Theory logs

Based from what I’ve read, in short words, the Social Marketing theory focuses on the promotion of a said “product” that will be able to persuade or influence people. These products do not only mean tangible things but also principles, behaviors, beliefs, and ideas that are to benefit the society into thinking about certain issues.

The website (http://communicationtheory.org/social-marketing-theory) explains that there are 6 special features in Social Marketing:

1. Creating Audience Awareness
2. Targeting the Right Audience
3. Reinforce the Message
4. Cultivate Images or Impressions
5. Stimulate Interest
6. Induce Desired Result

to explain it, the features are steps to manipulate people. It starts from the person, company, or influencer to think of something to take a lead on –which is something or someone new to the audience or just a bigger picture to raise awareness for and give it attention. With the right awareness to start on, the target audience is very important. The media that is going to be used can be included in this (2^nd) step. Since the millennials are technologically inclined about and how they get news, they should know how to raise awareness in the proper place for the target audience to see. If for example, they want to target people who uses their phones while driving, they should study the people who are most likely to have the capability to drive cars and the ones who always uses their phones.

The next step, which is Reinforcing the Message, does not only explain the meaning of why and how they’re doing it but also the message that could touch the people and relate them into the issue –that probably affects their lives and the lives of others. If the concept, audience, and the message is there, the visual side should also be a focus since a lot of people tend to believe and stay connected with what they’re seeing. Examples are the campaigns we see on television. When the 2016 elections in the Philippines started early 2016 and even late 2015, some of the candidates that are running for congress payed a lot of money to television networks to air their advertisements that shows a lot of their “character” as they may say. But in my opinion, it’s just an image that they want the voters to see –they needed it anyway to get votes. The Stimulation of Interest and Induce Desire Result step is very connected to each other because it just means that you must get people’s attention that the awareness you’re promoting will work.

In relation to the example of the campaigns used by the candidates, they should stimulate the interest of the voters using the image they created and act upon it with real actions showing that they will be able to live up to what they’re showing in the commercials. Our current President had commercials saying that he will end people who are using drugs and not let anyone stop him. He did live up to what he said but a lot of people are having negative thoughts because of the consequences from his “iron fist”.

All the 6 special features are important to make marketing to the society very effective. Informing everyone does not only mean speaking up but it also means understanding what, how, and why people are speaking up. We all see the Social Marketing Theory every time we see commercials or advertisements. Filipinos tend to create commercials that are very heart warming and family oriented because these characteristics are also seen in the average Filipino family or person. It doesn’t create the idea that Filipinos doesn’t have the capability to create another type of genre to commercials, it’s just that the people who do want to promote something, knows how to get the attention of people and they can make people buy into it and believe it.

From the word “Spiral” that is obviously alike with the formation of tornados as the circulation of air goes down to the ground, the Spiral of Silence, is a spiral of experiences and situations which leads you to mute yourself up without having to directly notice it. It doesn’t happen suddenly; it happens from the development of your own thoughts that leads to you either being a bandwagon or staying quiet to not get too much attention from being different.

A lot of the silence can come from the reaction of people on their opinions and the majority’s opinion. For example, if a person has an opinion about the Marcos Burial, and his or her opinion states that they are neutral in the situation –they don’t mind thanking Marcos for his fulfillments and yet is still disgusted with Marcos’ fault for the death of a lot of people in Martial Law–. Now, this issue is very timely and a lot of people, like students, do have a say in this even if they were not born on the time that Martial Law was declared. Other people would pressure the said person to take sides because there’s no in between for them. A lot of students are most likely to hate Marcos and they could be pressured to agree for the sake that they don’t have to fight for their opinion of being neutral in the situation. However, the Spiral of Silence isn’t always negative. It’s also a reaction for people to stay quiet in situations that they wouldn’t want to just speak up but their opinions will stay for themselves alone.

The Knowledge Gap Theory, on the other hand, is very literal with its title. The silence of people is triggered when the knowledge of a person can’t tackle all aspects to be aware of their surroundings because of their cultural background and resources. It’s like differentiating someone who lives in the streets, someone who lives in the mountain, and someone who lives in the city. If issues that circles around internet are being asked, most probably the person who lives in the city could answer it because they can reach the media more accurately because of Wi-Fi signals. While the person who lives in the streets doesn’t even have the proper basic needs to own something that could have internet connections and the person who lives in the mountain could have acceptable resources but unreliable source of signals because of the lack of connection above the mountains (logical explanation).

The Gap can range not only from where the person stays/lives but the age of the person, religion, and even gender. Obviously, all human beings have different lives and different sets of experiences –all of that contributes to the knowledge the person can give out to people and receive from others as well.

Spiral of Silence and Knowledge Gap Theory are 2 different ideas that can be connected to each other because of the different reasons people are muted in inevitable situations. The way people can talk about their opinions can say a lot to what principles they have in life. If they can speak up without having to care about others and if they can gain knowledge without having to rely on the common things people talk about, they are fighting against the theory. Since both ideas are only part of the communication theory people are living in, it can either be positive or negative.

In a first look judgement, hearing the theory “muted group” I sense that it’s a study for a group of people that are hindered to speak up whether they were purposely told to shut their mouths or just too shy to let other know their opinion because of the outcome their words will create.

The Muted Group theory was insinuated by an anthropologist who is based on England, Edwin Ardener. They say that the word muted from the name of the theory is defined based from the idea that people’s power in the society has a lot of says in what happens to everything. There has been a lot of unheard voices coming from women and other people who are muted by their own mind. Compared to the average point of view in the society that it is actually forgetting the part where most people are an effect of the study and that the theory they started initiated a lot of comparing and unappreciated thoughts their insecurities from the higher power have created.

The theory discusses the reasons of how a certain group of people whether they may be small or huge specifically that of women everywhere, whatever level in the society is muted. The obvious side of how Edwin Ardener wanted to specify things are of the gender differences and its perks and disadvantages. Obviously at this time right now, women are fighting for their right to speak up but it took long before people were actually engaging upon realizing that it really had long and deep effects for a girl as she grows up. The male gender, however, is the dominant one from then on. An example that depicts the most obvious “sexist” situations are seen at work. By simply regarding wives to stay at home because it’s a MAN’s job to work for his family. The decimating judgement for woman who wants to take a stand and enter the political world is disgusting. Women where used to adapting to situations even if it wasn’t fair and shouldn’t be done. Their opinions and attitude are beyond witty and intelligent but it’s just in the shadow of males who are considered the ones women rely onto — they say.

Cheris Kramarae, a professor who focuses in women studies took an interest with the theory and studied it further. Her initial idea of the theory is that all ways of talking to people verbally or not verbally are generated by men, and was caused by their idea that they could take advantage of women. Speaking degrades the power of women lesser than men because of psychology because genetically and scientifically, women are more emotionally inclined and driven that men. It’s just one of the examples that continues to make a clear picture of how men are differentiated to women by their capabilities.

Clearly, even though the Muted Group Theory based a lot of their ideas and explanation into gender differences, it can still be expanded because the other idea wherein power was taking place and how it’s imbalance, changes a group of people to speak up. It does help us in ways we are going to be able to observe and understand how communication works for people within a threatened or silenced group — it shows the kind of idea wherein people must adjust if they really wanted to be heard and accepted nicely with those who have the liberty to speak anytime anywhere. As a feminist, reading this theory angers me a lot because it degrades the power of women with anyone in the world. Women can even be more powerful if they’re silent. What we can do for the world, the country, and the people we love are beyond the standards people are referring to us with. This theory is negative, therefore, it’s also a solution to take part of not engaging to be a member of a Muted Group and I hope that by researching, knowing, and understanding this theory well, a lot of our citizens from the whole world use it as a step to change stereotypes and inequalities that have created mindsets and bad culture within our language.

It is said to be a theory composed originally by G. Gerbner and later expanded upon by Gerbner & Gross. They started out the theory with the study of media effects and how it affects us. Specially the people revolving around the media and how they influence people by their “fame”, “role”, “projects”, and “advertisements”. Do they create a new idea for the everyday people? if so, how do they do that?

In my understanding, G. Gebner wanted to know how watching media specifically in our televisions somehow cultivate how we live our lives. How do celebrities get famous? they should fans, even haters or bashers. How do products get endorsed? they use the most trending celebrity to play a part in their commercial — they even send free products to those actors or actresses so that they still can talk about the product with posting selfies and pictures on social media (preferably Instagram and Facebook). Being informed and updated with what’s on going in the television, is good but like everything else, having too much of it will have permanent negative effects. Heavy viewers tend to be more negative around the world. As they are more exposed to violence that creates their world view to be more far worse with everyone. Unfortunately, they create hypocrite comments because they just see the danger in everything. Also, heavy viewers tend to depict the media world as somehow their “real world”. With the development of all the ideas, imagination, and situations created in the televisions, they enforce it with the real world and they find it accurate in every way which is wrong. It’s like watching chick flicks! Whether you like it or not, a romantic love story from the movies can’t happen in real life. May or may it not be based on real life; the production of that movie was tweaked in order to make the story more interesting than real life relationships — that makes a lot of people have high expectations and standards on their partners. They base actions on what they prefer to compare it with.

If you’ve noticed in our country’s theme of telenovelas, it mostly has love triangles, mistresses, babies switched by birth, twins that didn’t know they had a twin, and so on. Unfortunately, even I enjoy watching them but they show how Filipinos are and what entertains us. We go for love stories over the informative one. (Glad that FPJ’s Probinsyano is making a difference with giving us social issues and life problems in their show) But us, Filipinos wouldn’t want a love story without fights about another person just stepping in the picture. No matter how many times we say that we know what’s going to happen, we know the ending, we know the climax that’s going to happen, we still wouldn’t want to trade watching that. My point is, it makes Filipinos exposed to the scene of mistresses. It makes us see third parties to be normal and not immoral that much. If I were to ask strangers, my friends, my relatives, a lot would answer that their families have broken up because of a failed relationship because of another woman or man. Luckily, like me, I have a lot of half-brothers but our whole family isn’t broken up and isn’t mad at each other.

There’s a conceptual model of theory and it starts from:

– TV Viewing (learning while watching tv) to

– Incidental information (construction of a new learning that mixes basic morals and information with the one’s we watch) to

– Social Reality (issues and problems) to

– Inference skills, social structures, other experiences (that is also colliding with construction)

and another bonus part of the model:

– Capacity, focusing strategies, attention, involvement

The model also explains a research related to what I said on top that the viewers will see the world to be much more dangerous. All the information opened a lot of fear, specially for the social oriented youth that sees a lot of thieves, rapists, kidnappers, killings, and drugs out of everyone that isn’t healthy because of the television.

The theory revolves around the Media and media (which are 2 very different things) — where we base a lot of things and who we get it from. Agenda meaning a plan, scheme, or strategy. Setting meaning a place, time, an environment, or even what we are surrounded with. If we connect the two, Agenda-Setting primarily talks about what the society can revolve around with and its importance to the “know abouts” that makes a lot of influence on us.

Reading news from print or from twitter, Facebook, or just any social media accounts that gives information for everyone to talk about, isn’t really the real deal of it all. It may have been eye catching, it may have been based from facts, it may be viral but it’s all filtered out in a shape where it’s going to create an idea that’s so incomplete, that we will question it out for ourselves. This creates how we see, and react on the things based on what we read. It shapes how we also judge other situations and make new “news” with how we talk about them. One great example is the elections last May 2016 where the Philippines re-elected their new President, Vice president, and other board members to create a new term of “changes”. How did people know the backgrounds of the running candidates that time? How did people get to decide on who to trust? there’s a lot of ways possible but mostly it’s from what they’ll hear and see. By the start of 2016, there are already a lot of advertisements regarding candidates who can afford to create tarpaulins, posters, billboards, and commercials in order for them to get a chance to sell themselves. If we observe the similarities of all the strategies the candidates have created, we can see that their positive traits are the only ones we can hear from them. They “had” to be boastful. They “had” to hide all their flaws. Some seemed so scripted and fake but some managed to touch the hearts of people.

In the present time, we now have President “Digong”. Within 100 days, the news that we hear from all around the world about him are mostly negative. How he handles the issue of Drugs, how a lot of people has already died in a short amount of time, how he uses a lot of curse words, how he reacts about the criticism given to him about his work, and how he talks to the other delegates around the world. My point is, our president is now going through a whole lot of judgements from different societies. The descriptions about him now, compared to him when he was just a candidate was very different. The whole world was there to listen and now the whole world is here to talk. The media that has been giving us a lot of updates, shaped our point of view. The media influenced us to make decisions, if we were to support his work or not. The Philippines, as one of the top countries who’s very active in social media, depends on social media with more than half of the percent we give in listening to people talk personally. The more aware we are now, doesn’t mean we are more intelligent.

The Conceptual Model of Agenda-Setting Theory circles around the “media’s agenda”, “public’s agenda”, and the “policy agenda”. It is inside the content of the real-world indicators of the issues and our own personal experiences and interpersonal communication. The media is so powerful but it also needs the help of the public. They need to conquer the process of getting to know the way people want to talk about something — that creates, the media with the media.

Semiotics or Semiology focuses on what everything means for everyone with different perspectives on something. A lot of our communication is done with the use of signs or symbols. It’s so important that it sounds so underrated. We revolve around the signs everyone is creating for us to react on and give meaning to. It’s like the process of getting information and giving it back. Signs aren’t only on/for inanimate objects, but also the ones created by our own body referring to our emotions and reactions. It is a help to analyze such signs that are represented by what we can see everywhere — but not all interpretations are to be followed. There are certain times that the basic and logical meaning of an object should not be interfered with or widened.

Signs can be seen in words we speak, type, and read. It can be seen in images that we take or we see in 2D. The sounds we hear and make; The gestures we do intentionally and unintentionally. According to Ferdinand Saussure “The sign is the whole that results from the associatio of the signifier with the signified”. Signifier being the literal and obvious meaning of a sign and Signifier being the interpretation given with the consequences around the sign. Example is empty chairs at a coffee shop. My ‘signifier” would be that there’s a whole lot of chairs without people sitting on them. My “signified” would be that there’s a lot of vacant chairs because there’s only a few people inside. There’s also Charles Peirce who said that Semiotics is “Something which stands to somebody in respect or capacity”. He interpreted it with a sign that always circles around the “interpretant”, “object”, and “representamen”. The cirlce is Semiotics.

There are 3 classes of signs: Symbol, Icon, and Index.

1. Symbol – the interpretation of someone is based on their past knowledge and memory. It will be relating to what their first impression is based on — what they knew or what their basic idea of what it is. Words are the most obvious example of Symbols. We learn words, and their definitions will determine their image. Learning simple words that depicts things like shapes, objects, and colors will stay literal to us. When asked about a rectangle, we will be straight forward into continuouing it’s interpretation of being a 4 sided polygon.

2. Icon – the interpretation of someone is based on resemblance and imitations. There will be a recall of different objects that will relate to a sign. The icon combines the similarities of something to create an idea of their own. Example is a photograph. A photograph is the resemblance of a moment or place in time that we took a capture of. It will stay the same but it’s not the real moment or place anymore. It’s the icon of what “happened” and what you “saw”. In simple words, the actual memory you had will never be felt in the photograph because it just resembles everything that is to be seen in that memory — A millisecond of it perhaps.

3. Index – the interpretation of someone is based on the deeper casualties the sign is made. It’s quite complicated but most examples are street signs. Street signs are made to inform, warn, and cause attention to people. When you want to go to Mcdonals but you’re in a highway, you may see a sign that says 5km ahead with the Mcdonalds logo. It will not only mean that there’s 5km ahead of the road for you. But it’s a sign that will tell you that you will be able to reach Mcdonalds and see it in 5km. “Stop at 5km after you see this and you’ll be there”. Another would be the “Caution slippery floor” sign. When you see it, the whole floor isn’t actually wet. You have to understand the meaning and the place where it’s located. It’s placed there because only a portion of the floor is actually too slippery for people to walk on.

Interpreting signs will not only make us more aware of our surroundings. It will also help us to cope up. Everything should be understood well. Signs are the littlest thing you should give a big amount of attention to. Misunderstanding them can lead to a whole lot of problems — not only for you but the whole society.

“A change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.” this is the definition of Metamorphosis. It speaks a lot of change, alteration, and modification in someone or something. Mediamorphosis is designed to change and create inventions to catch up with the new era. When I say catch up, it just simply symbolizes the difference of what the essentials are for human beings from the early 1900’s and the current. Cars weren’t a big thing before because walking wasn’t a bother. Cellphones aren’t in every person’s hand before because writing letters and meeting up with people were considered the primary way of communication. The evolution of purpose to start needing objects started when people saw loopholes in their capabilities – some inventions were able to help, while some were useless. Not only our physical capabilities matter but also our mental, emotional, intellectual, financial, and many more.

The theory of Mediamorphosis has 6 principles: 1. Co-evolution and Co-existence – Old forms of inventions influence the new ones; 2. Metamorphosis – New media gradually transforms from the old media.; 3. Propagation – They have communicatory codes that are spread and passed on. 3 communicatory codes are Oral, Written, and Digital language.; 4. Survival – For something to survive, it must learn to adapt. In this time of day, it would be risky to not include the audience’s perspective of what’s going to help them and what’s logically enough to be created. Magazines are one example. They were first made for lots of people and their over-all point-of-views but now, they cater different races and is more open.; 5. Opportunity and Need – There must be market opportunity. It must convey solutions to our social, political, and economic problems.; 6. Delayed Adoption – Not all inventions are expected to be accepted rapidly by people. It takes time and it takes a great amount of marketing to be considered a “want”. Just like computers, it wasn’t a hit because of it’s complexity but because of the enhancements through time, it became more appealing and user-friendly.

A lot of Mediamorphosis’ ideas are focused on the development of media through processes that include the use of online services. The service approaches fast, and easy to use news. The old media is suffering like print. With social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and gadgets like smartphones, and tablets, we’re consuming more news. Print media is now desperately creating news that will catch our attention like talking about unnecessary celebrity news, sports update, articles about sex, war, and crime. They write provocative news just to get emotions out of people and get opinions whether it may cause negative outlooks on their works because indeed we have an appetite for scandals and gossip nowadays. The print media’s also struggling at how they will get news. Most of them still rely on what’s been reported in social media while the best stories are being told and created by brave journalists in front of scenes in real time. Yet, with all their unfortunate situations, print medias are the one who report honest and frank news about what’s important. A lot would be seen when talking about politics and government and they’re more reliable. What we see on social media isn’t always what it seems to be because of tweaks that are made to excite the readers.

Is the progress made by human beings helpful? What have we become after social media became important to us. Mentally, I have been very aware of a lot of happenings around the world but it comes as a negative effect for others because of the abrupt opinions that makes a lot of talk and disagreements. Emotionally, it has bad effects for everyone because it’s making boundaries with communication. We get to share more, but we don’t accept a lot of ideas. Physically, some became lazier, while others used the media to be more aware of health. Others get to flaunt their beauty, while others got more insecure with artificial and edited faces everywhere. This proves that people are going to be using social media to change the world. It just depends on how the people will react to everything that will be provided to them.

Our world now, cannot live without technology. Technology binds us and connects us from each other. It is said that Technological Determinism shapes how we as individuals in a society think, feel, and act — it does. Imagine the 21st century without smartphones, televisions, high tech automatic cars?  it would drive a lot of people mad. It’s not wrong to be dependent on technology, if the society that we live in can develop in positive ways. In technological determinism, we create a whole new culture that includes how we go through our days and tasks with the use of technology. We also create a new environment with the people who go through the same and understand the same living.

            They say that technological innovations are the most important determinant of change in society. Examples such as: Social media – that allowed us to communicate anytime, anywhere. We get too share memories, art, photos. Everyone gets to be updated from different countries and people with a click of a button. We can make friends without having to see them in person with some applications we can find in the app store. Easy say and easy response everywhere. But unfortunately, it narrows our mind to doing one of the most vital forms of communication, which is face-to-face conversations. Electronic media use increases by the year but our social interaction decreases. It may sound cliché but relationships now are hopeless with people depending on social media for affection. The standard starts with how public someone is with their relationship to be complimented as a sweet and thoughtful person which should be based on true efforts with the time someone can give you.

            Another example are cars – they allow us to travel and reach places in an amount of time faster than walking and running. Owning a car is a necessity in our generation. The mindset of people are “once you have a car, you’ll have an easier life”. But the invention of them are now causing a lot of danger. It’s causing global warming with all the pollution cars can make, most specially in every major city we know where, it’s congested with cars and is causing heavy traffic. Not only does it affect the health of people, it mostly triggers the shelters of animals have; Glaciers are melting and bodies of water are disappearing.

Prominent events that are being reported are mainly about violence. An invention that is so deadly yet a lot of people has possession is a gun. We expect that gun owners would are the ones who we can be able to trust with our lives but they’re proving us wrong. Guns are being used as a symbol of strength to people who are powerful enough to make an impression that they could do everything. Marshall McLuhan once said “We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us…” Are the tools invented shaping us to be role models for the future we are starting for others? Are they made to solve problems or are they just making more problems?

The world will never be the same with all the adjustment. They’re all there to amplify human functions. Microscopes for eyes, Knives for fingernails, Computers for brains… and a whole lot more. These technologies are meant to make tasks easier and faster. If we use them for good, it will result to us having more time to rest, interact, and have fun. If we use them for bad, (which most humans won’t even recognize) it will take our whole time and we’ll have sleepless nights, more stress and less conversations. Now, do we really want to have a new culture based on technologies that are dominating humans? It’s always a question. We now live in a world that is revolving around it, we cannot runaway or abandon it anymore because it has become a human essential. It will grow with the people, with us.