group. I'd like to think i belong to groups both with or without groupthink all of which i love equally.

Groups with Groupthink:

The groups that i feel have groupthink are those groups of friends i do my hobbies with.

(dance)

(volleyball)

(BB Band)

All these hobbies entail a certain sense of unity that is key in making the group successful. The Blue Babble Band, for instance, is a group of drummers that play as one. When one drum isn't beating to the same tempo as everyone else, the entire sound is ruined and it wouldn't be as loud as when everyone is beating at the same time. Same could be said in a dance crew because if one isn't moving to the same rhythm as everyone else, the entire dance will not flow well. In volleyball, unity doesn't mean always getting/hoarding the ball for the team but unity is manifested through how everyone knows their place inside the court. Everyone is aware that on the 2nd touch, only the setter gets the ball so everyone else backs off. We're united in the way that when the ball goes at the back, the people at the back stand guard while the people in front try to not get in the way.

Groupthink is key in the collective success of these groups. Without it, we will collapse. There is a need for groupthink in times of performance and i'm glad i am in sync with the people i do them with! :) We all have the same goal and we reach with together with the same means.

Now, this isn't to say that these people are always "in groupthink" with me. Outside the court or stage or the genad in Araneta Coliseum, we can be random and can vary from one another.

Groups without Groupthink:

The groups that fall into this are more on the groups of friends i spend my spare time with. I've worked for years to build these friendships and though you can say that, yes, because of the time we've spent together, we've developed a sense of groupthink. However, i feel as though these people are too different from me that i consider them more on the "without groupthink" and like it that way.

(Highschool barkada)

(AC people in Ateneo)

(R4)

(Others)

These groups don't rely on rules and systems like the ones above. These are the people i'm glad aren't always in sync with me because they give me a chance to explore other ideas, which i like. I'm glad that we all differ because i discovery new restaurants, cooler hang out places, cheaper beers, funnier videos on Youtube and other ideas/things i wouldn't normally try on my own.

This, also, doesn't mean that i'm always not in sync with these people because we also have moments of "groupthinkingness" where we become one and share the similarities that we have. If not, however did we end up as friends?!

Di Ko Sure Eh.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY: I can best apply this to some of my hobbies.

Volleyball is a team sport - it involves communicating with each other inside the court. Suppose the ball is in the middle of two players, uncertainty lies in who'll shout "mine" first or who'll go nearer to the ball and hit it across the net. There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to communication inside the court which leads to a lot of lost points. Unless you communicate to another player that you're going to give the ball to her,
 uncertainty will always be there. This is why, you should always say "mine" or as coach always says, "magusap kayo sa loob ng court" in order to reduce the uncertainty.

 This time when it comes to dance, uncertainty is again involved. Certain beats correspond to a certain step and in communicating correctly, all the dancers will dance in sync. It's quite difficult to alleviate uncertainty in dancing because movements are sometimes hard to sync with a lot of dancers involved. With lots of communicating through the repetition of steps and of the performance, however, uncertainty is decreased in time to perform your piece the best way you can, all together.

Being part of the Blue Babble Band entails alot of uncertainty reduction because as a band, though we are a large group, we need to sound like one. During a game, every band member has to have their eyes on the captain at all times because he will signal or communicate a hand gesture that will start a cheer. To reduce uncertainty in this situation, "tumingin ka lagi kay Ken". He can signal a certain cheer at any point in the game and you have to always be prepared to play it.

All situations and scenarios have uncertainties and true to the theory, we all try to reduce it.

So Tayo Na?

yep, none of those are verbal yet through non-verbal communication, the message is relayed. Some people prefer words over actions but i prefer actions over words. Truly actions speak louder than words rin naman eh. Even without saying a word of affection, the non-verbals can back you up.

This week, i learned that non-verbal communication differs from one person to another and not all gestures stand for the same meaning. It sort of taught me a practical lesson to never over-analyze gestures of people, which i tend to do most of the time.

Miss Understood.

SPEAKER - MESSAGE - RECEIVER

(Aristotle's Rhetorical Theory)

Wouldn't it be a hassle-free world if communication were as simple as: A speaker communicates one message and that message is received the same way it was said to its designated receiver?

The problem with communication is how .... it doesn't work like that. Just because you, the speaker, speak of a certain message with precise content, an organized arrangement and a specific manner of delivery doesn't always mean someone will receive it the exact same way you meant for it to be understood.

My personal ways of communicating have led me to be misunderstood a lot - this is relevant to all of us.

• My eco teacher said, in one of his lectures, "from one binge to another". I bursted out laughing because i thought he said (Pardon me) "from one bitch to another" and i didn't mean to offend anyone because i was simply laughing at a misinterpretation. My professor seemed like he took it the wrong way and thought i was laughing at him personally.
• I was upstairs in my room when my mom who was in the first floor asked me to do something. I answered in a shouting manner because i thought she couldn't hear me because she kept telling me to repeat what i said. She thought i was mad at her. 
• I was with my friend in JSEC today and i was constantly blurting out random thoughts i had regarding his kwento. He kept making a face - the offended face. I kept telling him, "Dude, i didn't mean for it to be offensive because if i did, i wouldn't say it". I just said what was on my mind and i didn't have time to organize and make it sound less offensive in my mind. 
• I made beso (conyo, sorry) my guy friend somewhere in school just in time for my distant friend to approach us. She asked if we were dating. We're not dating. 
• I was in the same room as my crush during class and the exact moment i looked at him, he was looking at me. I assumed he was staring at me too. He wasn't. 
• I lacked some sleep the night previous to this day and was yawning in one of my classes. My teacher told me off because he thought i was yawning because he was boring. 

We communicate on a daily basis. We're bound to screw it up sometimes.

COMMENTS:

• http://mateocomm11.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/speaking-in-tones/#comment-9

• http://inigorojasblognumberone.blogspot.com/2011/07/perception-of-theories.html?showComment=1309916858393#c3259361052465500718

• http://letsjoe.blogspot.com/2011/07/entry-2-yo-cut-noise.html?showComment=1309916653977#c3027939999707456538

I tumbled over a face and tweeted it while loading the video on youtube and spamming it on email.

Just the other day, i was asked by my friend, for the sake of small talk, to choose between losing a foot or the internet. I said... yeah, internet hahaha. Unless the situation really hits me, i’d probably choose my foot but for now, i’m going with the internet. 

Mediated communication has grown throughout the years. From the 3210 i had almost a decade ago, to all these websites i’m signed in today, technology has helped make communication more accessible than before. It is helping us communicate more effectively with a variety of portals depending on the form of communication you want to use. 

I will use my most commonly used websites as examples. (Warning: forms of communication may vary from one person to another)

Facebook:

Form: Group communication

Facebook, or at least to me, is networking among people i only know personally. We may not talk in real life, but as long as we know each other, “friend accepted”. Because i am not close to everyone on my Facebook’s friends list, i don’t post very personal things other than a couple of pictures and statuses but nothing too personal. Facebook to me serves as group communication because it focuses on networking with my sphere. Aside from my general friends, i also have little groups (the one in the left side bar in the Facebook site) where only specific friends/barkada members are added. The development of these small groups are done on Facebook as we constantly update ourselves with each other and make inside jokes that develop our group as a whole. Facebook gives us glimpses of each other's lives and with it, a certain connection is made.

Twitter:

Form: Group communication

It was only recently that i opened my twitter to the public (due to a blog reason) but on most days, it’s on private and only people i know or feel comfortable with can follow me/read my tweets. In the same way, i only follow people i find interesting. In Twitter, i feel more comfortable to talk about personal things that happen to me daily, unlike Facebook, because i have a fixed number of followers that i filter ever now and then. I usually tweet about where i am or what i’m doing or feeling. This form of short messages (max of 150 letters) can mean different and more profound things. For example, at the end of the day, someone tweets “:(“, it could mean more than just someone feeling sad but a breakup perhaps? a failed test? a bad day? sickness? News has depicted Twitter to be a public form of communication because some tweet-ers tend to be opinionated and persuasive and that’s not saying i don’t become persuasive too at times. I just see Twitter to be more of a group communication because of the networking aspect and the development of relationships through people’s personal thoughts that lie in their tweets. Seeing a tweet of someone being sad would often get me to text them and ask if i can do anything to make them feel better. Also, with the people i follow and the tweets they send, i know who’re the funny ones from the ones with huge social lives (because they tweet about a going to a party all the time), to those who like Justin bieber (Beliebers) to those who study in La Salle (because they tweet about weird sounding subjects i don’t get). 

Tumblr

Form: Intercultural communication

Tumblr is my place to post or reblog pictures i can relate with or find interesting. I follow different kinds of blogs from fashion to art to comedy to random blogs i like and their pictures stream through my dashboard. I can stream through them and for the pictures i like, i reblog it and put it in my own blog and they can be seen by people who follow my blog. This is actually my favorite website. I find this form of communicating very interesting because i am a very visual person and i like interpreting myself through pictures and art. You know as they say, a pictures is worth a thousand words so when one reblogs another picture, it could mean countless things. For example, someone reblogs a picture of the beach. Maybe she likes the beach? maybe she’s been to that specific beach? maybe she likes the way the picture was taken? Maybe she likes the colors? Maybe she feels dry and wants to go swimming on the beach? Maybe she fell in love in a beach? Tumblr to me is a intercultural form of communication because the people i follow vary from race to values to perspectives in love and other concepts. One blog could be heartbroken and another completely in love. All these blogs come together to share each other’s thoughts and sentiments.

Youtube

Form: Mass communication

Now this is yet another visual form of expressing one’s self - through videos. I consider this  mass communication because the audience varies from one to another. If you take a look at the comment section of one video, they don’t always agree with each other. Some like the video and some don’t. I find Youtube to be the source of almost any documented or filmed short video. From music videos, to SNL skits, to trailers and promos, interviews, Youtube gives access to anything people want to watch. Not only that, people can also post their own videos for parodies, covers of songs, and sometimes to critique another video and in that way, they communicate to a large audience that may or may not agree to what they’re saying. An example would be the WHATTHEBUCKSHOW which critique anything in Hollywood. It’s quite interesting how films can be a form of communicating a certain message. Like music videos, an artist can set her music video in a forest and it could represent a bigger picture that relates to her music. 

Blog:

Form: Intrapersonal communication

My blog is only read by those who i give the link to and those of which are people i talk to on a normal basis. Though i have readers, to me a blog is an intrapersonal form of communication. It’s me telling myself what i’m feeling and what i did during the day. I find it to be soothing to myself and it’s main purpose isn’t for the readers but for the writer. I write there to release my feelings and sentiments and no one can judge me for it because it’s my blog and i have the right to make my own opinion about things. I can also tell my mood by the way i write and through my writings, i discover things about myself. The change that my way of writing has gone through for the last two years have been quite significant which is relative to how mature i’ve grown, or at least that’s what i feel. 

Email

Form: Organizational communication

These days, the only use for my email is for class groups (and spams) that which is used by the teacher or beadle to relay important information for class. I find this to be organizational because it’s an extended communication that go from the professor or sender to the class as a whole or certain groups in class. It is indeed goal oriented because an information sent via email could mean homework that’s due or project that’s to be done. 

Whichever the mode, the internet communicates in any way you want it to.