NOW I CAN USE MY STUPIDITY

HALA!!

mey gesh!!!sana, hindi katangahan ung nasulat ko...gosh!!!!

hahaha!!!

june16 is the day!

Research Proposal

Communication Acts: Planning to study the role of Speech Codes in daily human conversations.

Theory: Speech Codes Theory

The Mission(Instant Friend)

Cyber Friend

I needed a text mate or a chat mate. No high-standard qualifications,just someone who would painstakingly reply to my messages. So, that was my mission. Just like that.

No, I'm not doing this because I just feel like doing so, I'm doing this because a have to. Or else, I'll have nothing posted on my blog.

I decided to look for a text mate instead of a chat mate, though it would be more convenient to look for a cyber pal in the cyber net. Text mates are fun people, or so I thought.

"PweDe makiPagFriendS?"

That was the most casual pick-up line I could ever think of. I sent that message to many random dialed numbers, then to the contacts whom I do not know, but had their numbers saved on my cell phone.

A second passed after having the message "sent to many".

Another second passed.

And another.

And another.

And another, until I was running out of patience. But as I was about to convince myself that what I'm trying to do was hopeless and totally stupid, a number replied. And I never thought that a simple "huz diz?" would be like a manna from heaven awaited for hundred of years.-This is hyperbole. Of course.

"BlaisE po."

That was my instant and dishonest reply. And after some more exchange of messages and white lies of how and where did I get her number, I soon had a little glimpse of her. Her name is Sheila Mae. She's 21. A 4th-year nursing student of Notre Dame of Marbel University, the same institution where I finished my grade school and high school.

Though I was able to make up this good-sounding things about myself (selective self-presentation) and how I got her number, I was not that sure if she really did believe me. I didn't see her facial reactions, nor any non-verbal cues. Of course, we were just texting, so all physical contexts were not present.

According to the Social Information Processing Theory of Joseph Walther, there are two features of CMC(computer-mediated communication). The verbal cues, which means that communicators make their impressions of their fellow communicator based solely on the linguistic content of their computer mediated message. This, I have proven when my text mate talked about her love life. She told me that she wasn't ready to be in a relationship as of the moment, because of her past experiences. Without seeing her facial expressions, body positions and any physical movements, I have made up an impression that she had loved deeply and is still in pain. And that her "past experiences" still lingers.

Another feature is the extended time. This states that in CMC the rate of exchange of information is slower than face-to-face, therefore impressions are formed at a reduced rate. Since our communication is only through texting, the time and the network availability is also very crucial. There was this one time, when I wasn't able to reply to my text mate's message right away, this made her irritated, though it wasn't really my intention to irritate her.
My text mate and I spent hours and hours of texting. And it came to the the point that she would ask me questions about my family, school, and love affairs. I would answer each of her question carefully, so that I wont give her any reason to have a bad impression of me. And she would comment on my answers, as if we have known each other very well.

There were also times that she would talk about her own self. Like how she hated the judgments done by other people on those individuals who chose to take up nursing.

"Alam mo, naiinis tlga ako sa mga taong iniicp na pera lng ang dhilan kung bkit nagnunursing yung mga kumukuha ng nursing. Hndi nman kc lhat gnun eh. Iniicp kasi nla na mag-aabroad lng kmi pgnktapos na. Pro di nman laht ng nagnunursing my blak mag-abroad..di ba?"

There were some points in our conversation that she would talk about her family. How they felt about her not having plans of taking the NCLEX or going abroad. She would tell me that becoming a nurse wasn't really the dream of her life. That she always wanted to be a lady soldier, however her dream was devastated because of her lack of height. Then I comforted her by saying that every occupation of each person is a noble job, especially when you serve people who are in need.

The disclosures she made, showed friendliness. As what the Social Information Processing Theory suggests. And what the two of doing (giving each other compliments, these when I told her that I'm from UP, and when she told me that she always wanted to be a soldier) were our techniques of avoiding conflicts and save face. And since we were just text messaging each other, both of us have ample time of thinking, planning and editing the things we say in order to keep our harmonious relationship. I, myself was really careful of what to text message her, because of the fear that she may not reply anymore.

In the end, I appreciated my so-called text buddy for sharing a part of her or perhaps her whole self to me. I get the notion that sometimes, it is easier to disclose one's self and emotions to a stranger whom you never actually see and is just existing in cyber space or in the text messaging world. Maybe this is because, humans need to open up, to spill their feelings and they need people who would listen and not judge them; and to achieve this need they engage in computer-mediated communication. They have nothing to lose anyway.

Social Information Processing Theory-Summary

Social Information Processing Theory

The Social Information Processing Theory of Joseph Walther focuses on communication process/es in the context of cyberspace. (cyberspace-the notional environment in which communication over computer network occurs.)

Walther believes that relationships grow through exchange of information between communicators. The SIP is undeviating with the social penetration theory, the only differences is in SIP communication is mediated by communication(CMC) and there is no physical context (facial expressions, tone of voice, interpersonal distance, body position, distance, appearance, gestures, touch and smell) involved. However, even if physical context is absent, this does not hinder the communicators to make relational developments.

2 Features of CMC that justifies the Social Information Processing Theory:

1. Verbal Cues
CMC users can make fully formed impression through what is available, that is-linguistic content of the computer mediated messages (emails, instant messages, text messages). For example, you are chatting with a total stranger over the internet, now, this stranger gave an intellectual-sounding conversation with you, since this person gave you that kind of conversation, you will think that this person really is that intelligent, based solely on what you talked about and the kind of language he/she used.

2. Extended Time
The rate of exchange of information through CMC is slower than face-to-face communication, therefore, impressions are created slower as well.It is like a sip instead of a gulp. Because in face-to-face context, information are easily and readily exchanged between communicators who just first met rather than those who are using CMC. Extended time would also refer to the length of time that communicators would need before they can send/receive messages. Thus, making thus feature very crucial in a cyber-relationship.


Since there is the absence of nonverbal cues, CMC users rely only on the text-based messages. As they exchange information about themselves, they then realize their similarities and start expressing affection in their messages.

It is through CMC that humans are able to look for people whom they believe are like them. And when they find people who have many similarities with them, they tend to build a relationship with them and slowly make disclosures. On the other hand, CMC users would tend to make and sustain a positive impression and try to talk about their best attributes(selective self-presentation). Also, CMC users would be very careful of the things(messages,comments,answers, and questions) they send to each other and try to be friendly and to save face.

CMC users who are really motivated to create a growing relationship with other CMC users would have to synchronize their times in order to have their interaction. However, computer communication provides communicators to interact, without having to attend to each other at the same time. And this is one of its great advantages over face-to-face communication.

Summary-Social Penetration Theory

Social Penetration Theory

Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor were the social psychologists who proposed a social penetration process that explains how relational closeness develops.

"The Social Penetration Theory is an established and familiar explanation of how closeness develops in friendships and romantic relationships."

Personality Structure: Onion

The human personality structure is analogous to a multi-layered onion. This is justified with the fact that just like an onion that when you peel an outer skin you will find another skin, then another, until you can already see its very core; humans are like this. There is a certain layer after a layer and it takes time and certain relationship development and depth until you are able to know a certain someone up to his/her deepest core.

On Relationship Development and Self Disclosure

The more a person discloses a part of himself to another person, the more the degree of their intimacy deepens. At first, they would talk about their biological data, until one person penetrates the other, more deeper information are revealed by both parties. This is because self disclosure is reciprocal and rapid(at first). On the other hand, self disclosure might slow down as soon as they reach each others' deeper layers, since there are certain factors that keep people not to easily share the deep information about themselves.

Complexity

There are times that disclosure happens as a mere way of expressing oneself and not necessarily as a way of being close or developing a relationship with someone. However, when the listener is turned off or disgusted by what is disclosed by the one talking, depenetration can be quick. This happens when your text mate/ chat mate has been "turned off" with what you have said or commented to him/her.

Keys

The social penetration theory is embedded in the previous theory, which is the expectancy violation theory. Since SPT mainly talks about how closeness develops in a certain relationship, it can not be far with the expectancy violation theory, which talks about the expectations and rewards in a certain relationship or in a communication act.

Summay-EVT

The Expectancy Violations Theory
of Judee Burgoon

Judee Burgoon generated the Expectancy Violations Theory. She defined personal space as the "invisible, variable volume of space surrounding an individual that defines the individual's preferred distance from others".

She stressed out that the size and shape of this personal space, varies depending on each person's cultural norms.

The Following are the Core Concepts of EVT as presented by Griffin:

EXPECTANCY

The author of the EVT as well as her colleagues described the term "expectancy" as somethings predicted to happen rather something wanted or desired.

Context
Begins with cultural norms. This means each culture has its own preference in terms of distance and approach of communicators. Therefore, cultural differences between communicators are very vital. For example, the distance between communicators in a certain country might be different to the cultural norm in another country. Also, context includes the setting of the conversation, whether the communication happened in a mall, school, bathroom or in a movie house.
Relationship
This includes the similarity, familiarity, liking, and relative status. Age gaps and social status of communicators also contribute in this factor.

Communicator Characteristics
These include all of the age/sex/place-of-birth and even the physical appearance of the communicator/s.

VIOLATION VALENCE

This refers to the positive or negative value we place on a specific unexpected behavior, regardless of who does it. First, humans would interpret the action/behavior then later decides whether he/she likes it or not. For example, you have this acquaintance, you are not that so close with this person, when this person talks to you about your very personal things, you would feel not comfortable since you don't have any close established relationship with this person. However, if a very close friend would do such action, there would be no negative reaction from you.

COMMUNICATOR REWARD VALENCE

Burgoon uses this term to label the results of our mental audit and likely gains and losses. The reward valence of the communicator may be in a positive(reward) or negative(punishment) form. One good example here is the one shown in the movie "How to lose a guy in 10 days", the leading man in the movie, tolerates all the violations done by the leading lady to make her fall in love with him, thus he achieved this and then got the both of them in a romantic relationship.

West's View:

West coined the term proxemics as the study of the another person's use of space. He regarded EVT as always present in non-verbal communication.

Ethical Reflection: " Is a powerful tool to develop a respect for the concerns of others and has long been recognized as an important goal of character education".

Littlejohn's View:

Key Points:

Free Will--survey and interpret

One Truth--these are norms for all communication activities

Value-neutral--how humans react when their expectations are violated.

Summary-Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism

In Wood's book,he discussed the following:

1. "Symbols are at the heart of communication".

Symbols are the foundation of both personal and social life. In Wood's chapter five, which focuses on the theories about symbolic activity, he emphasized the importance of symbols in the daily interactions of humans, both verbal and nonverbal.

2. George Herbert Mead

George Herbert Mead was the one who developed the Symbolic Interactionism Theory. He was greatly fascinated by the ability of humans to use symbols. His observations led him to believe that "human symbolic activities account for the distinct character of human thinking, for individual identity, and for the persistence of society through the behaviors of individuals".

Key Concepts in Symbolic Interactionism Theory

MIND

Mead believed that:

At birth humans have neither minds nor selves, he stressed that, both are acquired through continuous interaction with others. Mead defined mind as "the ability to use symbols that have common social meanings". Through the knowledge of using symbols, humans are able to share and connect ideas with fellow humans, and this makes distinction between humans and animals. On the other hand, social life and communication between people are possible only when people can understand each other and can use a common language, because language express social meanings.

"In the process of acquiring language, individuals learn the common meaning of their culture". - The real meaning of acquiring a mind.

SELF

The self doesn't really exist at birth. It is developed through interaction with others. Mead defined self as the ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others. The views and convictions of us that other people conveys or communicates gives us our own self concept of ourselves.

The Concept of Looking Glass -clarifies Mead's view of the human self. I & ME "Humans have the distinctive ability to be both the subjects and objects of their experience". They are complementary, however they are not opposing.

I

I is the acting self. The I is the one that gives distinction. It is the one that makes the ME unique and not identical with other people. Characteristics: impulsive, creative, spontaneous, and generally unburned by social rules and restrictions.

ME

The ME is the part of the self that refines the impulses and actions of the I. It works as the screening agent of the self weighing what is right or wrong. It also edits and channels the creativity of the I in socially acceptable ways.

Griffin's Approach:

Construction of Social Reality:

Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign to those people or things.

The Source of Meaning:

Meaning arises out of the social interaction that people have with each other. Meanings are not inherent in objects; they are not pre-existent . They change upon how and where people use it.

Symbols-instruments of communication that have meanings. However, symbols could be ambiguous, meaning,- a stimulus that has a learned meaning and value for people. Symbols are the it could have more than one interpretation. Symbols are also arbitrary, or is based on random choice, rather than any reason or system.

Thought:

The process of taking the role of the other. - An individual's interpretation of symbols is modified by his/her own thought processes. As what was mentioned earlier, humans are the ones that create meanings, because meanings are not pre-existent. Therefore, meanings of symbols may vary in the different interpretations of communicators.

The Self:

Reflection in a Looking Glass The self is a function of language. Without talk (communication) there would be no self concept, because it is through our constant interaction with others that we gain ideas about ourselves (self-concept).

* The "I and Me" concept mentioned by Wood was also mentioned by Griffin. Griffin referred the I as the "subjective self" while the Me is referred as the "objective self".

Littlejohn's View:

Symbolic Interactionism-contains a core of common premises about communication and society.

In Littlejohn's book he discussed that human behavior and interaction are carried on through the use of symbols that have their distinct meanings. "All human understanding occurs by assigning meaning to experience". Just like the other authors, Littlejohn also presented the idea that it is through human interaction that humans becomes humanized. He also mentioned that experiences shaped by the meanings that arise from the use of symbols with in the social group. Also, meanings are at the heart of experience and that they are product of interaction, making communication the core of human experience.