Understanding Intercultural Understanding Intercultural Communication Communication Second EditionSecond Edition

Chapter 11

What are the Communication Issues Facing a Global Identity?

Stella Ting-Toomey & Leeva C. Chung

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

PowerPoint Slides Designed by Alex Flecky and Noorie Baig

TODAYTODAY’S MENU’S MENU

I. Wired and On: The Roar of the Internet

II. The Transformation of Local and Global Identities

III. Who and What Are E.netizens? IV. The Dialectical Pulls of an

E.netizen V. The Tipping Point:

Communication Pattern Changes VI. Personal Identities in Flux: The

Global Face

I. Wired and On: The Roar of the I. Wired and On: The Roar of the Internet Internet

A. The Internet as Our Central StationB. Wired Communication• Take a moment and think about how

technology influences your communication with your friends,loved ones, and acquaintances.

• How much of your interaction time is face to face? How much of your interaction time is via a gadget?

• Could you go a week without technology? • How has your use of the Internet shaped you, your

communication styles, and your identity?

II. The Transformation of Local and II. The Transformation of Local and Global Identities Global Identities

Local identity: made up of ethnic values, practices, traditions of the local identity communal group.

Global identity: adopt and embrace international practices and values over local. Keep up with latest trends, technological advances, etc.

II. The Transformation of Local and II. The Transformation of Local and Global Identities Global IdentitiesA. The Lens of Television: Identity

Imitation• Television is an identity supplier, provides escape from

traditional-based cultural values, and forges sense of communal belonging.

• Children across the globe watch international programs based on the United States and values of pop culture and consumerism.

B. Global Television Impact• Shapes the way we see our world, influences how we

form our stereotypes of people in different cultures/ethnic groups.

II. The Transformation of Local and II. The Transformation of Local and Global Identities Global IdentitiesC. Be Hip, Be Hot, and Pop Culture Impact• Pop culture supporters see the world as constantly

changing, interdependent.• Opponents view pop culture as negative because it

can damage culture boundaries and Westernizes intact, indigenous cultural groups.

D. Outsourced Beats: You Are What You Can Dance To

• Through music, common identity expression and connection with others.

• Creates our rhythmic identity and sparksa communal sense of space and time.

II. The Transformation of Local and II. The Transformation of Local and Global Identities Global Identities

E. You Are What You Wear: Pop Culture as FashionTake a look at Blog Pic 11.2 Japan Ganguro Photo (p. 238)

• What are your impressions of this “ganguro girl” look?

• An attempt to rebel against the traditional European American standards of “normal” or “beauty?”

• Can you generate any other interpretations?

III. Who and What Are e.netizens?III. Who and What Are e.netizens?

e.netizen: new generation of individuals, wired to the Internet via intersecting space, having a “hybrid” identity—both local and global.

A. Defining the Background of e.netizens• E.netizens—the “first-wave” users, having the

latest technology. • “Globally ethnic” involves multiple ethnicities.

III. Who and What Are e.netizens?III. Who and What Are e.netizens?

B. Characteristics of an e.netizen Identity

E-characteristics: • Exclusive • Evolved• Explorers • Emoticon ;-) (^_^) m(_ _)m • Entertained• Energized• Engaged

III. Who and What Are e.netizens?III. Who and What Are e.netizens?C. Inverted Pyramid of e.netizen Identity

IV. The Dialectical Pulls of an e.netizenIV. The Dialectical Pulls of an e.netizen

A. Spatial Zone Dialectics1. Internet provides privacy and anonymity and

shared communal space.

2. Individuals experience solitude and tribal pole.

3. Individuals access the Internet in private space within solitude pole.

4. Web community allows individuals to interact without face-to-face contact.

5. Too much in the tribal pole and one may find oneself addicted.

IV. The Dialectical Pulls of an e.netizenIV. The Dialectical Pulls of an e.netizenB. Temporal Zone Dialectics 1. Internet is allowing individuals to move between

monochronic and polychronic time. 2. Monotrack focus: working on one project at a time. 3. Multitrack focus: tending to multiple e.net tasks or

activities. 4. Monotrack e.netizens: concentrate on one project

at a time via one medium. 5. Multitrack e.netizens: can surf, text, and blog at the

same time. 6. Being-in-doing e.net philosophy—individuals fuse

“being” with “doing mode” value dimensions: being with friends on Facebook while doing tasks.

V. The Tipping Point: Communication V. The Tipping Point: Communication Pattern Changes Pattern Changes

A. Gadget Communication Patterns:

Fast and Furious• Gadgets have transformed the way we communicate with each other.

• Mobile phone was game changer, main distracter from face-to-face conversation; average users spend 209 minutes/day on phone.

• Mobile phones change conversation in public areas: we stay on our phones.

V. The Tipping Point: Communication V. The Tipping Point: Communication Pattern Changes Pattern ChangesB. Sharing Intimate Partners with a Gadget• Our relationships may be affected.• Japanese males find it difficult to have face-to-

face communication.

C. Language Styles: Text, Tweet, Talk• We use truncated language and emoticons to

replace long sentences.• For example, on a chat site: SITCOM (Single

Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage)

V. The Tipping Point: Communication V. The Tipping Point: Communication Pattern Changes Pattern Changes

D. Communicating to Be Social Change Agents• Social networking allows for active

engagement and involvement.

• Disaster relief, anti-regime protests, and peace activism supported via social networking.

• Social networking expands our intercultural relationships.

Have you used social media to be a change agent? Try something creative!

E. Present but Virtual• One of fastest growing trends in business is

virtual teams and meetings.

• There still may be intercultural misunderstandings, mistrust, language barriers.

V. The Tipping Point: Communication V. The Tipping Point: Communication Pattern Changes Pattern Changes

VI. Personal Identities in Flux: The VI. Personal Identities in Flux: The Global Face Global FaceA. Developing a sense of identity takes time,

but in an age where time is compressed and in flux, our self-view can transform in an instant.

B. Opponents argue Internet appeals to ourworst instincts, makes us more like-minded. Do you agree with this opinion?

C. E.netizens have ability to morph and fuse identity, and Internet shapes image and standard of beauty. Do you agree with this statement?

Parting Thoughts…Parting Thoughts…

Make technology work for you,

not the other way around.

~ Leeva Chung