Entry #5- Chexting

You might like texting, frown upon sexting, but now comes 'chexting' - and it can lead to big trouble. I think Tiger Woods and Jesse James would be able to relate to this rather well.

Golf superstar Woods and TV celebrity Jesse James, who is married to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock, have seen their lives unravel amid revelations of cheating on their spouses, in part by arranging liaisons via text messages.

Their affairs have spawned a new word in pop culture, 'chexting'.

In today's digital age, mobile phones have proven to be the best form of fast and effective communication. Our phones have become miniature mobile computers where we are able to serve the net and communicate with just about anyone, anywhere.

Cell phones come equipped with their own typing keyboards separate from the number pads, texting has become more popular than e-mailing for some, and sending a text from a small phone can be done almost anywhere. It is instant gratification and contact, but for those who have a hard time staying faithful, such forms of Computer mediated communication tools have become a become medium to facilitate their cheating.

One cannot deny the fact that CMC has invaded almost every facet of human activities. How we gather information, who we socialize with and even even turn to them for entertainment. It affects not only how we communicate but what we communicate as well.

More and more divorce cases involving spouses being unfaithful through technology - including Internet chat rooms, instant messages and texts have arisen.

However, Is it all bad? There are always two sides of the argument.

Our 3G phones and technological advancements made to our computers have definitely enabled better and faster communication. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and even Blogs have all hopped into the bandwagon in enabling people to stay communicated with each other. For those of us Facebook fanatics, wouldn't you agree that it has definitely enabled us to communicate with our past and present friends and even provided some form of entertainment to our lives? I even check my Facebook account first before my Hotmail account, and I believe that many people echo my view.

The rise of Computer Mediated Communication has also proved advantageous for people of any age. Many elderly people, businessmen and even laypeople have started appreciating the usefulness of such forms of communication. New applications such as Skype have been made very user friendly for even the technological dinosaur to use and communicate with their loved ones anywhere.

The technology has been provided to us. How we use it and what we use if for is solely dependent on us.

Use it to bind relationships and not to break them.

Entry #4: Coca-colonization

Coca cola- The world's favorite soft drink, was an American-born product. Today, it represents the epitome of the American cultural imperialism. Back in the 1970's this ad cleverly incorporated the use of people from many different nationalities to show their acceptance of Coke being the 'Real thing'.

This commercial illustrates an attempt to portray U.S. goods as a product capable of transcending political, ethnic, religious, social, and economic differences to unite the world.

(This entry is not about Coke, however)

Just like this coke advertisement, we still see the diffusion of the westernized (mainly American) cultures to many countries across the globe. Be it movies, lingo, songs, beliefs and even traditions, this proliferation of American 'products' across the globe is more than mere accident.... It is meant to Americanize you.

A very current example would be MTV and how it has successfully adapted this strategy by integrating many different Americanized cultures into one unbelievably influential American network.

It has over 280 million subscribers worldwide and out of the 26,700 middle-class teens in forty-five countries surveyed, 85 percent watch MTV every day. These teens absorb what MTV intends to show as a diverse mix of cultural influences but is really nothing more than manufactured stars singing in English to appeal to American popular taste.

The role of MEDIA has definitely served the United States well in infiltrating it's influence.

We cannot deny the fact that most of our favorite stars, Hollywood actors, musicians and idols come from the US. We delight in feeding our ourselves with information about them and even try to subscribe to their way of life.

In a country that encompasses a good mix of East and West such as Singapore, it is undeniable that US media is prevalent.

Despite this, however many still hold strong to the belief that no matter how strong the influence of the American media, it cannot completely revolutionize our relatively conservative culture.

Do you stand by this? Is the American cultural revolution still relevant and in Singapore?