social and cultural impact of digital media and emergent technologies on Asian contexts and subcultures / ASIAN MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION / New Media, New Asia
In this section, we will revisit the assignment's expectations and the steps necessary to complete the assignment effectively.
1. Assessed criteria:
● Explain communication and media theories and their application in the Asian context
● Analyze the key political, social, cultural and technological factors that have influenced the development of Asian media and communication
● Identify and discuss the opportunities and challenges relating to Asian media and communication
● Students will be assessed on their skills in formulating an argument, researching, analyzing, expressing and developing ideas to address the argument.
● Students will also be assessed on their ability to apply relevant concepts and theories from the course to analyze the chosen prompt AND to select and use appropriate peer reviewed sources
2. Assignment details:
● Requirement: write an independently researched essay (white paper) about ONE of the following topics:
- Media and communication industries as complicit
- Media and communication as a social institution
- Media and communication for propaganda
- Media and communication for social change
- Media and communication practices and pressing social problems
● Format: a 1,750-word white paper
● Objectives:
- Word count of 1,750 (excluding references and appendices)
- A minimum of 8 academic sources to be cited (sources in your annotated bibliography can be used and/or changed as you see fit). You should also use other high-quality sources, such as government documents, NGO papers, statistics and data, or news articles
- You can only use ONE theory or concept as a lens when discussing your argument throughout the essay.
● Assignment structure (suggested in course content):
- Title
- Introduction
- Context or background information
- Conceptual framework
- Data or cases or case study
- Analysis or discussion
- Recommendations
- Conclusion
In this segment, we will take another look at the terminology associated with assignment that is discussed within the context of the course.
|
Term |
Definition |
|
White paper |
A report that informs readers concisely about an issue. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, provide ways to solve a problem, or make a suggestion. |
|
Structure & agency |
- Structure: societal arrangements (such as government, politics as well as norms, values) which influence or limit our choices and opportunities - Agency: the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices This theory enhances the belief that human behavioral patterns are influenced by structure and agency. |
|
Technological determinism |
A reductionist theory that aims to provide a causative link between technology and a society’s nature. It tries to explain as to whom or what could have a controlling power in human affairs. The theory questions the degree to which human thought or action is influenced by technological factors. |
|
Social shaping of technology |
Decisions regarding the promotion of specific technological innovations are influenced by social factors. In other words, this theory rationalizes that humans shape the development of technology. |
|
Political economy of new media |
The theory delves into the ways in which economic policies, structures, and outcomes are shaped by and shape political institutions, processes, and ideologies. In relation to media, this approach argues that there needs an understanding of the regulations affecting information and communication technologies (ICTs) and/or the digital media-driven communication environment. |
|
Public sphere |
The idea of the public sphere involves a conceptual space where people gather to participate in reasoned discussions, deliberation, and debates on topics of shared importance. It provides a new perspective of looking at the world of public discourse and societal communication. |
|
Participatory culture |
This theory concerns the environments that allow people to actively participate in the creation and sharing of content and products, becoming producers rather than just consumers. The rapidly developing communication technology is accelerating this culture as more and more individuals become creators and distributors on online platforms. |
Courtois C and Timmermans E (2018) ‘Cracking the Tinder Code: An Experience Sampling Approach to the Dynamics and Impact of Platform Governing Algorithms’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 23(1):1-16.
Nurhayati-Wolff H (2022) Leading mobile dating apps in Vietnam as of September 2020, Statista website, accessed 25 December 2023. www.statista.com/statistics/1188428/vietnam-leading-mobile-dating-apps/
Ranzini G, Lutz C and Hjorth L (2017) ‘Love at first swipe? Explaining Tinder self-presentation and motives’, Mobile media & communication, 5(1):80-101, doi:10.1177/2050157916664559.
Rochadiat AMP, Tong ST and Corriero EF (2020) ‘Intimacy in the app age: Romantic relationships and mobile technology’, in Ling R, Fortunati L, Goggin G, Lim SS and Li Y (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Mobile Communication and Society, Oxford University Press.
‘The Growing Moral Panic Over Prostitution And Sex Trafficking’
Seol, ‘International Sex Trafficking in Women in Korea: Its Causes, Consequences and Countermeasures’
Becker, ‘Crime and punishment: an economic approach, Palgrave MacMillan, UK, London’
Kallis RB (2020) ‘Understanding the motivations for using Tinder’, Qualitative research reports in communication, 21(1):66-73, doi:10.1080/17459435.2020.1744697.
Kleck and Barnes, ‘Do More Police Lead to More Crime Deterrence?’
Soothill and Walby, ‘Sex crime in the news’
Jain, Sahoo and Kaubiyal, ‘Online social networks security and privacy: comprehensive review and analysis’
Pevac, ‘Tertiary Victimization of Sexual Violence Victims Online: How the Internet Needs to Become a Safer Space for Women’
Nguyen, ‘Sex Trafficking and the Attribution of Blame: A Comparison between Vietnamese and American Perception of Sex-trafficked Individuals’
In this step, we will discuss in detail each component and its requirements within the assignment.
When choosing a topic to conduct research on, it is worth mentioning that you must be able to identify a particular case study alongside that before commencing the white paper. In other words, you should not start researching a subject without having a clear case study of that subject in mind. More details about this in the “Case study analysis” section.
Considering the 5 categories of media and communication the assignment has proposed, in general the “media and communication for social change” and “media and communication practices and pressing social problems” topics should be taken up because they are comparatively easier to gather data, easier to explore various areas of life and easier to rationalize your views on. Keep in mind that these topics can intertwine and exchange ideas, thus you are also required to form connections to further enrich your argument. For this instruction guideline, the latter topic has been chosen as a point of focus, with the specific case study being that of Tinder’s practices in matching algorithms and their effects on real life relationships.
1. INTRODUCTION:
The purpose of this section is two-fold: to introduce the topic of the white paper and to announce your positional perspective on it. Depending on the angle you adopt regarding the topic and the white paper’s approach to the topic, you’ll need to look at the following aspects: the difference in angle and perspective between you and other sources on the same topic, the knowledge gap/opportunity your paper seeks to elaborate on, and the goal of your topic - from settling a debate or intending to provide greater insights into the problem. This structure below should provide support in terms of composing this segment:
● Introduce what the existing studies or researchers have found about the topic:
Start with general and broad concepts, then with each following sentence narrow the scope of your white paper to the specific aspect you’ve chosen to research on.
Example: Online communities have, since their establishment, enabled seamless and seemingly “real” connection between people => Nowadays, there is a market of applications for every single type of interaction: Snapchat, Messenger, Zalo for messaging, Instagram for photo publishing, TikTok for video consumption and creation, Hinge, Tinder for dating. => In the dating scene, Tinder proves to be a heavyweight app compared to others (Rochadiat et al. 2020) => To formulate relationships based on users’ preferences and personal info, unique algorithms are constructed by Tinder (Courtois and Timmermans 2018).
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