July 11, 2015
How Cell Phones are Empowering Women in the Developing World
The article brings forward the knowledge gap between men and women in many of these countries and cultures. Before reading, I could see how a woman’s husband might be a limiting factor, but I hadn’t considered the lack of quality education as a significant barrier.
Exploring Koreans’ smartphone usage: An integrated model of the technology acceptance model and uses and gratifications theory.
The adoption of the iPhone by the Korean population presented in the initial setups is staggering. That there’s 100 percent penetration of usage of smartphones overall is amazing, but not entirely surprising, given the country’s role in global technology development and manufacturing.
“Particularly, in Korea, smartphone use is affected more by motivations based on instrumental and goal-oriented use than by ritualized and less-goal oriented use. The findings of this study suggest that to spread information system with innovative and active features, intrinsic motivations should be significant, as well as extrinsic perceptions.”
The Impact of New Media on Intercultural Communication in Global Context
“This paper discusses this trend of research on the relationship between new media and intercultural communication.”
“New media enjoys five distinctive characteristics: digitality, convergency, interactivity, hypertextuality, and virtuality (Chen & Zhang, 2010; Flew, 2005; Lister, Dovery, Giddings, Grant, & Kelly, 2009). “
“The impact of the integration of new media and globalization can be summarized into five precise effects, namely, a shrinking world, the compression of time and space, close interaction in different aspects of society, global connectivity, and accelerated local/global competition/cooperation (Chen & Starosta, 2000). “
The entire concept of “new media” feels antiquated, as the adoption rates and changes in the format, mechanisms and capabilities seem to grow faster than the name.
“After examining the extant literature, we found that emerging topical areas in this line of research mainly include three categories: (1) the impact of national/ethnic culture on the development of new media, (2) the impact of new media on cultural/social identity, and (3) the impact of new media (especially social media) on different aspects of intercultural interaction (e.g., intercultural relationship, intercultural dialogue, and intercultural conflict). “
“Digital Natives” and “Native Speakers” Competence in Computer-Mediated Communication
The shared knowledge and engagements among multicultural participants is fascinating to read. I’m curious if this experience and user base actually matches what individuals who may not be predisposed to intercultural communication or exchange of information, i.e. those not learning a second language, would
Participatory Video in the Nile Basin Development Challenge
Never heard of anything like this before.
Curious how the farmers were initially recruited. Did they know their work for video creation was designed to shape the context and argument for sustainable change within their communities.
——————-
In this week’s readings, we took a broader look at mass communication theory research and practice in a non-U.S. centric view.
The first article, showcasing the power that providing women in developing worlds with cell phones was enlightening for me. While I’ve heard similar access here in the U.S. for seniors or women who either couldn’t afford a cell phone, or needed it for emergency situations, I’d not considered the same door-opening possibilities in countries or cultures where women are still working to establish equal presence and access as their male counterparts. Additionally, before reading, I could see how a woman’s husband might be a limiting factor, but I hadn’t considered the lack of quality education as a significant barrier.
In our second article on the adoption of smartphones by the people of South Korea, specifically the introduction of the iPhone model, I wasn’t entirely surprised by the findings of the research on the very fast adoption of the devices. What was surprising was the figure of 100 percent penetration of the population with smartphones. One of the findings summed up the context of the article well, “Particularly, in Korea, smartphone use is affected more by motivations based on instrumental and goal-oriented use than by ritualized and less-goal oriented use. The findings of this study suggest that to spread information system with innovative and active features, intrinsic motivations should be significant, as well as extrinsic perceptions.”
For our third article on the adoption of new media globally was kind of amusing. I find the positioning of digital and interactive media elements as “new media” antiquated, but the concepts hold true. I took away, “The impact of the integration of new media and globalization can be summarized into five precise effects, namely, a shrinking world, the compression of time and space, close interaction in different aspects of society, global connectivity, and accelerated local/global competition/cooperation (Chen & Starosta, 2000).”
Our last article was on digital natives versus digital immigrants to a culture. The shared knowledge and engagements among multicultural participants was fascinating to read. I’m curious if this experience and user base actually matches what individuals who may not be predisposed to intercultural communication or exchange of information, i.e. those not learning a second language, would look like.
The participatory video from Africa was the first of its kind I’d ever seen. Admittedly, I was intrigued by the process of recruiting farmers, how they took their subject matter personally and professionally, the process of showing how they both constructed the video, and how it was shared with the larger community and the “decision makers.” The use of video as a format to “tell the story” and showcase farmers as more than who they are was incredible. The last interview where we hear how the farmers are perceived as not smart, and that women also came forward to present solutions to known issues, demonstrated the power of multimedia formats when put into the right hands and how it can be instrument of change.
Questions:
Digital Natives, MMC6400, Native Speakers, Web Theory,