Everything Changes

The recent death of Apple Company's CEO, Steve Jobs put the world in a standstill. He was one of the brains behind a majority of the equipment and gadgets that we use today that makes communication more convenient. Personally, I have never owned an Apple product, I just think that all of these companies have one goal :

"To make communication easier, more convenient, and cheaper too"

With the continuous innovations regarding cellphones, computers, notebooks, tablets, and the world wide web, I can honestly say that these companies are doing their jobs. They have provided the public ways to have better and even faster communication with loved one who live far away. Even in a third-world country like the Philippines, majority of the people own cellphones, hence we are tagged as the "texting capital of the world", just for the price of 1 peso you can send a message to a person who is a hundred kilometers away from you. I wonder what would be the situation now if media and communication didn't evolve and didn't innovate ? We might still be writing letters and sending them to the post office, earliest reply you can get is at least 3 weeks. 

It's not just about the evolution of media and communication it's evolution in a global scale.

This marks my last entry for a very productive semester in our Com11 class. Thank you to our awesome professor Sir Beaver ! Even his name sounds awesome too don't you agree ? He taught all of us these things that we had taken for granted before we had this class. He gave us the foundations that we must build in when we graduate and start working. Again, thank you to Sir Beaver, hope to see you around ! :)

Pyramid

Sometimes I feel that I’m still in my Sociology class during COM11. Terms such as cultural studies, false consciousness reminds me of it. In the cultural studies of communication it is said that there’s a class struggle between the elite and the working force of a nation, if you notice this isn’t just in communication because since time immemorial people coming from the lower class had always been looked down upon compared to people who belong to a higher social status. Everyone got used to the idea that people who are powerful and rich are on top while everyone else should be “contented” on the bottom, which is called “false consciousness”. People start accepting that this is the “natural” way of life and that they shouldn’t do anything about it. Maybe it’s wrong to say that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have this because we too, have been used to this way of living.

                The sad thing in this is, a majority of people choose not to improve their lives ‘simply because they think that they’re already settled with their current status and because of this system, which also forms a social pyramid, the powerful and prestigious people control everyone, the working class have no other option but to follow. Eventhough a system like this exists, the media which is aware of this tries to change the way people think, they try to instill on the minds of people that they have a choice to improve and not accept the things that are happening now. 

Double Edged Sword

One of the topics that was recently discussed in our Communciation class was about Mass Media. Coincidentally, it was in tie with the presentation during our Sociology class 2 hours before which also tackled mass media.

From what I've learned, the things media shows creates streotypes. They generalize a group of people to have this particular trait that makes them identifiable, therefore stereotyped (i.e. BLACK people are perceived to be gangsters, troublemakers, a bunch of dangerous people or in other words - criminals) but if you look at the bigger picture only a handful of these kinds of people exhibit this. But the media chooses to show this to the public because it recognizes these kinds of people in society. Another thing mass media does is, it creates a trend which influences it's viewers. An example for this kind of effect is how the media portray's Lady Gaga. I'm sure that everyone is aware that her fashion sense is authentic, unique, extraordinary but can be downright weird and creepy but because she is mediated to the public, people had started imitating her.

Mass media in my opinion is a necessary global sector, they deliver viable information to the public, makes communication easier, provides entertainment and much more. To sum it up, what mass media has done is it has made our lives more convenient. But besides it's original goal, indirect effects to the public such as trendsetting and stereotyping has emerged.

Mass Media = A double edged sword.

MMORPG

In this entry I’m going to show you the PC gamer side of me. One of the topics that were discussed during the week was about Physical Symbols of organizations. The first thing that entered my mind were Online Games or commonly known as MMORPGs. For those who haven’t played an MMORPG before ... MMORPG stands for Massive(ly?) Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, it’s basically about creating a character who will roam around the online game world be it a fantasy, or sci-fi themed world slaying monsters, meeting new people, trading, engaging in battles with other people and so much more.

World of Warcraft - The most popular MMORPG in the market

 Since I was in elementary I’ve indulged myself in these kinds of games. Regarding the socialization side of these games, there are so called “Guilds” that can be formed with other people. These guilds are ranked according to their game progress, guilds in-game usually compete with one another, they have their own set of rules and requirements for new members and to identify them, each guild can put up a guild emblem. Guilds are pretty much like organizations in real life, they have symbols so that other players can identify them especially if they’re known in the game server.

A Guild in Ragnarok Online

                As an avid player of online games I’ve been recruited in a lot of high-ranked guilds. You can distinguish these kinds of guilds by the emblem they use, like a company logo you know which products are the best to purchase by their brand logo. When in a guild, other people expect you to abide by the rules that are made by the guild leader, you are expected to cooperate and respect other people too because you carry the name of your guild. Even if it’s only in the cyber world, people still need to follow some rules in the organization they are a part of.

Back in Highschool ...

... there were so many rules !

During the course of the week we discussed more in class the "rules" that are put into place in different institutions that we function in. In relation to the title of my blog, I remember that during highschool there were really many rules both written and rules which are not in the rulebook. Such as :

1. Make sure that your extra shirt is plain white. No designs, no anything. Just a plain shirt.
2. Forget your ID, go to the guidance office.
3. Your bangs touch your eyebrow, the #&^@&#^ CAT officer will cut it off and you get sent to the guidance office.
4. When wearing your PE uniform always tuck your shirt in your PE pants.
5. Always have a complete CAT uniform. No skinny jeans !

and for some unwritten rules :
1. Piss of your teacher and he'll take it personally. Thus, removing your access to the audio visual room which stores band equipment.
2. Court a girl, get sent to the guidance office. (If you're interested to know the story behind this, please don't hesitate to ask me.)
3. Be the kindest person to your teacher and you won't fail his/her subject.
4. When called during recitation, smile and the teacher won't mind if you don't know the answer.
5. If you have a gay teacher and you're a guy ... you won't fail.

I can keep on going, but I'll stop there.

These things make up the structure that is highschool (at least our highschool), it dictates how the students should act accordingly and are expected to follow the school policy. Rules are necessary for harmonious functioning of the organization. Everyone knows what is expected of them and they know what to do next. But, it can't be helped that sometimes people break rules.

Would you believe me if I told you that I had broken all these rules? I'll admit something to you guys, back then I was so good at using a "kodigo" during exams. Haha. I was such a rule breaker and a jackass before. Nevertheless, all that is gone. All that's left is the kind, innocent, soft-spoken Rico that you know. ;)

Again ?

One major thing that I picked up during our class lecture which was about "Adaptive Structuration Theory" is that the things we do make up one big cycle which we call "life". How often have you heard of people telling you "You'll get used to it" or in Filipino "Masasanay ka rin" and "Sanayan lang yan"? One instance is when something new arrives in our daily lives. Obviously we're not used to in encountering that something but as it is going to become a regular thing for us, we just have to incorporate it into our lifestyle or our daily routines.

I believe that having a daily routine is essential because the routine itself is a system which we follow. When we miss out on one thing that we regularly do it bugs us the whole day. It's kind of like a map in our daily life. For example, when we go to school the first thing we do is go to class then take our break go to class again then go home. It’s that simple. Eventually we get tired or we sometimes feel that it’s eating us, that we’re stuck in a rut in our daily lives that’s why we sometimes do things that lets us get away from it all. Like hanging out or having dinner with friends, going on a date with that special someone, partying, etc. But some people merge these “escapes” with their lifestyle adding yet another thing to their routines.

These routines will sooner or later change, when a certain person experiences a transition in his/her life such as going to college, getting a job, or being a new parent. It’s just a matter of adapting to the changes and slowly being comfortable with them.

I remember back in highschool, we go to class at 7:30am and we end at 5:30pm, every single day. All of us had the same 1 hour lunch break and the 20 minutes recess break. When we get dismissed, we hang out in the school corridors or in the school grounds. It was the same thing over and over again. No one complained, because it was the system (The 7:30am-5:30pm), you have no choice but to follow or else there will be consequences. At first, it was very uncomfortable and very irritable to be seated the whole day in class. But sooner or later, we got used to it --- we adapted to it.

Before I end my blog I’m going to share my daily schedule. ;)

MWF                                                                                      

7:30 am – 11:30 am: School                        

11:30 am – 1:00 pm: Gym

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Time w/her

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm: HWs

7:00 pm – 8: 00 pm: Dinner and Shower

8:00 pm – 11:00 pm: Studying

11:00pm – 5:30 am: Sleep

TTh

7:30 am – 10:00 am: School

10:00 am – 11:00 am: Jogging

11:00 am – 6:00 pm: Rest/Reading/Studying

6:00pm – 9:00 pm: Night Class (Thursdays)

9:00pm – 10:00pm: Dinner and Shower

10:00pm – 11:00pm: Read

11:00pm – 7:30am: Sleep

… and that’s my daily schedule. Repetitive right ? But I like it that way. It gives me direction, and it tells me what should I do next.

Yes ! Group Work!

Groupthink for me is a collaboration of multiple minds in one particular subject. It's like the group works or group projects we have in school. I for one, personally enjoy having this kinds of experiences because I learn from my group mates, I acquire new ideas from them, and more. It's not simply of pitching in idea after idea after idea, but it's also a matter of learning from others. Sometimes, it's difficult for someone to share their own idea because of two things :

1.) He/she is afraid of being judged by his/her peers. Therefore he/she remains silent and just nods along. Knowing deep inside that his/her idea is tenfolds better than the group agreed on.
2.) So we can finish quickly and go home.

There's more, another reason that I enjoy working in groups is, you gain friends. People that had been randomly grouped with you, you get to know them. There's also the opportunity to practice leadership and people skilsl while in a group.

On a kind of a negative note, one thing I like about groups is, you can sometimes just rely on others to do the work and then you still get a good grade come submission. Haha. Kidding aside, these things for me are just some that I take notice in when I experience groupthink. :)