載着資訊的「媒體」(包括電視、報章、政府文件、課本、網絡等等)往往會因應其特質而提供他們詮釋的資訊,這個資訊再表述的過程涉及很多值得我們深思的問題。媒體素養(Media Literacy泛指個人在各類通訊處境中取用資訊理解信息表達意念的能力。這門知識能為通識教育提供一些實用指引,涵蓋學生在處理各類當代議題時需要展示的能力。本網誌旨在匯聚這方面的資料,以供教育工作者參考。

2006年9月15日星期五

How does the culture of the internet differ from the culture of mass media?

Traditional media like television is hierarchical, top-down, and randomness of content was minimized. Internet is then just the opposite and Internet has been one of the most rapidly adopted communication technologies. The Internet now brings together over 30 million people on-line worldwide, inviting an average of 150,685 new users per day, or 1.74 per second. By 2000, 250 million people will have access to the Internet (Killen & Associates, 1996) .

It is the fact that internet is the new era. From my perspectives, there are two major differences between the culture of the internet and the culture of mass media. The one is: the internet is more interactive that viewers have the right to select what to receive, but the old media like TV and radio is top-down that you have comparatively limited choices. The other is: the internet almost circles the globe, and virtual location in cyberspace depends more on information than physical geography, with its users connecting through thoughts and interests across any and all boundaries.

It is the fact that the Internet has become a revolutionary tool for communication among the computer savvy individuals of the modern world. In contrast to the traditional form of communicating face-to-face, a majority of Internet users utilize the feature of computer-mediated Communication (CMC) ways to talk to their various relations.

Today, computers users can listen and watch both live and recorded news and sports reports from sources as ABC, CBS, ESPN, and NBC. Also, there are over 2,400 radio stations around the world that are already sending there programming out by way of the Internet, allowing people to tune in with the click of a mouse. This new technology boosts their ranks of listeners and also allows them to sell more advertising. Next, unlike printed version, one positive effect that the Internet has had on journalism is the ability to get information out to audiences quicker.

However, sometimes the positive things could also be the negative things. Much of the information that is on the Internet is not as accurate as the information that can be obtained from a newspaper or a news broadcast. In the United States, it is virtually impossible for the government to regulate the Internet because of its enormous size. Besides, I think many people are still more comfortable with the traditional forms of mass media. People are more comfortable with sitting down and reading the newspaper or a magazine or turning on the television to see the news. Most people do not turn to the Internet when they want to learn about a recent news story.

As a secondary school teacher, I have found that students are eager to CMC. Not infrequently, my students enjoy chatting through ICQ or MSN, playing online games and joining online groups. It seems that participants disclose more than they do in face-to-face situations.

Actually, CMC has become a revolutionary, novel, and widely popular form of communication. As opposed to talking directly to someone, CMC allows individuals to communicate in enhanced, desired, and controlled environments. Individuals are capable of targeting not only whom they converse and socialize with, but also how they want to be perceived. On the other hand, face-to-face interaction can be perceived to be more “daunting” because there is no such wall of security in contrast to the computer mediated tool.

Not allowing students to use CMC tools is something impossible. The more practical way is to make use of it and that may help arouse students’ interests in learning. Furthermore, guiding students to conceive, analyze and judge information from the internet is a must. Most importantly, students must learn how to create their own works and communicate with others by expressing their own ideas.

Text: Lee Wing Fai, HKMediaEd.net

2006年9月1日星期五

Online Fans Club: Understanding the Psychology of the Online Community

A community is a group of like-minded people. You are probably part of several different communities – the town/village where you live, the place where you work or study, a group of friends with whom you play sport or other hobby activity, and your church fellowship.

A community of people usually has most of these characteristics:
  • shared interests
  • shared values
  • shared problems/enemies
  • mutually supportive
  • intimacy
  • physical face-to-face interaction at specific times
A successful online fans club, more or less, is the same as a real community, and sometimes the groupness and conformity of it is even more noticeable than you expect. Maybe one of the reason help create the group’s conformity is that time and location are no longer relevant and you can share as much or little of yourself as you wish, without being judged.

Actually, online fans club which permits visitors to contribute content is potentially building community and a high level of trust. The more or meaningful content you contribute, the more scores you obtain for getting permits to view or download bonus pictures or videos from the authorized administrators. That helps encourage you to get sticky to the community.

To have a sense of community, a website needs to be welcoming and non-condemning. It must meet people where they are, and demonstrate an understanding of their feelings and problems. They must feel that they somehow 'belong' to the site, and can also offer their own feedback and opinions as well as receive advice.

By the way, it is discovered that some psychology and sociology theories can be applied in online fans club’s community, but some cannot.

Hyperpersonality theory
Chen and Gaines (1998) argued that developing a positive self-image is one motivation for participating in reciprocal Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) relationships because it allows you to publicize your expertise, position yourself in the virtual community. It is quite true that online fans club participants always contribute content towards their idols when they come across their idols’ news. It seems that they are the experts in this particular field. They are willing to share that may help them to enhance their self-identity and image.

Cues-filtered-out theory
Cues-filtered-out theory assumes that CMC relationships lack social or context cues. It may easily lead to antisocial or impersonal behaviors and increase in uninhibited behavior patterns such as flaming in online interactions. However, the above-mentioned situations are not noticeable in online fans club. Maybe they have already built up the sense of belonging to the community that few of them want to ruin the orders. Or the system management team is efficient enough to delete any unwanted messages posted when found.

Social Exchange theory
Social Exchange theory in CMC means that people contribute content because they want to receive a benefit (get something to exchange). Actually, the benefit is not necessary a real object. The reciprocal rewards can be some feedback messages that show people’s appreciation, praise or respect the content contributors. These interactions then make message posted cycle continue.

Para-social Interaction/relationship (PSI) theory
Horton & Wohl (1956) implicated agreement between the performer and viewer that they will pretend the relationship is not mediated – as though it were a face-to-face encounter, just like a media friend. However, the situation is not noticeable in online fans club because, unlike TV, there is not a role player or actor in online fans club. But the active participant will show their sorrows after the recovery of the online fan club’s server down. The situation is just like a person who meets his buddy whom he doesn’t meet each other for a long time.

Social Identification/Deindividuation (SIDE) theory
Postmes, Spears, and Lea (1998, 2000) stated that online participants will assume that other people are similar to themselves and that they share comparable norms and characteristics. SIDE theory seems more applicable to online fans club. Basically, online fans club participants have similar norms (they have the same idols). When communicators share a common social identity, they appear to be more susceptible to group influence, social attraction, stereotyping, gender typing, and discrimination in anonymous CMC.

All in all, Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) has already developed maturely. A large population of people is familiar with CMC. The phenomena of groupness, conformity and polarization are not infrequent in online fans club. In fact, the successful one has formed the sense of belonging to the virtual community, just like a community in the real society.

Text: Lee Wing Fai, HKMediaEd.net