Beauty in a Box

We live in a vein society- no surprise there. Yet it’s also no surprise that we got to be this way as well. All day long our visual and audio senses are bombarded with carefully designed advertisement campaigns pointing out our shortcomings and imperfections and persuading us to buy product which would “fix” that.

However, the video presented above is the perfect answer back to the advertisements. The creators of this video propose a parody of whatever we see on TV. The main character Dr. Smith, world renowned dermatologist, explains that once you apply the ‘Beauty in a Box’ product they will suddenly become beautiful. “Beauty in a Box’ mocks commercials that reassures a person who uses a the product will become beautiful.

Such parodies are becoming more nd more common, especially on YouTube, which declares human’s free will and awareness of what is going on around them, and how they are being manipulated.

This is the notion of the popular culture today: “we’re aware of what you’re doing” and so we’ll just do our own thing, which transports the culture-production power into the hands of the consumer.

Feeling Sick? Check Yourself Online

In January of 2009, the Ipsos Reid, Online Healthcare: Coming of Age had published the study that found that 70% of online Canadians have visited a healthcare website in the past year. The author of the study, Mark Laver noted this is “another confirmation that the Internet has come of age as a meaningful resource tool for those online.”

 

The participants of the study admitted that they used online healthcare websites for self-diagnosis, and only half of those participants actually verified their diagnosis with their physicians. Furthermore, 19% of the participants were so confident in their online diagnosis that they cut back on their visits to the doctor.

Such alarming statistics of patients who’d rather entrust the online diagnosis that the opinion of their physician should be pointing in the direction of dissatisfaction and trust issues in today’s health care services. Since the study fails at specifying the possible reasons behind statistics that they proposed, the “Trust and Satisfaction with Physicians, Insurers, and the Medical Profession” as well as “Trust in Physicians and Medical Institutions: What is it, Can it be measured, and does it matter?” study might shed some light on the issue.

 

According to the research, the main reasons behind the unsatisfied patients and their willingness to search for other sources of diagnosis are their trust issues. While Rajesh Balkrishman’s study points “poor physical health, long waiting times at their physician’s office and prior disputes with their physician” as the reasons of mistrust in physician-patient relationship, Hall’s study says that patients’ belief that the physician doesn’t have their best interest at heart pushes them away.

 

In such manner, the Internet and its ability to provide a quick diagnosis, without any waiting lines to make an appointment and waits at the physician office itself make this experience much more enjoyable. Also, since the online healthcare services are bound to present exact and forward answer at patients’ request, these online diagnoses will always be known as having the patient’s best interest at heart.

 

So is Online Healthcare a new answer to healthcare problems stressed in this great country of ours? It I would be the Conservative Canadian government in recession, ( and what do you know, it’s the one in power today!?!) I would definitely look into that. What a hell?! You gotta save up somewhere?

 

Sources:

 

Balkrishman, Rajesh, et al. “Trust and Satisfaction with Physicians, Insurers, and the Medical Profession.” Medical care 41.9 (2003): 1058-1064

 

Hall, Mark A, et al. “Trust in Physicians and Medical Institutions: What is it, Can it be measured, and does it matter?” The Milbank Quaterly 79.4 (2001):613-639

 

Laver, Mark. “Almost Three-Quarters (70%) of Online Canadians Have Visited a Healthcare Website in the Past Year.” Canadian Interactive Reid Report (2009) <http://www.ipsos-na.com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=4232>

 

 

 

 

Evolution of Dance

The “Evolution of Dance” became the most popular YouTube video of 2008 with more than 55 million hits. While it’s nice that an amateur video made it to the top (since the majority of videos in the Top 10 list of 2008 were the Hollywood star’s music videos) I can’t understand why?

Yes, the man makes it through the dance history of the past 50 years while dancing to 32 songs during a 6 minute video.  However, the video mimics thousands of amateur dance videos just like it, which makes me wonder why so many people like this piece in particular? Is it the athletic skill, the ability to laugh at yourself?

The YouTube environment is like an unmanaged beast, full of surprises about the true likes and dislikes from the general crowd. This is the voice which defines the popular culture of today.

Drawing Illusion

This almost 3 minute video shows an artist sketching up a couple of drawings  which start with an “inappropriate”/sexual drawing which with the aid of a couple more pencil strokes is stransformed into a whole new “proper”picture.

So with almost 2 million hits for this video, I wonder what in this video attracted all these viewers, including me. Well besides drawing (which I liked) this video, just like a lot other amateur videos on youtube, this video provides the viewer with instatnt gratification and straight forward entertainmnet. It pleased the cartoon lovers, and it pleases anyone who enjoys a good sexual anecdote or a pun (and let’s admit it, it’s hard to find someone who wouldn’t enjoy that).

With the entertaining videos available online, it’s hard to find a lot that concentrate on building the momentum. I guess that’s what viewer wants now from modern entartainment?

Open Air, Street Art / Graffiti Documentary ESPO FAILE KNOX

I absolutely LOVE this documentary, and checked it out before.  It was created in 2006 for the University of Southern California’s Public Arts Studies Program. This documentary explored the studios and methods of six of the top street artists in America: Faile, Skewville, Mike De Feo, Dan Witz, Espo and Tiki Jay One.

What I like about this documentary the most is the discussion they have about half way through the video about the affect Internet has on the art of graffiti today. While Internet originally brought attention to graffitit, it is now on the path of destroying its sense of secrecy and mistique. “Not everyone needs to know everything” is what an artist in the documentary is stating, and I found there is some truth in what he is saying. Grafitti is an art from the street, a form of rebellion, a form of art expression, so if you decide to contribute to it, do it for the sake of the art form and not to show off.

Tutorial for Collage of an image

Beside entertainment, youtube presents its viewers with educational material as well, therefore, as a response to the “Digital Collages” I desided to post this video on how to make a digital collage in the premises of your house.

I believe that’s another feature of online culture. The information about how to create culture and art is not stored in art schools and by art educators. The knowledge is wide available, which brings all-interetsted to the same level (in terms of information and materials available) and the only thing that sets you apart from another is the workings of your imagination and creativity.

Digital Collages

The Digital Collages video is just a part of the series of videos that visual artists were able to showcase to the public. What I love about these videos, and the “Digital Collages” in particular is that the maker of the video doesn’t present the end product, but zooms on all the details of the picture itself. The video guides my eye throught the details of the picture, juts what I would do if watching it in an art gallery (if he’d ever make it to one).

For some, it might seem as boring and waisted 4:26 minutes of their life, yet for me, it takes my breath away and amazes me everytime.  And since it’s my blog, I decided to give some attention to this amazing piece.

Pursuit of Transparency

 

In the age where the politicians are trying to reach out to their constituents and prove that they are truly on the right track to developing the most transparent government yet, the most obvious medium for them to use seems to be the Internet.

Yet how genuine is their effort? Although most of the today’s politicians have their own websites, do they actually use them to communicate and engage with people or just use them as message boards in their communication to constituents?

In the Karl Rethmeyer’s study “Policymaking in the Age of Internet”, the researcher investigates the Internet’s effect on policy process and whether this medium in fact invites more people and organizations to the discussion table and accepts more input in the political decision making, or in fact it becomes an even less inclusive environment then the previous non-electronic one.

After the analysis of two policymaking networks which were priding themselves on the inclusion of Internet as a way to invite more outside input into the process, the results of the study turned out to be quite gloom:

The policy networks appear to have become more exclusive since the deployment of the Internet. Electronic central discussion networks (or ”cores”) were primarily populated by actors who were already entrenched in positions of structural power within the network and possessed very high influence ratings.  

The first finding of the research was that “the members of the cores, consciously and unconsciously, construct barriers to entry” into the network. The research points out how the network members use their position to alter the way Internet was used for policy purposes, which reinforced the exclusivity of the network.

The next finding of the research concluded that whatever use of the Internet to mobilize mass constituencies only influenced rankings. The quest to attract and mobilize new masses to their policymaking network turned out to be superficial. In one case, the network created conditions to engage constituents to influence and increase its reputation, and further fell back at prolonging these relationships. The second case the Internet was being used to mobilize those constituencies who are already represented and active in the network.

 

Therefore, Internet, that had proved itself to be an open environment, granting voice and power to the regular Joes, sometimes fails through and is used as a cover up to the exclusivity of some networks that claim to be granting more transparency and democracy to people. Don’t be blinded by the web access to your political leader or decision making process, while it will assure you that you’re being heard, “the core” will proceed with its regular agenda. 

Source:

Rethemeyer, Karl. “Policymaking in the Age of Internet: Is the Internet Tending to Make Policy Networks More or Less Inclusive?” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory: J-PART 17.2 (2007): 259-284

Don’t bother hidding, they are still watching

“Children are careless with personal information”

 

“The Facebook Generation’ is too Careless With Technology” 

 

“Kids don’t protect online privacy: survey”

 

The Internet is filled with articles concerning the spoiled teenagers, who don’t value the importance their privacy and their private information; who do not safeguard the parts of their private life (notion that is imbedded into the Western culture).

 

Westerners were always concerned about individualism, personal space, definition of personal boundaries. Therefore, now, when the new generation is disregarding the traditional views on the preservation of privacy and disclosure of personal information, the older generations seem to be placing blame children’s innocence and unawareness as well as the networking website who fail at protecting children’s privacy.

 

In fact, for the recent Canadian national study about the types of personal information children disclose online, Kids Help Phone counselor Aren van Delden had stated:

When asked for personal information, many kids are reluctant to say no, afraid their online contact won’t write again.

“Personal information — it’s yours. Strangers shouldn’t ask; your friends know already, so you don’t need to share that.”

Furthermore, van Delden said: “We need to be there to help kids navigate the system, to educate them.” However, I would say, you’ve done enough. Like no over generation in the history of the human kind, our generation is raised in the environment of constant surveillance and privacy-policy bypass.

In his study “The Death of Privacy?” Michael Froomklin lays out the types of surveillance has been penetrated into our daily lives without us even noticing or putting forward any effective sort of resistance. The public spheres as well as offices, schools and homes are now monitored by the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and video recorders. Countries such as United Kingdom had implemented a particularly aggressive program of blanketing the nation with cameras in fears of IRA terrorism. The surveillance through the cell phones, which reports the location of its user every few minutes, is strongly recommended by the governments as “essential” to national security- argument that persuades adults in allowing such surveillance each time. The so-called “intelligence transportation systems” (ITS) provide continuous, real-time information as to the location of all moving vehicles.

And last but not least: according to the report prepared for the European Parliament, “the US and its allies maintain a massive worldwide spying apparatus capable of capturing all forms of electronic communications. Known as ‘Echelon,’ the network can access, intercept and process every important modem form of communications, with few exceptions.” (Froomklin 2000)

Therefore, after watching the surrender of the older generation into the well constructed surveillance environment, can they really blame children for being careless with their information? In his article “Bebo kids will value privacy when they see adults do too,” Cory Doctorow makes a convincing argument

When we tell kids to safeguard their privacy from everyone except governments, merchants, advertisers, entertainment giants, schools, Transport for London and parents, we tell them that we’re not really serious about this stuff. Worse, when we allow our own private information to be taken by all these parties, we tell them that privacy is the cheapest coin of all.

I mean, what is the reason to hold on to your private information, or image if you know that it’s being watch without your concent anyway? Why monitor what you say online, if the data will be available to people in power anyway? Children are aware of it, and learned from those people who hypocritically urged them to preserve their personal information: “Personal information — it’s yours. Strangers shouldn’t ask; your friends know already, so you don’t need to share that” as Aren van Delden earlier stated. I bed she doesn’t think twice before walking by a surveillance camera in the mall, or passing her private information at the cash of a department store.

Sources:

Doctorow, Cory. “Bebo kids will value privacy when they see adults do too.” Guardian.co.uk. 31 October 2008. 10 February 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/31/civil-liberty-information-database-jacqui

 

Froomklin, Michael. “The Death of Privacy?” Stanford Law Review 52.5 (2000): 1461-1543

Being to Being: Learn how to communicate

 

In 2002, Rosanna E. Guadagno and Robert B. Cialdini had published their “Online Persuasion: An Examination of Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Interpersonal Influence” research. The study was set to find out “how computer-mediated communication affects persuasion in a dyadic interaction.” Thus, it compared participants’ attitudes after hearing a series of arguments from a same-gender communicator through the medium of face-to-face interaction or e-mail. The study had concluded that women are easier persuaded in face-to-face encounters (condition which provided the most social interaction), while men are easier persuaded with an information laid out in an email.

 

The results of this study quite frankly surprised me, and made me question the logic behind such outcomes? Could the technocracy of the different genders have a play in this? Do men trust the information offered online more than women? Do men and women understand differently the oral messages versus the ones proposed online or in a written form?

 

Well the reasoning behind this study tracks back to the basics of the male and female character. In her book “You just don’t understand: Men and women in conversation,” Deborah Tannen states that the main goal of men’s communication style in interpersonal communication is to assert his independence and avoid failure. Tannen’s view is reinstated in Rosanna E. Guadagno and Robert B. Cialdini research:

 

“when interacting with others, men are interested in establishing independence through assertiveness or mastery of their environment, whereas women are interested in making connections with other individuals through cooperation.”

 

 In other words, men are more competitive and in their pursuit of winning the discussion (when put in situations where they have to face each other), the message that one is trying to convey is often lost in the translation.

 

Therefore, Guadagno and Cialdini’s research can conclude that since email provides an environment with the least amount of interaction, as opposed to the face-to-face interaction, it presents men a way to side-step their competitive drives and focus on the screen and the message directly and not on the messenger.

 

Consequently, I believe that the results of this study should not be limited just to the men-to-men interpersonal communication, but it should be further used as a technique of conflict resolution with someone you believe you a have a competitive relationship. Treat it as email therapy.

 

In fact, e-mail as a method of conflict resolution technique is advised in work settings, family settings, and even as a way to cope with such disease as Asperger’s Syndrome, an extreme male personality, where patients are recommended to communicate their emotions and feelings through email.

 

Sources:

 

Tannen, D. 1990. You just don’t understand: Men and women in conversation. New York: Ballantine Books, 1990.

 

Guadagno, Rosanna E. and Robert B. Cialdini. “Online Persuasion: An Examination of Gender Differences inComputer-Mediated Interpersonal Influence.”Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 6.1 (2002): 38-51