Concept that could use further discussion

A concept that I personally feel could use further discussion I would have to say would be with Mass Communication in chapter 11. The reason I say this is because to me it seemed too complex, there were some parts I didn't understand when it came to the institutional sources, invisible receiver, and interposed channel. As I read the background on each concept I was still unsure as to what it meant. I thinks perhaps a straight forward definition would suffice. I understand what Mass Media is in general I don't however really understand how this ties into the realm of Mass Media

Interesting Concept

The concept that I found the most interesting was in chapter 5, which is Non Verbal Communication which is the study of communication that does not involve words. Before taking this class I didn't even know Non Verbal Communication even existed. What I find interesting about this particular concept is Linking through facial expressions, also with the status through posture and gesture, and responsiveness which is the degree to which we are involved with interaction. I had no idea that this was even Non Verbal Communication. I however, did learn allot from this chapter because I was always under the impression that communication involved Vocal (talking). I now am more keen to these types of clues when I am speaking with someone or with my initial impression of them. However, I am aware that your interpretation is not always right!!!!
One other concept that I also found interesting was the forms of language in chapter 4 table 4.1. The reason I found this interesting was because I have these particular types of speech within my circle of friends as well as with total strangers. I knew that there were many people out there that spoke with different dialect than others, I just had no idea what it was called until now.

Popular Research Methodologies

In regards to chapter 13 the most interesting research method to me is the Survey Research. The reason this one is the most interesting to me is because I like to go around asking individual people certain questions regarding what I am trying to find out. The other research method that sound interesting to me is also the Rhetorical research, the reason is because after the purpose, the context and the audience are established then the strategies are evaulated. Assuming that I want to study some aspect of deception, I would probably be interested on how males pick their partners. The question that I would ask would be “What do males ages 21-25 report as the most significant factor in choosing their partners??” The type of research method that I would use to answer the question would be Ethnography because this type of research is based on observations, and I think in order to find the actual data for this question it would be helpful to observe what the females look like that the males are attracted to. This research methods allows conclusions to emerge from observation rather then hypothesis which is extremely important.

Useful/Interesting

After reading chapter 11 what I found interesting was how the book talks about how in the earlier days the radio was used mostly for listening to at home. In today's society people now use it when they work out, at clubs & bars, in their car and in their homes. Radio has definitely changed over the years. I never knew that back in the days the radio was used for "communal story telling". I always thought people just used the radio for recreational use. Its very true that in today's society radio is our "portable friend", I know many people that incorporated music into their everyday life and cant do day to day task without it. I'm one of those people that ABSOLUTELY HAS to have the radio on when I am driving, I cant drive with the radio off because its too quite!!! I think depending on the age of the listener it will vary but for most young people radio is a way of keeping one company and for older adults its a way of getting useful information. I always wondered why my dad had to listen to the radio in the car to hear updates on the baseball and football games. It would always annoy me on how he had to listen to the games on the radio when we were going on a long trip, I could never understand how it was interesting to just listen to the game and not visually see it for yourself!!!! I however am not a person that can listen to the radio in the house, I personally believe that the radio is meant to be heard in the car and the T.V is for the home. My boyfriend and I always bicker about this because he wasn't to listen to the radio at home and blast it to the last dial on the stereo and I hate when he does that, I always tell him to turn it off!!! I am trying to watch t.v. I personally only listen to the radio for the music, I hate when it is interrupted by talk show host telling us about the latest gossip in the entertainment world, WHO CARES!!! It seems like they don't have anything better to talk about these days.

Medium is the Message

To some extent I do agree with Marshall McLuhan that medium is the message. I believe that there are different messages that are being relayed within different mediums. I think that depending on what we rely on to get our message, this is what is the determining factor on whether is credible than something else. Marshall McLuhan states that television is a cool medium and demands that viewers fill in the details. Which in a way is truth, the reason being that there are some people that you watch on TV whether it be a reality show, the news or a TV series. There are certain people that are cut out for it and then there are others that might be ok but not good enough for the television screen. I think that at times TV shows, cartoons, reality shows, etc….. Leave the viewers a little puzzled because sometime it’s not enough information or it is too confusing to try and comprehend. It leaves too much to our own imaginations and therefore isn’t efficient enough to give us as the viewers all the information that we need such as like the news, newspaper, etc…….

Cyber Relationships

I have never made friends with someone in a cyber relationship. The reason that I haven't is because I am not on the Internet alot, I only use the Internet for online classes, when I am on itunes and when I need to obtain information in regards to a class that I am taking. Oh wait yes, how could I forget online shopping!!!! For me personally I find it a bit ac ward that people form either friendships or even relationships without ever meeting. Its not the same as face to face contact, especially in a relationships between two people, because when they send pictures of themselves how are you even supposed to know if that's really them or not??? I don't truly understand how a person can even form feelings for someone that they have never even met before. How are we supposed to know whether the person we are chatting with on the other end of the computer is not some child predator or serial rapist. I'm not saying that its not possible that someone you know personally isn't capable of this, however i think that it a little more safe because you get to know that person on a more personal level.

I have had several friends who have met people online and when they finally do decide to meet in person its not nearly what they expected. I think that cyber friends can be a little risky because you do not know anything about this person except for what they tell you. This is why I don't really feel safe posting pictures or releasing personal information about myself. People who have MYSPSACE risk this, because you never know whether any of your information will get into the wrong hands. Even if you do have your account set to private, there are always ways around it, people will always find a way if they really wanted to.

Useful/Interesting Topic

After reading chapter 8 what I found to be the most interesting to me was the section on the "Promoting Professionalism in Workplace Relationships". I have plenty of friends that I have workplace relationships. I met a co-worker through my current job and we have become the best of co-workers. We are really close at work, however that's where the relationship stays, we both have our own set of friends outside of work. With Office Romance, this one is interesting because when I went to the new hire orientation for my job it simply states in the work handbook that a line staff cannot date a supervisor or a manager because it is a conflict of interest, but its OK if you are line staff and the person you are dating is a manager as long as he/she works in a different department then you. I personally would never date anyone from my place of work because it can be ac ward and sometimes cause unwarranted conflict. Unfortunately I work in a male dominated job and some of the males that I work with tend to cross the line into sexual harassment sometimes, and several have lost their jobs over this issue. I don't understand why people cant just be professionals, especially because we are looked at as role models and are always held to a higher standard out in the community. I believe a job is a place for work and one must maintain a state of professionalism.