User Experience and the Message-Channel-Source Theories

Today in the world of new media, user experience is more worthy than the medium is. Like I considered twitter a more reliable source than Facebook, if I saw a news on the both mediums, I personally prefer twitter because it is my experience that leads me to prefer twitter over Facebook. Although the news on both is same and credible, I will prefer Twitter.

Not only user experience matters, sometimes the medium also required. For example, in twitter the medium is the message of urgency. The logistics of twitter are unique. Users are only allowed to use 140 characters and the medium requires captivating messages in order to draw attention to readers. As a medium of communication, Twitter is meant to captivate and tap into our short-term attention spans. It is targeting those individuals who are too busy to read an entire article, blog or the newspaper. Readers are given small bits of information with the option to click on a link to read further. Many people are constantly on the move and need the information quick and simple.

Another example of LinkedIn, LinkedIn as a medium is used for business related purposes. For example, promoting a cocktail party would certainly not be marketed using LinkedIn as a medium to reach your audience. It is does not matter what we say over LinkedIn as marketers, it is that we are using LinkedIn to reach a specific audience. On LinkedIn, the medium is the message of professionalism.

Other example, Websites are another medium most commonly used by marketers to reach their audience. Marketers use a company’s website to promote products/services and connect them with the needs of their customers. Again, it is not the website content that matters, but the medium of the website itself. Unlike Twitter and LinkedIn, there are no restrictions on the length of content. Websites can also represent any level of professionalism. Regardless of what content is used on a website, the websites themselves – along with blogs – are used as interactive web pages of a company, allowing the visitors to take a guided tour of what a company represents and provides. On websites, the medium is the message of presenting the details of your company to your audience.

Many marketers may interpret McLuhan’s the medium is the message argument to state that the message is irrelevant altogether; this is ultimately not the case. What marketers should take from McLuhan’s theory is that the medium they use is the message they are sending to their customers. Knowing that Twitter will convey a different message than Linkedin and that both will convey a different message than a website is ultimately what McLuhan was reasoning. As a marketer, know your audience and research the best medium or media in order to reach them. After all, whatever medium you choose will be the message.

Apart from Medium is the message, who’s saying it is more important. For example, I watch Shahzeb Khanzada Show and Shahzeb khanzada acts as an opinion leader to me. If shahzeb would say anything I would believe his words, despite of which medium he uses. 

There is another theory which tells that message is everything, but I disagree with this theory not always the message matters, it’s the medium. Most people prefer medium over message. For example, for some people Geo TV credibility is high for them than ARY. If both channels air news of a blast, people would believe news that air by GEO, no matter the news (message) is accurate by both mediums.

In the end it’s only the person’s own perception that matters. No matter what medium, message person sees. 

Ending Escalation of Conflict Through Media

Most of the stories that media covered are contributing to conflict escalation. Sometimes this is desirable; escalation of conflict is the best way for lower-power groups to gain power to effectively advocate for themselves. But often, escalation gets out of control, and leads to increasing polarization, violence, and costs to all sides.

Media coverage also de-escalates a conflict. There are ways that media can be used to de-escalate conflicts and make them more constructive. Media can help to clarify important issues and promote public understanding of the conflict. It can also highlight the terrible costs associated with war and violence and help people to recognize that they are on a disastrous course. In addition, mass media communication about possibilities for conflict resolution, including documentaries about successful resolution efforts, might prove highly valuable. In general, these sorts of peace media strategies can help to balance out the voices of extremists.

The media can promote positive relationships between groups, particularly in conflicts over national, ethnic, religious identity. The media can lessen polarization between groups in the following ways:

Showing the other in a similar light like Iraqi news media did, they emphasizes news about how both Shia and Sunni suffer from violence and that helps in building a bridge of common empathy.

Depicting people with the same types of problems; for example, an HBO documentary featured Palestinian and Israeli mothers who share the same grief, both losing children to violence victimized by the conflict.

Sharing similar interests and positions; for example, a TV show known as ‘Heroes from Rwanda’ featured stories about people who saved members of the opposite ethnic group from the killings, while often risking their own lives.

Condemning violence For example, the Republicans and the Unionists in Omagh, Northern Ireland jointly renounced violent attacks in all newspapers and media in August 1998.

Seeing the common ground between one’s own group and another group of people builds empathy. Such thinking leads toward depolarizing and normalizing relations between the groups in conflict.

Effective use of the media to prevent conflict and build peace requires a careful study of the lessons of social marketing to prepare for effective use of the media.

Rewriting Article 19

Pakistan got its first constitution, nine years after independence, on March 23, 1956. This constitution guaranteed the right to freedom of expression under Article 8. The freedom of press was not mentioned here. This constitution was based on the Government of India Act of 1935 and was abrogated by the military regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1958.

The new constitution, promulgated in 1962, guaranteed the right to freedom of expression under Article 6, but it too failed to provide for the right to freedom of press. The constitution of 1962 was soon abrogated by the military regime of General Yahya Khan and after his regime fell, the democratically elected government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto set about formulating yet another constitution for Pakistan — a task which was completed in 1973. It was a ‘consensus Constitution’ — all parties concerned seemed satisfied. The Constitution of 1973 guaranteed the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 and it also guaranteed the right to freedom of press.

Article 19 of The Constitution of Pakistan: Freedom of speech, etc.

“Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.”

If I have to re-write article 19, I would write it by knowing the circumstances that we are living in age of new media. The original Article 19 is not implementing on new media, we can say it’s a flaw in it and there must be some amendment.

Re-Writing Article 19: Freedom of Speech

All citizen of Pakistan shall be free to express opinions and ideas on any platform without being punished for doing so. There shall be freedom of press, in which they can write and published their opinions. There is a reasonable restrictions imposed by the Islamic laws in the interest of glory of Islam, which is implemented only on Muslims that any Muslim found or guilty in the act of blaspheming Islam will be taken as an offence.

Explanation:

Citizens may speak their mind, put their ideas or opinions in writing, get published, post them over the Internet, or express as they feel in any manner possible, this includes the right to seek, receive and impart information, ideas or opinions in any form which may be available.  Glory of Islam is only implemented on Muslim by the Islamic laws that any Muslim found or guilty in the act of blaspheming Islam shall be taken as a crime.  

Cyber Crime Bill: What to expect?

Cybercrime is a fast-growing area of crime. More and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities that know no borders, either physical or virtual.

Cyber crime bill is for the prevention of electronic crimes. This bill is presented to the Parliament of Pakistan and it is still on discussion. Cyber crime is major issue of this country, and I wonder why this bill has not been approved yet.

After in-depth study of this bill, it seems that this bill will only strengthen virtual moral policing in the country by authorities instead of eliminating Internet crime in Pakistan.

The bill is lengthy and full of legal jargon. It seems that they have gone through cyber law books, archaic laws in Western world and then have combine it with the religious restrictions and social taboos of this country. This is what this new Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 is all about.

These are five main points from summary of this new bill:

1) It will be a crime to send text messages or photos to anyone’s email address or phone without the recipient’s consent.

2) The police or FIA or any other agency won’t need a warrant to search, seize or make arrests.

Under sections 17 and 18 of the new bill, the political criticism and political expression in the form of analysis, commentary, blogs, cartoons, caricatures and memes has been criminalized. Authorities will decide what is moral and what is immoral.

3) Under section 31, government can block or remove access to any website or online source if it deems it inappropriate.

4) Under section 26, the ISPs, restaurants, malls, hotels, offices, airports, bus stations and anywhere with Internet facility will be required to hold data record for 3 months.

5) IT industry and the online social media users are terming the bill as senseless, brutal, punitive, arbitrary, and utterly far from reality.

According to my opinion, this bill is not in favor of human rights; establishment should leave something for the public. It is basic human rights for the public to express their ideas. It is just portraying democratic dictatorship.

In the constitution of Pakistan, article 19 gives us the freedom of speech and expression, however this article is not giving us truly freedom but comparing it to cyber crime bill it is much more to appreciate of. It is not just a bill, it’s a kill bill. This bill is killing the rights of citizens of Pakistan. 

“This [Cyber Crime] bill looks to curb freedom of speech—look at section 34 of this bill, it gives unfettered power to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) —we will oppose this legislation (on the assembly floor) if our recommendations not incorporated,” said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Shazia Marri.

I do not understand; how can debate or discussing politics could be act as a crime. The focus should be on protecting citizens, not restricting them. Muhammad Aftab Alam, a lawyer and expert on media law said, “My apprehension is that the bill will get through the National Assembly. However, even if the assembly approves it, once the bill reaches Senate, it may be stopped by political parties, aside from the PML-N.”

Islamabad-based lawyer, Babar Sattar has own opinion on this; he believes consensus will have to be developed in the senate in order for the bill to be passed and even if it passes, the courts can take judicial review of laws to the extent that any provision can be struck down if it is in breach of the Constitution. If the law is overbroad and infringes on fundamental rights, any individual can provide evidence to being the process of judicial review. Let’s hope it doesn’t get passed.”

Should citizen journalists be a part of media organizations?

Citizen journalists have become regular contributors to mainstream news, providing information and some of today’s most iconic images, especially where professional journalists have limited access or none at all. While some call this opportunity as an improvement in journalism, others fear that too much importance is being given to such personal accounts — undermining ethical standards and, eventually, professional journalism.

Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis describe it as “the act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information”. In practice, this can range from commenting on an existing news piece to publishing an article, podcast, photo or video on a personal blog or Twitter for that matter.

A dedicated citizen journalism portal such as YouTube, or other interactive portals that work as extensions to mainstream media allow readers to share the story as they find fit — but that is being done on a separate tab and not mixed up with the regular flow of news. On sites like CNN, editorial gate keeping is left to the audience, uploaded content will be published unedited as long as it is considered news (as distinct from advertising, for example) and respects principles of taste and decency.

Citizen journalists tend to bring themselves into the story; many see themselves as citizen activists. Some happen to be at the ‘wrong place at the right time’, such as the people caught up in October 26 earthquake, who emailed their personal accounts, pictures and videos taken with their mobile phones to mainstream media: Geo News and Dawn, for example.

“For citizen journalists; journalism is not their prime occupation, and only a few get paid for their efforts,”explains Hasan Ansari, a reporter associated with The Express Tribune. “In contrast to traditional journalism, which brought news as a completed product to its audience in a vertical way, citizen journalism is a more horizontal and conversational sharing of news, which is always unfinished,” he adds.

Today, technological advancements in the communication sector are playing a vital role in promoting citizen journalism. A tablet or a mobile phone which possesses internet compatibility; broadband, if possible, to upload pictures and videos, is being widely used by people for the purpose of storytelling in a unique yet interesting ways. Popular social pages “Humans of New York” and “Humans of Karachi” are a few good examples.

Moreover, setting up a personal blog in today’s digital age is arguably the easiest thing to do in the world. With its power, pictures and videos can be uploaded to specialized portals within minutes. Mainstream media should also consider making citizen journalism as a part of their organizations because a designated battalion of reporters can’t possibly go everywhere and cover everything, but with the help of citizen journalists, maximum and diverse coverage could be ensured.

Implementing Copyrights Law in Pakistan

Copyright protection in Pakistan is a major economic, political and diplomatic issue.

In Pakistan, where laws are hardly implemented, copyright infringement has always been a source of concern, and the country has been on the Special 301 Watch List since 1989.

Pakistan updated its copyright law with amendments in 1992. However, no significant progress against pervasive copyright piracy was made until 1994, when raids against video piracy began. The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended last year that Pakistan remain on the Watch List, and United State Trade Representatives (USTR) agreed, while noting "greater efforts to combat copyright piracy" are required.

While I was skimming through articles on book piracy, I learned that Pakistan is one of the world’s worst markets for books, as piracy of published materials is rampant. Large-scale photocopy piracy and higher quality print piracy have completely decimated the market for most legitimate publishers. This is a worrisome state of affairs. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) must devote resources and manpower to raid pirate printers and warehouses where pirated books are stored, and pirate retailers, especially those in the Karachi and Lahore Urdu Bazaars. The Ministry of Education must ensure that (International Intellectual Property Alliance 2007 Special 301: Pakistan Page 355) all books being used in educational institutions are legitimate copies.

Their is another study about Fix Royalty-Free Book Compulsory License that violates Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which tells that the government of Pakistan amended its copyright ordinance in 2000 to include Section 36(3) that allows a royalty-free compulsory license of books. This amendment was passed without any opportunity for publishers to comment. This provision threatens to further diminish a market already almost completely overrun by piracy. This royalty-free compulsory license violates the Berne Convention and TRIPS and the government of Pakistan should rather be working on to repeal it.

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.

Pakistan needs to understand the issues. Why do we have to care about copyrights? Who owns what? And later, formulate rules for using others' works (copyright compliance), guiding users about fair use, licensing rights and regulating them.

Pakistan also needs to implement a comprehensive copyright policy that provides basic guideline. This guidance should give in educational institutes; school, colleges and universities.

Guidance for faculty, students and staff could start from clarifying ownership issues, explaining fair use and other educational exemptions. Develop strategies to accommodate (for now) and reduce (for the future) and create a need to take permissions. To build a cyber infrastructure, transactional and subscription licensing, acquiring electronic access that covers predictable user needs, assessing the university's role in scholarly communication.

A thoughtful policy should made that is widely disseminated will go a long way towards establishing the good faith requisite to the most effective defenses available to universities under copyright law.

Also the growth in the internet usage has put further pressure on the authorities to curb its infringement. Some forms of information, when made accessible on the internet, are easily copied. Because the costs of copying are low and because copying is often anonymous, publishers have often responded with more aggressive enforcement of existing intellectual property rights and with calls for extensions of those rights to cover additional content, new media and new forms of access.

Copyright Issues Related to the Internet:

The technology of the Internet provides a new medium for dissemination of information, and this presents numerous challenges to traditional norms of copyright law. Most fundamentally, the internet provides means of nearly effortless and essentially perfect duplication and dissemination of works such as texts, pictures, audio-visual material, and other authorship for which copyright law provides certain exclusive rights to owners.

How New Media Entertainment Affect Your Life?

There are plenty of entertainment-based social networking platforms that could be related to. Like most of the teenagers, I too, keep track of favorite TV shows, latest music, on-the-chart movies and upcoming release of books through new media.  

Portals such as Foundd, Goodreads, Last.Fm, Bit Torrent and Rotten Tomatoes are just a few examples.

Working as a movie-recommendation engine that learns about your tastes, Foundd requires some time to set up. After rating a bunch of films, it allows you to see a tailored “Watch List” of the films you may like to watch. That’s how its algorithm predicts your selection pattern.

Foundd is another amazing portal. Through it, I can create a group list comprising up to five people. Foundd then suggests films according to the pattern of the hits on the content by that list.

But if you are an avid mover watcher, like me, and don’t want others’ influence to influence you, Foundd also gives you an option to just directly pick your next flick through the search engine.

For book readers, Goodreads is the king of social reading. I can share my progress as I work through a book; I can create a to-read list, and can moreover add ratings and reviews to books I’ve read.

It makes Goodreads a great place to connect with other readers or reading groups.

Goodreads allows me to keep track of my personal book collection by organizing books I’ve read, or want to read, into different collections, or ‘shelves’. Quite a fun in mingling with fellow book lovers and discuss latest literary releases.

What’s life without movies, books and music? With its integrated scrobbling feature, Last.fm can pull in details on the music I listen to with very little effort involved. I have a habit of looking back at my listening habits so this is really a great way to do it.

I can also get suggestions for new music, view my own listening data in a chart and connect with other people possessing similar taste for the genre.

And who in today’s world will want to watch a new without have read a preview or plot of it first? Though Pakistan still lacks in formal education for film critics, but things are pretty different in the Western parts of the world. Film-critics are as professionals as any filmmaker.

Rotten Tomatoes is a platform dedicated for such critics to submit their reviews on films. Originally designed for film lovers to visit the portal and check latest movies and read reviews on them from critics with authentic credibility, the Tomatoes help in developing a good understanding of films.

With films come torrents. Ethically I shouldn’t be advocating it as torrents encourage piracy which is a cyber-crime in many countries. But for those like me, with little budget, torrents are a blessing in disguise to fulfill our daily doses of film needs — without which, it’d be difficult for us to survive.

Does Technology Facilitates Religion in Today’s World?

Not just religion, technology has influenced everything in today’s world. It has become easier for preachers to use technology as a medium for communication.

As I’m not well versed on how preachers of Hinduism, Christianity or Zionism are utilizing technological advancements, so I’d prefer to focus on Islam alone.

I happen to come across Daneyal Sufi, a lecturer on cultural studies, and tried to know his insight on the subject. He believes that technology has been a blessing in disguise to communicate with large number of people in a relatively shorter period of time.

“There are (now) radio stations devoted to Quran’s recitation and translation. There is a wooden spreader on which the Quran is kept for recitation as it makes it higher so the necks don’t sprain,” he tells me.

Sufi had made a solid point, but as he is an accomplished academician, I expected this sort of a response from him. But my hunger to get a more detailed perspective led me to Osama Bin Azhar, an undergrad student pursuing computer science.

Osama preferred to link the technological advancements to the time approximately some 1,400 years ago. During the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), Osama tells me, the preachers preaching the religion had to go to different parts of the world on foot — which was a slow process.

With a revolution in communication industry, preaching has literally gone viral. Now we have Television and internet to communicate with millions in no time at all.

Osama’s input made me search on a bit of preaching organizations on the internet. I was amused to see a Facebook page with a massive following. Nauman Ali Khan uses social media to upload short videos and posts on religious topics to interact with his followers.

However, it is a famous saying that where there is good, there will always be bad. People say there are many those who mislead their followers using the very same medium. But look at it this way: medium is not the problem, it is the message.

For me, medium is like a knife. It can be used to commit a murder or to spread butter on a bread toast. It is a matter of one’s intentions.

Osama puts it aptly when he say, “Medium is only there to facilitate. It has nothing to do with leading or misleading towards the right path.”

I was pretty much satisfied with the information I had succeeded in obtaining, but I felt there was still something missing; a version from someone belonging to a totally opposite discipline. So, there I went to meet Yasir Siddiqui, who is a management executive in one of the city’s prominent software developing company.

Just a heads up, as Yasir’s take on the subject is going to be business-centric, which will be looking on the results the medium had achieved thus far.

“Social media has its own perks and challenges. Social media can be a facilitator to religion but in limited edition. It has given right to every Tom, Dick and Harry to speak up and share their voice, no matter how dangerous or obnoxious that voice would be,” he says.

Yasir believes that in order to learn or seek something “you first have to be loyal and sincere to your own self”, which helps a person in better understanding the message being delivered.

“But social media has taken away that very essence,” he adds.

For Yasir, most of the people on social media are less sincere towards them and have become “narcissistic” as they only tend to care about their opinion and do not respect disagreement.

How parents monitor their children in the age of social media?

It is more of a matter of “should” rather than ‘how’ parents monitor their children’s activities in the age of social media. Thankfully, I do not have any personal experience for this but asked a few children and parents about it.

A 12-year-old girl, Anam, tells me that when she is using Facebook her mother comes to her room and stands still in front of her, asking what she’s up to. “It’s really annoying,” she says.

There is a rule on Facebook that no one under the age of 13 is permitted to join it. However, there is no real way for Facebook to truly enforce it, because anyone can lie about their year of birth.

There is another family I asked this question, they were too afraid to reveal their names. They said, “Our kid uses internet around 12pm till 1pm, after that we monitor our kid’s internet history.”

This was a ‘Wow’ moment for me. I should have told them that there is an option to remove your entire internet history. So, I asked them if they had come across any inappropriate searching content. They replied in negative, saying: “There was just science and social studies content in search history.”  

I think they are too naïve as someone as young as that kid can’t possibly be searching such stuff at 12pm.  

Mind you, there are some intelligent parents too. They use Filtering Software. This software searches a child’s internet usage; many even enable to view the exact keys that were typed, time spent online and all computer activity.

I happen to come across one such family. “It allows us to monitor social media sites’ block chats, filter content and we can even monitor our child’s cell phone with a software program like this,” they told me.

And this was something truly unknown to me before I was enlightened about it. I couldn’t have ever imagined Pakistani parents of being able of going to such an extent. I guess we are really progressing.

It is wiser for some parents to install computer in a central location in their homes as it becomes easier for them to keep an eye out what the kid is up to. Setting down a limit of usage hours is not a bad idea at all.

Where many kids don’t seem to understand the complexities of the online world, it is a duty of their parents to guide them.