Its Impact on Communication Paradigm
ABSTRACT
Currently the emerging presence of collective groups of people
who are taking the role of the Sender is becoming to call for attention.
They are not recognized and defined in terms of communication
theories yet but they are well-informed, independent groups
of people, not typical media users who merely search
for contents required.
On the contrary, after searching for those contents, even creating
them themselves, they want to be heard, to be recognized
as a sender as well.
They have desire to publish the information or contents they have
to share it with others and at the same time to show who they are
and boast their access to exclusive information.
Some examples include amateur paparazzi/ stalkerazzi
who publish exclusive pictures and stories on the web boards, blogs,
automobile lovers publishing exclusive data on their websites, etc.
Through the paper, the elements and processes of conventional
communication models and the emergence of the aforementioned
new paradigm are explored, examined and presented.
Then an analysis on the formation and transformation of these
independent information seekers and its impact on communication
and cultural aspects together with suggestions on decency and
code of conduct are given to elevate the ethical standards
bringing about good cause for the society.
Key words: independence, paradigm shift, Thailand
by Asst. Prof. Rachada Dangchamroon,
Assumption University of Thailand
PAPER
Traditionally the four basic components of communication are
the Sender (S), the Message (M), the Channel (C) and
the Receiver (R) with the feedback as to show
the effectiveness and efficiency of the communication.
The sender in terms of the mass communication field usually
refers to the mass media practitioners who gather and
report the information to the community. The information created
is then the message intended for the people to know.
And those people getting the information is undeniably the receiver.
The medium used for information transaction is,
of course the channel.
Currently there have been challenges and changes in
communication process.
The transaction becomes more complex and even confusing.
With the help of state-of-the-art technology including
satellite transmission, live broadcast together with
advanced mobile functions, the pattern of communication
transaction is altered and its components switch places at times.
The emerging presence of collective groups of people
who are taking the role of the Sender is becoming to call
for attention. They are not recognized and defined in terms of
communication theories yet but they are well-informed,
independent groups of people, not typical audiences but rather
producers or creators. Some examples include amateur paparazzi/
stalkerazzi who publish exclusive pictures and stories on
the web boards, blogs, automobile lovers publishing exclusive data
on their websites, etc.
Basically when studying the audiences,Two Main Audience Types
is a foundation theory used to discuss and explain their
nature and behavior
(John C. Merrill, John Lee and Edward Jay Friedlander, 1994)
The theory offers the following descriptions on
the audiences’ interests:
The General Audience : This group of audience comprises
people of all walks of life. They have nothing in common.
They show no common interests. They are of all ages, professions.
It does not matter who they are, what they do and where they live.
An example of this type of audience is middle-aged people
in the north, teenagers in the south and first jobbers in Bangkok
watching an evening news program.
The Specialized Audience : This group of audience consists of
people who have something in common. Even though
they contribute to different demographic backgrounds,
they share some common psychographics. In other words
they have some common interests. An example of this type
of audience is middle-aged people in the north,
teenagers in the south and first jobbers
in Bangkok watching a sports program offering golf tips
since they all are interested in golf.
Obviously the independent information seekers fall into
the second type. But what is more special and interesting
about them is, apart from searching for those contents,
viewing them as convention media users, they afterwards;
produce the contents themselves.
When all the desired information and details are possessed
and processed, they want to be heard ;
to be recognized as a sender as well.
They have desire to publish the information or contents they have
to share it with others and at the same time to show
who they are and boast their access to exclusive information.
This evolution is meant for various fields and industries.
For leisure and pastime purposes, it is no doubt on-line diaries,
blogs, web boards and chat rooms have become powerful
sources of information. Those who are creators and producers
have undeniably turned out to be opinion leaders among
their fans and viewers.
As for the show business, Thai people have witnessed photographs
of a legendary baby launched on the internet long before the local
newspaper have them published on the front page. (The mother is
a well-known Thai actress who was never found to be dating with
a guy before she was found pregnant before marriage.
It then became a big news story and notorious gossip in the society).
For entertainment/ show business-oriented web boards/
community chat rooms, some popular sites are
www. nationgroup.com, www.kapook.com, www.hunsa.com, etc.
For the political arena, Thai citizens have recently been bombarded
with information and details about the two rivals. Rumors,
hearsays, pictures as well as anecdotes of the administration and
the opponent have been sent through e-mails and text messages
among families, friends and peers.
Surprisingly some are more exclusive and up-to-date than
what the conventional media have to offer.
For politics-oriented web boards/ community chat rooms,
some popular sites include www.pantip.com (rajdumnern)
Meanwhile the private business sector has its first-hand
experience on the matter. As a Public Affairs Specialist,
in the Automobile industry says (Interview: 15 May, 2006):
“We have recently become aware of particular groups of our car
users who create and publish contents about our sedans and trucks.
They form their own community sharing with one another
information, tips, comments and reviews on our products.
It seems they are passionate about our cars and they strive for
the most exclusive details on their own.
They do not simply consume the information fed to them through
the media eg. brochures, advertisements and so on.
Instead they crave for some other sources providing them
in-depth and off-the-record information. To my surprise,
some details and pictures on their website are beyond my access.
Discussion pages from popular sites include
http://www.fordclub.net/, www. weekendhobby.com
Communication Models to Explain the Role and Function of the
Generation of Independent Information
According to the Two-Step Theory (Devito, 1991), messages from
the media influence opinion leaders then these opinion leaders
influence the general public in more interpersonal situations
as seen in the following picture:
Each party has its clear-cut role and function.
While the Multi-step Theory states that influence moves back
and forth from the media to the people (who also interact with
one another), then back to the media, then back to the people
and so on as shown in the picture.
Though they have interactions among themselves, each party
still holds on to its own role and function.
However, media users nowadays become more sophisticated and
well aware of their access of information. They receive, interchange
and send the information primarily among themselves but
welcome outsiders as well. They ;therefore,
are a combination between the two aforementioned paradigms,
creating a hybrid of being the sender and the receiver
together with some aspects of being the opinion leader.
To draw a picture that should best fit their media use,
the following is shown:
They, performing multi-tasking as the audience, the opinion leader
and the sender have interactions among themselves.
For their profile, they are not typical media users but they have
some aspects of individualism in the sense that their interests and
desires are put as a priority. (Berger, 1995). They focus on
catering to their own interests and needs but do not mind
sharing what they have got with people having the same craving.
It can be concluded they are individualistic with some sense of
community building.
To understand more about these well-informed, independent
groups of people, A Trinary Classification of Audiences is explored
for examination and explanations on their attitudes to know
how they stand as an audience.
(John C. Merrill, John Lee and Edward Jay Friedlander, 1994)
Attitudinal Illiterates. These people have a negative attitude
towards words, towards reading and writing and towards
serious forms of media.
They are exposed to the most superficial
and action-oriented messages. They seek entertainment and
excitement, reading light material that gratifies emotional appetites.
They are not idea-oriented; they hate analysis and in-depth stories.
Attitudinal Pragmatists. These people involve themselves in
social affairs and are interested in knowing what is going on in
their communities and in the world.
They are exposed to a variety of media messages especially those
that might be of help to them. They seek messages that will help
them advance and live more usefully and happily in
their communities.
Attitudinal Intellectuals. These people have an intellectual attitude.
They are thinkers, seeking specialized and serious media messages.
They like to be stimulated mentally. They enjoy thinking and
they want media messages that will stimulate them.
It is evidently seen that these independent information seekers
are not categorized as Attitudinal Illiterates. However, they are
a mix between Attitudinal Pragmatists
and Attitudinal Intellectuals.
This results from the fact that they are not just exposed to
the contents for their own good. But after getting those contents,
even creating them themselves, they want to be respected as
a sender as well. They long to publish the information or contents
they have to share it with others thus amazing people with
their superior means and resources of acquiring the information.
In summary, they initially seek the information because
it is useful for them. It is of their interests and benefits.
But they afterwards want others to know their intellectual capacity,
to impress them with their knowledge.
Finally when it comes to the pursuit of civility and ethical
codes of conduct, some possible schemes to be employed to inspect
the decency of the messages are
1. To have the Ombudsman System : It is of best policy if the
Thai community could have a joint board or commission hired
to investigate questionable and problematic media messages
and give comments or recommend actions.
2. To empower and strengthen those existing organizations
such as the internet police etc. These institutions should be
recognized and accredited as a regulatory apparatus by the public
and of course the government.
To make these work, we need to have strict rules and regulations,
unanimous code of ethics together with grave penalty to prevent
troublesome and damaging consequences such as libel,
invasion of privacy, plagiarism and of course obscenity and
pornography (Alexander and Hanson, 2001).
This is especially true for some particular channels such as
the internet where anyone can publish anything without registering
or disclosing their true identities thus bearing no liability
and accountability whatsoever. Setting boundaries and limits
will certainly elevate the ethical standards bringing about
good cause for the society.
References
English
Alexander and Hanson (2001). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on
Controversial Issues in Mass Media and Society (6th edition).
McGraw Hill/Dushkin.
Arthur Asa Berger (1995). Essentials of Mass Communication Theory.
California: Sage Publications, Inc.
Devito, J.A. (1991). Human Communication: the Basic Course (5th edition).
New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
Dominick. J.R. (1994). The Dynamics of Mass Communication (4th edition).
New York: McGraw Hill Inc.
John C. Merrill, John Lee and Edward Jay Friedlander(1994). Modern Mass
Media. Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
Websites
www.fordclub.net
http://www.hunsa.com/
http://www.kapook.com/
www.nationgroup.com
http://www.pantip.com/
www.weekendhobby.com
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