Hate Crimes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hate Crimes - Research Paper Example t acts against other individuals have always been prevalent in society throughout history, the socially-constructed notion of referring to this as hate crimes is a fairly new notion (McPhail and DiNitto, 2005). This paper will discuss hate crimes in general and place an emphasis on why it seems like hate crimes are on the rise. It is undoubtedly true that hate crimes are reported in the news more frequently than in the past. A good example of this is a comparison of the number of newspaper coverage given. In the 1980s, over the course of 8 years, the Washington Post published 49 articles on hate crimes. In comparison, in the 1990s, there were 1,100articles published on hate crime in 8 years (Nolan et al, 2002).one main reason for this is possibly due to the ‘Hate Crimes Statistics Act’ which was passed in 1990 (Nolan et al,2002). 5) There appears to be no relationship between hate crimes and index crimes. Index crimes refer to the eight criminal acts that are used by the FBI to predict the amount of crime in the USA. These include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny-theft, vehicle theft and arson (Nolan et al, 2002). To make the decision as to whether a crime should be treated as a hate crime, the police follow a two step approach (FBI, 1999 from Macmahon et al, 2004). The officer who is first on the scene decided whether there is any evidence the offender’s motivation was bias. In the second step, a trained officer makes a solid decision as to whether the incident is in fact a hate crime using a set of criteria. These criteria are all victim-orientated and are ‘membership in the targeted group, active role or advocacy in community group, representation of victim’s group in the community, previous record of victimization, or the victim’s visitation to a high-tension community’ (Macmahon et al,2004). Four other criteria that are usually used that are offender based include ‘the presence of comments, gestures, or written

Communication Between People In Health And Social Care

Communication Between People In Health And Social Care You are attending your local G.P surgery for examinations as you have been unwell lately. The receptionist asks you loudly the reason for attending; other patients can hear you being asked. You explain to reception staff that you are slightly deaf. She asked you to use the computer screen in the waiting area to indicate that you have arrived. You explain to her that your English is limited and that you have no previous experience in using computers. You felt that the receptionist did not listen to you and that she was not sensitive to your concerns. Explore communication between people in health and social care by: Applying relevant theories of communication to health and social care contexts. Review the application of a range of communication techniques for different purposes used in health and social care work. Discuss the ways in which communication influences how individuals feel about themselves. Describe ways of dealing with inappropriate interpersonal communication between individuals. Analyze the use of techniques and strategies for supporting communication between people with specific communication needs. Evaluate workplace strategies, policies and procedures for good practice in communication. People communicate to have good abundance and it is a method to pass one information to another individual. Communication between people in health and social care plays a big role in caring the service provider or the patient. To employ compatible basis of communication to health and social care in the said scenario, we must first look into the individuals that are involved in the scenario. The patient, is slightly deaf, knowledge deficit in using IT machines in the hospital such as computer, and inarticulate in speaking English. On the other hand, the receptionist is arrogant, assuming, domineering, presumptuous and disrespectful. We have four theories of communication and they are all into a cycle. First is Humanistic theory tells us about individualism. Every individual has its own unique personalities and attributes. In a health care setting, as a healthcare provider, we take our patients or service provider as an individual and we should respect them. The patient and the receptionist are the main individuals in the scenario. They have their own personality that is unique to the other one. Behaviorist theory informs us attitudes are achieved by way of conditioning through interaction with other individ uals. In other words, when an individual interacts with another individual, one personality or behavior is presented or acquainted to another personality. The scene when the receptionist interacted with the patient portrays how behaviorist theory works in the communication. Cognitive theory is established on the ideas or principles of another individual and learns from them, thus the human thought processes understanding ones personality. The humanistic theory explain to us that an individuals personality is different to another personality of another individual and behaviorist theory is about interaction of individuals, the cognitive theory on the other hand, it expound us how individual start not only to interact but understand and accept another personality of an individual. The receptionist just ignored the patient when the she explained her side in the scenario. Ignoring another individual such as the patient in the scenario is also included in cognitive theory, though the rece ptionist did understand the side of the patient, the receptionist decided to ignore the patients side. Cognitive theory does not only understand ones side of individual, but its also about accepting ones personality or behavior to your thought. In short, the act of accepting and understanding ones personality of an individual in an interaction is cognitive theory. Lastly is the psychoanalytical theory. It explains us the role of unconscious mind. A personality that an individual portrays in an interaction is not what you thought the real personality of that individual. Sometimes, we judge them on what we see or hear on the outer appearance. We can only see its appearance and process it to our thoughts in an interaction, but we do not know its real personality inside of it. In the scenario, the receptionist judged the patients personality when she asked the patient loudly the reason for attending and when she instructed the patient to use the computer screen to indicate that she arri ved already. Communication has ranges of techniques to communicate in health and social care work. In the scenario there are scenes that explain us how techniques of communication are used. When the receptionist asked the patient loudly, the technique of communication used in this scene is verbal communication which is asking question and non-verbal which is the pitch, speed, accent, and tone of the receptionist while asking the patient. Another scene is when the patient explains that she would like to discuss the reasons to the doctor and that you she is slightly deaf. The technique used here is verbal communication which is reflecting back to the question. The receptionist then told the patient to use the computer screen to indicate there that she arrived already, its verbal technique which is giving instructions. Lastly is when the patient felt that the receptionist did not listen to her, its body language technique that is portrayed by the receptionist. Initiating communication to another individual is a stage where two individuals try to open a bridge of relationship. In addition, you dont just open bridges to them but you are trying to influence them too. There are two communication influences; interpersonal communication is unmediated communication that opens mutual influence to each other. Usually this type of influence manages to open relationships and mutual understanding. In the scenario, only the patient initiate this kind of communication influence, when the patient is humbly explaining herself to the receptionist, the receptionist impersonally approach the patient by just giving instruction and ignored her after. Impersonal communication is an influence conversely to interpersonal, the individual only interacts to another individual superficially. In the scenario, the patient is trying to open an interpersonal communication to the receptionist, while the receptionist is impersonal communication. In social penetration model by Altman and Taylor, they said the more time we spend with others, the more likely we are to self-disclose more intimate thought and details of our life. As relationships develop, communication moves from relatively shallow, no intimate levels to deeper, more personal ones. When the receptionists approach the patient aggressively, the patient expresses her inabilities to the receptionist. Its intimate thoughts and details of her life are revealed like inadequate knowledge in using computers and influent in speaking English. On the other hand, Johari window explains us also the process of human interaction. It divides our personal awareness. The process of giving and receiving feedback is one of the most important concepts in training. Through the feedback process, we see ourselves as others see us. Through feedback, other people also learn how we see them. Feedbacks give information to a person or group either by verbal or nonverbal communication. The information you give tells ot hers how their behavior affects you, how you feel, and what you perceive (feedback and self-disclosure). Feedback is also a reaction by others, usually in terms of their feelings and perceptions, telling you how your behavior affects them (receiving feedback). It has four sides namely, free, blind, hidden and the unknown. In free area includes, the patients information known to herself and to others such as the receptionist. Blind area means, informations known only to other individuals excluding the patient. The hidden area is about information known only to the patient. And lastly, the unknown area which is the information is not known to any individuals even the patient. In dealing inappropriate interpersonal communication between individuals, we must look back at the receptionists behaviors towards the patient. In order to avoid such communication, the receptionist must stay focused. In the scenario, the receptionist did not focus her attention to the deaf patient that in fact the deaf patient must have special attention with the receptionist. Another one is listening carefully; the receptionist did not listen to the patients inabilities and instead she ignored the patient. Some individual need specific communication like deaf service user. These various types of communication supports and help communication efficiently between service users and service provider. SOLER technique helps to improve reception of message. Its said that when youre interacting with the service users you have to be directly and firmly to the patient. If the receptionist is directly and firmly to the patients concerns, she can provide the patients needs appropriately. Open position, lean, eye contact and relax are the other techniques in SOLER. There are also tips to communicate successfully to service users such as our patient in the scenario, since the patient sis slightly deaf, the receptionist should not shout and should speak slowly towards the patient. But in the scenario, the receptionist failed to apply this tip. In workplace, there are policies and strategies that are implemented for good communication, such as keeping confidentiality of the patient, disciplinary proced ures, equal opportunities, flexible working and policy on performance management. In my opinion, in the scenario, it seems they lacked this strategies and policies. A good practice is achieved with good policies and strategies. Care and support providers have a legal responsibility to fulfill their duty of care. Within direct support services there are regulatory bodies that can  act on any shortfalls identified in the services people receive. If they implement such tips, they will progress and service is efficiently provided to the service users. 1380 words Question 2 Scenario: You are attending your local G.P surgery for examinations as you have been unwell lately. The receptionist asks you loudly the reason for attending; other patients can hear you being asked. You explain to reception staff that you are slightly deaf. She asked you to use the computer screen in the waiting area to indicate that you have arrived. You explain to her that your English is limited and that you have no previous experience in using computers. You felt that the receptionist did not listen to you and that she was not sensitive to your concerns. Describe physical, cultural and legal influences on communication in health and social care by: Analyse how methods of communication are influenced by individual values culture and ability. Describe legislation and charters governing the rights of individuals to communicate Discuss the implications in health and social care contexts of legislation and codes of practice relating to records and communication of information about people. Analyse the effectiveness of organizational systems policies in relation to good practice in communication. Suggest and justify ways of improving communication systems in a health or care setting. Values are the principles, standards, or quality which guides human actions in daily life. Values and cultures play a big role in health and social care. Without values, individuals will pursue behaviors of their own. Values are rules by which we make decisions about right or wrong. In health and social care there are policies that are being implemented to achieve three main points; equality and diversity; confidentiality; right and responsibilities; and professional ethics. When individuals start to interact, the body language, facial expressions, and choice of words influence the whole context of the message. All these verbal and non-verbal cues are brought by the individuals personality like social class, beliefs, values, education, and culture. In the scenario where the patient visits a General practitioner surgery and a female receptionist asks her loudly the reason of attending, it could be a sign of her personality. Maybe she grew up in a family that are always arguing and she brought it up. Also, clearly the patients ethnicity, culture, and education play a role in the scenario where she said she is not fluent in speaking in English. The patient as an individual from a different background, the way she communicate to the receptionist is greatly affected. In addition to that, in a scenario where the patient said she has no previous experience in using a computer and it is hard for the patient to make use of the information communication technology which is the use of computer screen to indicate her arrival. In this situation, every healthcare setting has set values, morals, and ethics that will guide the behavior of the employees. This enables the employees to practice according to what has been agreed upon by the management and the organization that supports to avoid them to stand to their personal stand in handling patients that will cause misunderstandings. The legislation and charters governing the rights of individuals to communicate, is for those people who have difficulty communicating and receiving and understanding verbal and written communication. Its principles are in promoting anti-discriminatory practices, independence and safety, protecting people from abuse, individualized holistic care, and keeping confidentiality. Many people who have a communication disability do not get the resources, support and understanding they need to enable them to communicate. Because of this they are deprived of appropriate health and social services, opportunities for education and training, and employment. They are also vulnerable, at risk of abuse. Nor can they enjoy the social interaction, leisure pursuits, and the business of everyday life. In the scenario, the patient is clearly indeed need specific communication because she told the receptionist that she is slightly deaf. As a receptionist, I know that there are guidelines in communicating this kind of service users because it is present in every health care setting. The receptionist in the scenario should act the appropriate measures to communicate efficiently to the patient. We are promoting equality, diversity and rights of the patient. In addition, the receptionist did not open an interaction while the patient is trying to do conversations about her concerns and instead she gave directly an instruction to use the computer for indication that she arrived already. The receptionist is not fair to the patient according to the rights of the patient. The implication of these legislation and codes of practices in health and social care contexts is to implement the necessary services needed to those individual who have adversity in interacting or communicating another individual. Each individual including those with communication impairment or disabilities are accredited and free to exercise their own rights. In the legislation and codes of practices the service users must be given information the way they can receive and respond, access to training and support to the patient and his/her family to minimize the impact of the disability and improve interaction skills, enough time to communicate, and access to services. These guidelines will help the flow of system smoothly and efficiently along with appropriate care and procedures, hospital records. In the scenario, if the receptionist practices the principles of the legislations and charters, the way she deals with the patient will be nice and easier. The receptionist must take cons ideration to the patients situation by listening and providing as to what necessary services that patient needs. Patients confidentiality is important in every cases, its a core value in every healthcare setting and its a patients right to keep it with the health care providers that are involved in caring to that patient. Organizations are helping each other to evolve its policies, legislations, charters and systems to improve its effectiveness. They are setting goals to aim effective communication such as interpersonal communication, decision making, and establishing rapport not only to the service users but also to co-service providers. It focuses and promotes positive outcomes for good practices in work places, service provider trainings and development, advocacy, individualism, human rights and confidentiality. In a healthcare setting, the system must practice confidentiality, and patients rights regarding in information such as recording, storing, and relaying information. Only healthcare providers that are involved in caring the patient must share the information. In the scenario the receptionist used a loud voice to ask for the reasons of the patients visit in the General practitioner surgery. In that manner, the receptionist did not follow the health care system because other patients can hear the patient being asked and the patient answered the questions. Privacy and confidentiality of the patient is compromised. Communication is defined as the sending and receiving of messages between people. It contributes a big part from rendering care to the service users to running a health care facility. One misunderstanding in communication may cause big problems and might even cost patients life. There are so many ways to improve communication in healthcare settings especially in our scenario specifically for the special communication needs. By the use of communication tools such as pictures giving instructions or an interpreter and simplified instruction guides. We must provide necessary basic tools or equipment to help them communicate. This tool will help not only us to understand them but likewise to those people who need this kind of communication; it will not only help those people with disabilities or impairments, but also the ones who have language barriers. The administration must set their own assessment too, to monitor the feedback in the whole communication network. In the scenario, it is advisable for the receptionist to have trainings and monthly progress reports by their administration in the access to communication resources so that receptionist will be equipped with the knowledge in assessing if her patient has special communication needs. 1105 words Question 3 Scenario: You are attending your local G.P surgery for examinations as you have been unwell lately. The receptionist asks you loudly the reason for attending; other patients can hear you being asked. You explain to reception staff that you are slightly deaf. She asked you to use the computer screen in the waiting area to indicate that you have arrived. You explain to her that your English is limited and that you have no previous experience in using computers. You felt that the receptionist did not listen to you and that she was not sensitive to your concerns. Explore the use of information technology in communications in health and social care by: Analyse how the use of IT in health and social care benefits service users. Critically evaluate how the IT supports and enhances the activities of care workers and care organizations/ agencies. Analyse health and safety legal considerations in the use of IT The information Communication Technology allows us to improve the efficiency of the health care services. IT has the potential to improve the quality, and safety of health care. It improves positive patients experiences and facilities research and development relevant to health and social care. There are so many benefits of IT for services; in fact IT in healthcare setting is made for the development of rendering care to the patients. For example, the patient management systems, it allows the health care providers to render care to the right patient with right treatment at the right time. Another example is the inventory management system, it allows the healthcare providers to store and check for medical supplies and to ensure that medicines is readily available for the patients. They also have the electronic health record, billing system, and highly sophisticated medical devices. The standard ICT software is word processing, spreadsheets, database, information retrieval, and emails. They benefit the service users through meeting individual needs, administration of treatments, efficiency of administrative processes, accuracy of records, communication, and maintaining independence. A specific example is the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) which serves as a patient-tra cking system providing real time access to patient data. Another example is the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) which provides healthcare providers real-time diagnostic and treatment recommendations. There is also interoperability which refers to electronic communication among organizations so that the data in one IT system can be incorporated into another. These are the stuffs in ICT that are being used today. In the scenario the receptionist asks the patient to use the computer screen to indicate that the patient has arrived. In that scenario, they are using innovative machines already. The said machine of ICT is Electronic Health Records and Electronic Care Communications, it provides access to information, and must keep being developed and/or modernized in all areas for additional benefits. IT has the way for innovations of the quality and safety of health care. The ICT supports and enhances health and social care activities of care workers and care organizations and agencies. It is through financial, clinical, administrative, infrastructures, which the needs of manpower are met; and there is a demand regarding innovation in business administration which is efficiency and quality of service. It also helps in meeting requirements, accountability, and audit. In the scenario, the use of a computer screen as an indication of a patients arrival makes the work of the receptionist lighter and easier. If there was no such thing then like the traditional way of handling the services in a hospital, the receptionist will have to entertain every service user, with limited time, limited resources and limited manpower. The health and safety legal considerations in the use of ICT are quite dangerous when not brought into awareness by the users. Safety measures are needed before implementing the use of ICT. In fact, there were several issues taken into consideration in the use of ICT. Ergonomics are usually raised problems. One solution to have bigger and has to be good design interiors of the working environment to reduce and avoid the accompanying health and safety problems and if not tolerated may turn into inability or worst of the user. Radiation in computer monitors are very dangerous if prolong usage. It may destroy the normal eyesight of the user. Another problem when using ICT is the posture while seating or standing. Again prolong posture while using the said machines may turn into serious injury in the back of the service user. Stiff necks are also common in the user. In order to avoid this, the monitor should be at eye level, fleet flat on the floor, knees and elbows with angles, no strai ning of neck, and must have a well-adjusted brightness of the screen and a screen protector or radiation protector screen. Another solution for the users is exercise before using the computer like neck rotation, back bending and rotation and hands shake. A very common problem met in ICT is called eye strain due to too much usage of computer and the eyes are exposed to radiation. There is also the Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) like carpal tunnel syndrome in using the keyboards. Most of the time too much exposure and use of ICT give stress. For personal safety, it is deal to seek the experts who have taken health and safety courses in manual handling, and repairing especially that there are some hazardous substances present. In a scenario where I have no previous experience in using a computer, it would be best for the patient to call an assistance to demonstrate to me how to use it or better yet, the receptionist should provide assistance for the patient. ICT has many advantages and disadvantage so it depends on the users to control so that health wont be at stake. 806 words

Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers

Langston Hughes is a key figure in the vision of the American dream. In his writings his African-American perspective gives an accurate vision of what the American dream means to a less fortunate minority. His poetry is very loud and emotional in conveying his idea of the African-American dream. Most of his poetry either states how the black man is being surpressed or is a wish, a plea for equality. He does not want the black man to be better than everyone else, but just to be treated equal. Able to meet their dream with the same level of success and failure as everyone else. This is most simply stated in Hughes poem I Dream a World. Hughes begins the poem by stating:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  “I Dream a World where man   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No other man will scorn,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Where love will bless the earth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And peace its paths adorn'; (World Lines 1-4) Here Hughes is stating very generally and unspecific how he wishes for peace and love. Something that everyone would like but will probably never come true. This statement is an excellent attention getter. It tells about a dream that everyone would like without singling out any group of people to blame for the dream not coming true. Then as the poem goes on he gets more and more specific. Hughes then goes on to dream that everyone “Will know sweet freedoms way,/Where greed no longer sa...

What Is the Relationship Between Social Change and Changes in Space and Time?

What is the relationship between social change and changes in space and time? Illustrate with examples drawn from at least two of : changes in cities, changes in media, changes in intimacy. In looking at the relationship between social change and changes in space and time. We first require understanding of what social change is. Sociologists from every school of thought agree that social change is inevitable within our society. Social change is a highly diverse debate that has been analysed by theorist’s looking at the effects of social change on society. Anything that is socially constructed can be altered. Little changes are triggered by larger changes taking place. Urban life changed and progressed toward an industrial society. Space and time has been reordered. The working day was determined by the seasons, and by the amount of daylight there was. This however has changed, and the working day is now structured around clock time. Space within the home has changed. With family units not as large as previously had been and the availability of better housing conditions, families do not spend the same time together. In looking at some of the theories that have been documented with regards to changes in media and changes in intimacy we begin to acquire an understanding of how sociological change has had an impact. The new media phenomenon holds a lot of potential for benefiting society. â€Å"Belonging to a digital culture binds people more strongly than the territorial adhesives of geography† (Mackay pg. 123) Many who are not able to use conventional methods of communication are given an outlet whereby they can. Many are unable to visit places of interest to them and ICTs host many features allowing people to view and learn about places they would in most cases not be able to physically visit. â€Å"Internet communities – which are seen as binding people together in some sort of common culture in which imagined realities are shared† ( Hugh Mackay pg. 159) The new ICTs can also be contested in that with having no physical contact can leave individuals feeling alone, isolated from others and could produce a desire for the physical presence of others. Together, today’s networks constitute a new form of society† (Hugh Mackay pg. 141). Internet does not alienate between creed, colour, ethnicity or disability and therefore it can be suggested that this multicultural society brings with it a form of social structure and community without any prejudice. There is no stigma attached to it. Castelles views the new technological devices of our society as the beginning of a rev olutionary change. Globally the new forms of media have transformed the ways of communication and the availability of information. Timeless time and the space of flows† (Hugh Mackay pg. 141). By this he means that with new technology being made available there is no longer a need or reason for waiting time to exist. Everything is instantaneous, and can be acquired at the touch of a button. Snail mail has been replaced with e-mail. We are able to access many things at any time of the day or night. Also there is no physical space taken up. Cyberspace allows the exchange of all forms of information without the requirement of physical documentation. If the nineteenth century was the age of the telegraph and telephony, and the twenty – first century becomes that of biotechnology, it is not necessarily the case that the intervening era of late modernity is to be conceived as the ‘information age’† (Golding pg. 129) Golding does not agree with Castells view that there is a revolutionary change taking place due to the development of ICTs. His view is that social changes throughout the years are due to evolutionary developments. â€Å"Brief history of the electric telegraph shows that significant reordering of time and space began long before the internet† (Mackay pg. 142). He suggests that communication with others via e-mail hosts the same enthusiastic doctrine as is held by those wishing to write in the conventional way. Also the enthusiasm held by the introduction of ICTs was just the same as had been with the invention of the semaphore telegraphs. â€Å"In the future, it is claimed, ICTs will unlock the door to a society of unlimited resources. The plentitude of the information economy will end deprivation and need. † (Golding, pg. 130). Golding does not foresee this happening as the use for ICTs will always require manufactured upgrades and money being spent to ensure the running of them. The only form of media that he views as having ‘consistently high penetration’ (Golding pg. 130) is television. The cultural imperialism thesis looks at the media expanding throughout the world. It is generally assuming that the exportation of different cultures from West to East is not beneficial within society. Schiller denotes that this approach is pessimistic. â€Å"Cultural exports not only restrict other countries’ development of their own production industries, but also, quite insidiously, manipulate and shape cultural values. (Mackay pg. 145). He does not believe that any good can come from knowledge being shared in this way. There is in his view, an adverse effect on different cultures generated by this method. Negroponti is optimistic about the introduction of the media sources. Internet allows us to have access to anything at any time of night or day. Everything in his view will flourish. He sees those entering the sector will grow and get better with time as the creation of new technologies advances through time. It has become easier to communicate with each other regardless of location. There has been an increase in dating sites which can be accessed at any time and by anyone. There has been a transformation from traditional conventional ideologies about what is termed intimacy. Due to media there are many more public arenas for the discussion of both personal and public relationships. â€Å"Cyberspace offers the possibility of the increased development of personal relationships in an apparent disembodied space† (Woodward pg. 191). There are fewer secrets held within the boundaries of relationships. This generates a freedom of self in a way whereby people can decide their identity. It can be suggested that this manner of communication allows those within society to talk openly about their lives as the information given is received by a faceless audience. This however does not always prove to be a beneficial factor as there is a threat of undesirable people choosing to become part of a society they would not ordinarily live within the realms of. There is no threat as to ones true identity, no questions require truthful answers. Intimate relationships were at one time kept secret from the public domain what went on behind closed doors stayed there. â€Å"Selling – point is the minutiae of the daily lives and personal relationships of the rich and famous†( Woodward pg. 186). Magazines make the most profit when they are selling stories about celebrities and the scandals associated with them . Giddens â€Å"transformation of intimacy† (Woodward pg. 201) shows that there has been a change socially within the realms of intimacy. He looks upon marriages as only being beneficial to the participating partners for as long as they gain fulfilment from it. He sees an increase in equality within marriages. â€Å"Relationships between women and men which aspire to the pure relationship are more equal, with men as well as women being concerned with the emotional quality of the relationship and being prepared to make investment in this form of intimacy† (Woodward pg. 201)Another factor suggested by Giddens is what he denotes as â€Å"Plastic sexuality† Women can decide if they want to reproduce and by what method they want to reproduce by. They are free to enter into sexual relationships without the threat of becoming pregnant. â€Å"This search for personal satisfaction through intimate relationships leads to greater reflexivity. † (Woodward pg 202. ) Giddens does not however, document accounts of those within ethnic minorities, or make reference to relationships whereby intimacy is achieved without closeness for example with the use of prostitution, thus not holding true to his assumptions on pure relationships. Intimacy can be between friends, it does not always involve partners having a sexual relationship. Lynn Jamieson believes that inequalities still remain within society. As she states â€Å"There are significant disjuncture between public and private stories about personal relations, especially in the context of the more optimistic variants of idealized discourses of transforming intimacies. (Woodward pg 203. ) Unlike Giddens she does not see equality within partnerships. Material circumstances account for much of the unhappiness that exists. Divorce rates are still high and in the majority of cases are instigated by the women. Another factor that challenges Giddens theory is that she suggests domestic violence is still concurrent and therefore shows the depths to which inequalities lie. In conclusion, we can see that social change has altered the organization of society. â€Å"Changes in the boundaries between public and private space. These boundaries are not fixed in time and space but are continually being redrawn and transgressed† (Woodward pg. 186). People adapt to changes and accustom themselves to their presence. From looking at the changes within space and time we can see how there has been a move from rural to industrialised society to the developing technology. We as a nation are aware of what is happening globally and it is easy to contact and communicate with others worldwide. We can acquire information about almost anything that interests us. There are no longer boundaries or space that can stop interaction with others. Time is no longer a barrier. Although there lies many debates and questions regarding social change the only thing that can be agreed upon is that there will always be changes within our society. Reference: Hugh Mackay cited in â€Å"Social Change† edited by Tim Jordan and Steve Pile, Open University Press, Milton Keynes 2002 Kath Woodward cited in â€Å"Social Change† edited by Tim Jordan and Steve Pile, Open University Press, Milton Keynes 2002 Lynn Jamieson, @From â€Å"the family† to sex and intimacy (1998) cited in â€Å"Social Change† edited by Tim Jordan and Steve Pile, Open University Press, Milton Keynes 2002 Word Count: 1550 approx

Cultural experience Essay

In preparation for this reflection, I began by thinking about what cultural event I would most like to attend, what would work for the assignment and what would also benefit me in my personal life by actually forcing me out of my comfort zone to experience things I never have before. Because Christianity is such a huge part of my life I immediately thought I would want to do something based on another religion since I’ve never really gone out of my religious comfort zone, but for this assignment I chose to go to a gay bar. The reason I chose to do this was because I have been raised as a Christian, I grew up in a very conservative town and while I support gay rights being around gay people is still something that is foreign and a little bit uncomfortable for me. My roommate also chose to use going to the gay bar for an assignment for her human sexuality class, so while knowing that I would have my roommate going with me made me a little bit more comfortable I still knew that t his would be something that pushed me way out of my comfort zone. We both live in Elkhart, Indiana so while we were home for spring break a gay friend of my roommates offered to take us to a club called â€Å"Metro† which is an 18 plus gay bar located in Kalamazoo, Michigan which is about 45 minutes away. Before going to the gay bar I was so nervous. As mentioned before, while I support gay rights I have not necessarily ever been exposed to them and I wasn’t sure at all what to expect. The bar that we went too isn’t strictly a gay bar so there would most likely be other straight people there but I had no idea how exactly to prepare myself for the situation. Because we were going with my roommate’s friend, who is gay, I knew I would feel a little more comfortable since we weren’t just walking in completely unprepared. I was worried what people would think of me when I went, if they would assume that I was gay. I didn’t know if it was normal for gay’s to take straight  friends with them, I was worried about how people would judge me. As I began to get ready for the night I wasn’t really too worried about what to wear, I just wore something that I would normally wear to go out but mentally I was less prepared than ever. I had no idea how I was supposed to act, what if it was awkward once I got there. Before we went my roommate and I met up with her gay friend and several of his friends. His friend group contained a mix of both gay and straight men and women who would be going to the bar with us so I immediately felt more comfortable, knowing that I wouldn’t be the only straight one other than my roommate. I expected the ride there to be awkward, considering I didn’t know anyone other than my roommate and she didn’t know anyone other than the one guy and me, but instead they were all so friendly and told us not to be nervous. Because we were going on a Saturday night they explained to us that there would probably be more gay’s there than the other nights of the week/weekend but that didn’t mean they would assume we were gay, and people were usually pretty good about asking before they hit on you. After the 45 minute drive there we finally arrived and walked in. As we walked in a realized that it wasn’t any different than any other bar would be (not that I’ve been in that many since I’m only 19) full of people, d ancing, music and drinking. The inside of the building was pretty big and there was plenty of room. Almost everybody there was dancing. The people we came with were all over 21 so they all went and got drinks while my roommate and I just hung out. It was a little overwhelming at first. There were definitely a lot of gay people around, dancing together, standing at the bar flirting, and just hanging out with groups of people. Eventually we started to loosen up a little bit, while I didn’t really talk and get to know a lot of gay people I was complimented by a lot of them. During our time there we pretty much just hung out and danced in the group that we came with. A few of the people that we came with went off and danced with other people, but because I still felt a little uncomfortable and awkward we didn’t really venture to far apart from our group and go dance with anyone else or anything. I think it would have a been a very different experience if we had gone when w e were 21 and could drink at the bar, I think it would have changed the experience a little bit. We arrived at the bar at a little bit after 10 which is when the dance floor opened and stayed until around 1 in the morning. Examine The part of this experience that was the most compelling to me was almost the sense of community that I felt was just there between the gay community. Like there were a lot of groups of people there that night that didn’t even know each other, but you would never guess that by the way they acted like they had been friends for years. Even towards me and my roommate who they didn’t know, was just some straight stranger walking in and â€Å"observing† them they were so nice and accepting. They were willing to let us into their environment, knowing that we were not a part of it and I felt no judgment or anything. My fears that I had felt earlier in the day before going were put to rest, while some people were unusually friendly to me no girls really tried to hit on me, which was really relieving. As mentioned above, the most shocking thing I noticed was the community, or the way they socialized with and accepted themselves and each other. I think that at the roots of everything its amazing how well they have a grasp on who they are, and who they want others to see them. Because being gay is looked down upon in many parts of our society that makes them part of an oppressed group. Not only are gay’s an oppressed group but I also saw varying degrees of sexism. Because the gay community also includes transgender people as well. This forced me to think past my original understanding of gender. On page 318 of the book it talks about how gender is a social construct, meaning that gender is something that society defines which was really different when you read about it and see it in person. In person seeing someone who doesn’t associate with the â€Å"gender† they are born with is something that you don’t really understand until you experience it in person. Articulate Learning By attending this event I learned a lot more about the gay community than I could ever learn from a textbook. They really are a very close knit community. Their community is a lot different than what we observe in our day to day life. In normal everyday life when we see members of the gay community on the street they are treated differently, they are looked out as outcasts and they are oppressed but seeing them in this environment gave me an entirely differently outlook on them and made me respect them a lot more. The reason this matters is because I am certain that there are other people just like me who feel uncomfortable, uneasy and unsure around people that they haven’t really been around before. Because of the way I was raised I was taught to believe being gay was wrong, so I was never really around them very often so I was unexposed and uneducated about them entirely. I think it was really good for me to experience this because it made me realize that they really aren’t that different than everyone else. The most important thing I took away from this experience was that contrary to what I personally have been taught to believe, what society has forced us to think they are not horrible awful people. They are people just like me who have been oppressed and faced many challenges to get to where they’re at now and they still don’t receive the respect and benefits that they deserve in our country. I took away that it is important for me to for that very reason it is important for me to form my own beliefs and not just go off of what everyone around me has told me. References Adams, M. (2007). Introduction. In Adams M., Blumenfeld W.J., Castaà ±eda C.R., Hackman H.W., Peters M.L., & Zà ºÃƒ ±iga X., Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York: Routledge.

The Soprano’s Glorification Throughout time social issues

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Soprano’s Glorification Throughout time social issues The Soprano's Glorification Throughout time social issues have plagued every society. In our Modern times many social problems can be seen personified through our television sets. The most recent of these television programs to showcase these problems is through the life of Tony Soprano, in HBO's The Soprano's. David Simon brings an interesting perspective when exploring the criminal side of the American Dream, in his book Tony Soprano's America. In addition, argues The Soprano's is a metaphor for the ills of our contemporary American Life showing how we are all disillusioned, alienated, and alone. In the book, Simon explains how The Soprano's is the microcosm of America where we glorify Tony as a liar, a cheater and a bigot, but nonetheless love him.Family dysfunction is the first of the social problems personified in the book. How is it that in today's society the average couple that is married between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four has a seventy-five percent divorce rate.Soc ial Problems

Comment Etiquette

Comment Etiquette Comment Etiquette Comment Etiquette By Maeve Maddox Paul Krugman, in his capacity of Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, recently felt the need to remind his readers to stay on topic when commenting on his posts. The admonition to stay on topic is found in every article on the subject of web comment etiquette. etiquette: the customary code of polite behavior in society; good manners. â€Å"Stay on topic† is one of the five basic rules offered by the editors at WordPress.com: 1. Be specific. 2. Don’t leave a link. 3. Stay on topic. 4. Be nice. 5. Keep it brief. In Online Community Management for Dummies, Deborah Ng offers a longer list of rules; â€Å"stay on topic† is in there, as are these two useful recommendations: Practice respectful disagreement, not personal attacks. Be brief and don’t turn every comment into your own personal blog post. In her article â€Å"Are You a Blog Hog?†, blogging coach Molly Greene gives this definition of a â€Å"blog hog†: You might be a blog hog if you hijack someone else’s blog and use your comment to toot your own horn, discuss your accomplishments ad infinitum without being asked, hog the thread, dominate the conversation vs. join it, or take it upon yourself to jump in and reply to every question or comment other visitors make. She follows this definition with specific remedies for bloghogitis. Two of her recommendations are to tailor comment length to the type of post being responded to, and to avoid turning the comment into a lengthy rewrite of what the author of the blog has already written. Although the term â€Å"blog hog† isn’t used, Leigh Alexander seems to be describing one in an article about the kinds of comment people leave: The Person Who Wants To Talk About Something Else Entirely. This individual typically devotes several paragraphs to a personal anecdote tangentially related to a sentence or two in the article. They seem oblivious to the fact that they are spiraling off into their own universe. Readers’ comments are a valuable addition to a blog. The most appreciated comments are the good-natured ones that focus on the post topic. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesTelling a Good Poem from a Bad One13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage

Revealing Clothes and Show of Skin

Revealing Clothes and Show of Skin Hashtag: #MexicansProblemsAtSchool Revealing Clothes and Show of Skin There are numerous #MexicansProblemsAtSchool but the most interesting in this circumstances are not the usual funny but noisy classmates, the  inadequacy of school facilities, and others but teacher’s inappropriate physical appearance. In particular, the negative impact of a â€Å"mucho caliente† or â€Å"very hot† English teacher and obese physical education teacher on students’ learning and individual belief on the health benefits of physical education. Many will agree that teaching is an ethically challenging profession as it involves satisfying social and cultural expectations. Normally, since young people are considered the most vulnerable to the effect of power imbalances, their teacher as both professional and social model is bound to follow well-defined moral behaviors, dress code and assume a certain personality. Moreover, since people in most cultures judge a person’s morality in the way he or she behave, dress, and physical looks, teachers dress conservatively and avoiding flirty or provoking sexy looks and dresses. Many schools have dress codes for teachers in order to maintain a professional demeanor and achieve a level of classroom decorum helpful to student achievement. In reality, it can be very difficult to young male students to focus on schoolwork if their teacher is dressed seductively. In order to maintain a favorable learning atmosphere, dress codes commonly restrict wearing revealing clothes and limit the amount of skin a female teacher can show. Want to know more? Go here: Learning from Budget Books The Scientific Basis for Defining Seasons Are Plagiarism and Censorship Having Something in Common? Yasar Kemal is a Master of Word Who and What Deserve Respect Practicing What You Preach Most physical education teachers are athletic but not in Mexico. Obese physical education teachers are in fact #MexicansProblemsAtSchool that need to be addressed. Obesity, in essence, is a lack of professional development and since students’ acceptance of their teacher as a source of health information or one with admirable wellness status they can emulate; an obese physical education teacher is undoubtedly useless. Similar to dress code, teachers are expected to epitomize good health so that by examples, students will be encouraged to mimic their behavior and attitudes. How can an obese teacher promote health and well-being in school when he is unconcerned about the danger of obesity and living an unhealthy lifestyle? Similarly, since it will be difficult for students to accept that there are health benefits in physical education. A physically fit PE teacher according to study is a model that promote a positive attitude toward physical education and physical activity. This is because overweight/obese students with non-obese PE teacher are more enthusiastic about physical education, more concern about their health, and confident about the positive effect of physical activity on weight loss. It is thus important for teachers to practice what they preach and become a good model for students to emulate. There is nothing wrong with being fashionable but teaching is an ethical profession that demands self-restriction and observance of socially and culturally acceptable norms. Since teachers are expected to maintain a professional demeanor and create a learning atmosphere, distractions such as seductive clothing or looks must be avoided at all cost. Similarly, as the credibility of the source of health information is critical to the development of students’ positive attitude towards physical education and activity, a physical education teacher must be mindful of his own health and credible enough to demonstrate the health benefits of physical activity.

Reading summaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading summaries - Essay Example For example, it could be said that teenage mothers are actually unhealthy in different aspects. Their present condition may be attributed to unaddressed dysfunctions in their emotional lives as well as family lives. Having emotional dysfunction then makes them more vulnerable to other dysfunctions in society that culminate in their making the wrong decision. According to Lupton (2012), different classes of women interpret the expectations of society in different ways. For women who have financial support, and are not unduly worried about making good salaries, they may welcome the advice to discipline their bodies and define any strictures as health-inducing. For women who have few resources, though, encouraging a discipline-based regiment will merely seem to be yet another additional burden that they have to bear. According to Macvarish (2010), teenage mothers will have a different definition of health that is based on their experiences in life. In the absence of a real depiction of what constitutes real health, they are more likely to define health as being a state of being that is defined by luck, and not any behaviors of self-preservation maintained on an individual’s

Marcus Garvey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marcus Garvey - Essay Example Marcus Garvey a Jamaican saw the predicament of his people and joined Jamaican Nationalist Organization (Haugen 3). He valued the rights of his people and sought for an approach that would liberate his people from the tyranny of racial discrimination. Garvey toured many nations i.e. London, Central America, Jamaica, and United States of America among others. He was motivated by the predicaments of his people to form a civil right movement that intended to deliver the blacks from psychological bondage of racism. This paper analyses choices, motivation, and strategy of non-violent campaign and the leadership style of Marcus Garvey. Garvey’s approach to racial discrimination and colonialism in Africa and the rest of the world relied on his love for the black race. History quotes that he believed that Africans were able to compete with the whites for the top jobs (Haugen 8). The most pressing need that inspired Garvey to rally against the independence of Africans was taking contro l of their own destiny. He believed that Africans would improve their lives when they took control of their own destiny by instituting their own leaders. Garvey used UNIA as a tool that would bring the blacks together under one umbrella to address their social, economic, and freedom issues. For instance, the UNIA Conference held on 1 August 1920 intended to equip the African leaders with the conscious they required in order to fight for their independence (Haugen 6). The deliberation in the conference as expressed through the opening speech of Garvey shows that Garvey sought to change the conditions of life of Africans through a united movement. Garvey’s uses his own life a model that would shape the lives of the blacks. It is evident from his speech that his personal life motivated him to leadership position. His wish was to mould similar mind, which emulate his ideologies throughout the world. â€Å"I came from an environment that is not better than you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hill & Garvey 45). The above is one of the quotes that he made during a gathering where he was addressing blacks. The nature of life in Jamaica and psychological inferiority of the blacks in the United States played a motivational role in influencing the writing, political and social life of Garvey. History documents that Garvey made unique choices in his political movement and social life. For instance, his letter to Theodore Roosevelt portrays an inclusive leadership approach that aim at promoting peace as well as quest for primary rights such democracy in the society. Garvey believed in freedom movements, which advocates for basic human rights through peaceful negotiation. He fought for black pride, which he believed, would come from education and self-realization. Another unique choice that he made during his leadership is to influence the opening of UNIA offices across the world where the blacks existed (Lawler & Davenport 85). This choice posed a great threat to his personal life as well as the governments that oppressed the blacks. The choice to meet the leaders of Ku Klux Kean is unique in the sense that the organization was against liberation of the black. Critical analysis into the leadership style of Garvey takes us to the transformational leadership style. In transformation leadership, four factors form the basis of transformational leadership. These factors are inspiration leadership, charismatic leadership, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation. Garvey intention was to rally intellectualism in creating leadership for Africa and the Negroes. He addressed large audience and insisted on the need for education as the foundation for freedom for the blacks (Haugen 4). Another observation is the charisma in his approach to political issues of

Midterm Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Midterm Paper - Essay Example Theoretically, leadership is explained as a process of influencing the society in which one can procure the assistance and the support of others in the procedure of accomplishing the desired outcomes through the common tasks. In simple words, leadership is all about the leaders those who mobilize others to get the job accomplished within the organization. It reflects the practices of the leaders which they perform to transform the values into the actions, the vision of the organization into realities, the obstacles within the work into the innovations and the risk factors into the rewards. As demonstrated by Bennis & Thomas (2013) in this context, it is the leadership that creates an atmosphere where the employees face the challenge and turn the challenging situations or the opportunities into the remarkable success. Initially, I used to perceive that leadership is all about steering people towards the determined goals. But, after going through the ‘crucibles’, I realize d that I had actually mistaken between management and leadership at the theoretical level where managers are bestowed with the responsibility to direct their staff through negative and positive motivations towards predetermined goals in the short run, but leaders pursue greater responsibilities towards the sustenance of the team focusing on shared values fundamentally focusing upon the long run performances of the overall team. Being motivated by the context of Bennis & Thomas, I went through various leadership case studies, where various organizational, political as well as social leaders were assessed on the basis of their leadership qualities and the corresponding achievements. In most instances, especially when reading about the modern day organizational leaders, I found that they attempt to find logical solutions to the problems encountered within the organization. The controlling power and the directing power possessed by these leaders have been further observed to reward them with a height in their achievements which has also been addressed in the discussion of Bennis & Thomas. According to my learning, intellectual analytical skills are quite essential for leaders to perform in the increasingly competitive environment of the 21st century wherein Bennis & Thomas reveals that leadership concepts and approaches have changed over the past few decades. This is when I realized that leadership is not at all an easy task and I needed to develop my skills immensely to reach the level already benchmarked by these leaders. In accordance with the above scenario a drastic change came to my perception not only regarding my competencies as a leader but also regarding my approach towards life. This particular experience or learning exposed the underneath values and beliefs related to the leadership qualities and theories that were inherited in my mind. The article by Bennis & Thomas focuses on the leadership practices in automotive industry which has recently been wit nessed strong effects from economic downturn and high degree of fluctuations in the customer buying behavior within the worldwide context. Presenting an interesting scenario, the authors successfully draws the attention of the readers about leadership that such skills can be developed through regular life experiences as well. In fact, learning and developing leadership skills through experiences has been argued as a more effective procedure or rather the most essential quality of an effective leader as argued in the

Personal development and careers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Personal development and careers - Assignment Example Learning can be presented in terms of two theories, cognitive and behavioural. Cognitive behaviour or cognition focuses on a person’s thought processes to determine his or her behaviours and emotions. Behavioural theory is based on the changes, which can be observed in behaviour, and concentrates on a response to some type of stimulus. Other differences between the two theories include the fact that cognition helps to explain how the processes of brain work and store new information, while the behaviourists are involved in applying laboratory outcomes to elucidate the performance of human beings. Cognitive problem solving involves insight and understanding compared to behaviourist’s problem solving method which occurs via trial and error. Learning is frequently defined by the terms cognitive or behavioural. But there are numerous definitions for it. These include definitions such as ‘changes in an individual's behaviour arising from experience’, ‘the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge’, ‘a relatively permanent change in cognition, resulting from experience and directly influencing behaviour’ and ‘changes in a person's behaviour caused by information and experience.’ Although there is no exact definition of the term learning, but the essential premise from the explanations provided above is that of a change or transformation in behaviour through the acquisition of knowledge, some skill or experience. McShane and Travaglione (2003) recognized the process of learning as direct experience, reinforcement, feedback, and observation. Reinforcement is the strengthening of behaviour that is expected to occur in the future. Operant conditioning shows how new behaviours become conventional through association with particular stimulus. Any behaviour that is reinforced or rewarded will tend to be recurring. Operant conditioning or reinforcement considerably improves learning in a work setting. Feedback is defined as any information that people receive about the consequences of their former behaviour. Feedback has an effect on behaviour, hence learning improves performance and enhances the individual’s ability and motivates them.  A person can learn a lot about him/her and the organisation through feedback, including his strengths and weaknesses, which may enable him to undertake specific courses (steps) to build knowledge and improve the quality of work.   Observation helps people to learn by observing the behaviours of others, resulting in people modelling the behaviour that leads to a constructive and positive outcome as opposed to a behaviour that will lead to unfavourable results. Observation helps in increasing an individual’s motivation and ability by watching others accomplishing their objectives and identifying themselves within that position. The majority of what is learnt in an organization today occurs through experience. Direct experience is sometimes required to gain understanding and change, refine, or create a mental model. Direct experience provides built-in opportunities for active involvement in a learning environment which determinedly shapes individual’s understandings. These four activities which identify the procedure of learning are further supported by Nonaka’s process. Here the learning process is also divided in four phases: socialization, externalisation, combination and internalisation. Socialisation is where

Interdiscipnilary topic - select 3 disciplines and connect them Research Paper

Interdiscipnilary topic - select 3 disciplines and connect them somehow to the political theory of John Rawls - Research Paper Example Various disciplines can for example be used in teaching, in scientific research, in management and so on. Philosophy for example, can be used to develop theories, to which science can then be used to prove the theories. These subjects are interrelated in one way or the other, and they are normally used together to solve specific problems or develop new ideas. While the main focus is on the interdisciplinary nature of three disciplines, biological, philosophical, and educational disciplines, the paper explains the political theory as postulated by John Rawls, and also explains the meaning of interdisciplinary. Brief descriptions of the three disciplines are given, then a detailed explanation of how they are interlinked given using one research study. It is important to explain John Rawls political theory to enhance the concept in which the research is based. Rawls theory explains how a democratic society still manages to set up an economy and run normally. In a democratic society, people have different worldviews. The people have different opinions about certain laws, they have different religious beliefs, they have different conceptions about what is ethically correct or not, they have different values and forms of interpersonal relations. Because of these differences, people will have different devotions, making it hard for them to be loyal to one law. As Rawls explains however, in a society, not everyone can have his way. There has to be a common law that guides the behaviour of everyone. For example, there have to be common laws defining what is ethically right and wrong. People have to recognize that they live in a society, making it difficult to act according to the diverse values, beliefs, and practices. It is explained in this theory that the society still manages to be stable because of the people’s ability to employ public reason to make decisions. Public reason makes them

Applied Safety Engineering Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applied Safety Engineering - Assignment Example a) Each employee must be provided fall protection by the employer on a scaffold that is greater than 10 feet elevation from the lower level. A qualified individual has to determine the possibility and safety giving fall protection for the workforce that is erecting or taking to pieces the supported scaffold. b) The toprail must be in between 38 and 45 inches (0.9- 1.2 meters). Midrail should be close enough to the halfway point between toprail and platform surface. Whenever a crosspoint of crossbracing is utilized as midrail, it has to be region of 20-30 inches (0.5-0.8 meters) on top of the work platform. d) Scaffold and its components should at least withstand a load that is 4 times the load that it was actually designed for. Suspension rigging of the scaffold should be at minimum 6 times the designed load. e) Prior to each and every work shift and following any situation that has the ability of compromising the structural integrity, a qualified individual has to examine the scaffold and the elements of the scaffold so as to check for any noticeable defects. h) An engineer is required to design scaffold that are not stationary at the time the workforce is working on them and the design of brackets on frames that are fabricated on the scaffold to be used to give support to the cantilever loads plus the workers. i) Access must be provided whenever the platform is greater than 2 feet above or lower than the point of access. Access that is direct is allowed in a situation that the scaffold is less than 14 inches horizontally and lesser than 24

Interdiscipnilary topic - select 3 disciplines and connect them Research Paper

Interdiscipnilary topic - select 3 disciplines and connect them somehow to the political theory of John Rawls - Research Paper Example Various disciplines can for example be used in teaching, in scientific research, in management and so on. Philosophy for example, can be used to develop theories, to which science can then be used to prove the theories. These subjects are interrelated in one way or the other, and they are normally used together to solve specific problems or develop new ideas. While the main focus is on the interdisciplinary nature of three disciplines, biological, philosophical, and educational disciplines, the paper explains the political theory as postulated by John Rawls, and also explains the meaning of interdisciplinary. Brief descriptions of the three disciplines are given, then a detailed explanation of how they are interlinked given using one research study. It is important to explain John Rawls political theory to enhance the concept in which the research is based. Rawls theory explains how a democratic society still manages to set up an economy and run normally. In a democratic society, people have different worldviews. The people have different opinions about certain laws, they have different religious beliefs, they have different conceptions about what is ethically correct or not, they have different values and forms of interpersonal relations. Because of these differences, people will have different devotions, making it hard for them to be loyal to one law. As Rawls explains however, in a society, not everyone can have his way. There has to be a common law that guides the behaviour of everyone. For example, there have to be common laws defining what is ethically right and wrong. People have to recognize that they live in a society, making it difficult to act according to the diverse values, beliefs, and practices. It is explained in this theory that the society still manages to be stable because of the people’s ability to employ public reason to make decisions. Public reason makes them

Women strangth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women strangth - Essay Example All of this is understood to have contributed to the character of the woman who shuffles her way to town. Not until the end does Welty tell us that Phoenix is making this difficult trip in order to get the medicine her chronically-ill grandson needs in order to breathe. By the end of the story, the character Phoenix Jackson is seen as a fully developed human being despite the short space of time in which she is introduced. Through symbolic imagery and careful organization, Welty is able to present Phoenix Jackson in loving detail as a fully fledged human being rather than simply as a character. At the opening of the story, the reader joins Phoenix at a point on her path where she is in an evergreen forest. This forest is described as being full of springy needles and bright sun. In this story, the pine trees symbolize the springiness and sunshine of youth. Pine wood is a soft wood which means it’s easier to bend it and shape it to new purposes. This is an example of what Phoenix was like as a young girl. In youth, she was still full of bright hopes and dreams that were often â€Å"almost too bright to look at† (142). However, pine wood is also very easy to damage with its softer skin, and Phoenix herself was also vulnerable to these dangers. However, she is no longer so vulnerable as she proves herself capable of defending herself against any rustle she hears in the thicket, â€Å"Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!’ †¦ Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switc h at the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things† (143). The upward slope of the pine forest symbolizes Phoenix’s maturing out of childhood as much as it can be seen to be the struggle of the black race out of slavery. While that was a difficult struggle in itself, it wasn’t the last hurdle to be overcome

Introduction To Modern Technology Media Essay

Introduction To Modern Technology Media Essay Modern technology has made the requirement for information flow to be quick and effective. We have been able to achieve this through the internet; the medium i.e the internet has facilitated each of us, by making the communication cheap and fast. News for U.K is available in the Australia as soon as its on the media, accessible by millions at one time. The growth of the internet is a necessity nowadays. Now internet, where people choose to spend a major part of their day has brought social communities where people can chat, message, share beliefs, extract information, share information about things they are interested in. The internet being the centre of usage for millions of users every day, thus it also appears to be a medium for brands and products to advertise, but this advertisement is different from the advertisement we see otherwise. This advertisement takes into account that the information flow is fast and inspired by people more than the advertising agencies. So let us see how social networking became the part of our lives. The last ten years of the century brought the innovative technology Internet. As predicted by Newman (1991) Internet: Altered the meaning of geographic distance. Allowed the huge increase in the volume of communication. Provided the possibility of increasing the speed of communication. Provided opportunities for interactive communication. Allowed forms of communication that was previously separate to overlap and interconnect. Whereas Grieco and Holmes (1999) (citied in Combe et al, 2003) identifies three powerful features of Internet: Disintermediation or the removal of brokers by allowing direct communication across spatial and sociometric distance; Asynchronicyty of the removal of temporality as a barrier to communications; Oculacy or the ability to communicate messages through images. According to Hermeking (2006) the spread of modern technology, including information and communication technology (ICT), is commonly regarded both as an indicator of the postmodern era of globalization and as the very precondition for that era of intensive worldwide interactions of people and exchanges of goods, services, information, and capital. On the contrary Hoffman (Hoffman et al., 1995) believes that the popularity of the WWW as a commercial medium (in contrast to other networks on the Internet) is due to its ability to facilitate global sharing of information and resources, and its potential to provide an efficient channel for advertising, marketing, and even direct distribution of certain goods and information services. world internet users Sixty five per cent of all UK households had a broadband connection in 2008. Adults under 70 years of age who had a degree or equivalent qualification were most likely to have access to the Internet in their home, at 93 per cent (Office for National Statistics,2009). According to Linda Peters (1998) the Web presents a fundamentally different environment- both as a medium and as a market from traditional communication channels perspective. It creates the Marketspace a virtual realm where products and services exist as digital information and can be delivered through information-based channels (Rayport and Svikola, 1994). Social Networking is a phenomena that has seen a rapid growth over the last few years. If you are not involved in one (or more) of these sites you are probably wondering, so what is this Social Networking thing all about?. Let us go through a general overview of a description of a Social Network A website where people are able to develop networks of friends and associates (whether only ever on line, in real life, or both) and create, share or give information on similar interests, tastes, lifestyles and other information. Also keep in mind that social networking websites are like communities. The Social Networking sites have gained popularity and are on the increase for one simple reason, the ability to share, with others, information about yourself, your interests, your hobbies, your thoughts and your feelings or anything you choose. These can quickly be seen by others in your network and by you through messages, comments, instant messaging applications, photos, games, and group interaction. Facebook one of the most popular social networking sites started as a site for previous College Associates to remain in contact with one another during and after they had finished College. Youtube is another social networking site not just a repository for uploading various types of videos. Some people have found new friendship and romance. People get to know events like fires, storms, and even floods in other countries that have occurred locally in that vicinity, usually even hours before these events are made public by the media. People become involved in many discussions which have given them an opportunity to get to know differing cultures and beliefs One other belief some people have is that it is only Generation Y that use these sites. You will be surprised that many people from many different walks of life in many countries in many age groups use these sites. Some sites are broad category sites like Myspace and Facebook (now). Some are specific to a narrow category, like Small business, the Arts, connecting Families, Blogging, Making Money on the Internet and Dating Services (using a broad and polite term there). Some are popular by type of category they use, where others are popular by region (like UK and Europe, Africa, etc). Social media According to Liu Shrum (2002) new media (Internet), brought new models of interactivity: user-to-user and user-to-message. The interactivity develops a new meaning when it is applied through Web 2.0 platforms and Social media channels as dialogue between consumer and company becomes much more active and interactive. Contemplating about user-to-user interactivity Ha and James (1998) suggested that the more communication in a computer-mediated environment resembles interpersonal communication, the more interactive the communication isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. Defined by Steuer (1992) users-to-message interaction as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢the extent to which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. The above figure outlines the E marketing strategy suggested Constantinides (2008) Nielsen Company analyzed and found that the global average time spent for a person on social networking sites is over five each month (February 2010 data), Facebook being the major part of the usage. Social networking is a great option to advertise your business. Social networking does not require large amounts to be invested in, rather its free most of the time, moreover its very simple, easy and quick. There are dozens of websites on the internet where you can sign up within a few minutes and network with millions of people quickly and easily. Social media encourages feedback from everyone who is interested. Social media provokes the user controlled media, empowering the users to drive the communities they are in. Make their comments on products and brands, as they come to them. They can exploit these communities to promote a product and also ruin the reputation of one. Weston (2008) says that, social networking, if approached in the right manner, can build brand awareness, find new customers, help find talent, and help creating a database for market research and analysis. Some businesses find it unnecessary to market themselves on social networking sites, although it is a good way to advertise products/services with knowing what consumers think and want. Social network marketing can be very fruitful for businesses. Social networking media has been thought to be an advertisement source though should be used cleverly to reap of the benefits from it. Thus it is important that the brands committed to using it should use it in the correct way. Zirinsky, 2009 believes online social advertising is all about two way conversations with consumers, not one way broadcastmaking this mistake is far too common and simply makes brands appear out of touch with their audience and reality, and is detrimental to their overall image. Social media keeps an edge over other forms of online communication for its use of enabling content sharing on a network. Content sharing and interaction is defines social media making it different from other means of communication. This means that if brands are going to the get value from social media, they should use it for what it is good in; allowing and helping the sharing of interesting material to create relevant positive hype for the brand or product. Powell, 2009 on the other hand states that Brands need to add value into an online community through enabling the sharing of content, if it cannot do this it has little value, and will be perceived as having little value. For information sharing social media has accelerated the entire process. James in 2009 has said Across networks, a good or bad experience will be shared, potentially on a huge scale. Between 700,000 and 1.3 million blog posts are made daily and, according to Google, a new blog post is being created every second of every day. Most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and the sharing of information. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of content password-protected content is frowned on. Thus a free portal for information sharing, which is effective and fast engages millions of users, now for brands they should be aware how to engage masses they are interested in, because as discussed earlier social networking is probably the fastest way of communication and words positive or negative spread very quickly. Powell, 09 debates Normal social etiquette has crossed over into social media. Social media are communities and there are standards and protocols as to what kind of behavior is acceptable and unacceptable. This statement suggests that the brands should communicate and behave in the social media as to not offend the users of social networking. It is important that whatever information the brands or products are interested in sharing has been uploaded after careful screening and thought process. The strategy for online advertising has to be defined precisely. Thorbjornsen et al. in 2002 affirms that empowering consumers is crucial to online relationships. Rowley in 2007 argues that the concept of customer community leadership has been proposed with the customer being viewed as a partner. Virtual space was a key aspect in amplifying community member experience. Kozinets solicited that retribalized virtual communities of consumption require a newer framework for traditional relationship marketing theory. It is therefore vital at this point to provide a brief overview of tribalism. Cova, 1997 proposes that the potential of tribalism and the linking value has been developed. A tribe is defined as a network of heterogeneous persons in terms of age, sex, income, etc. who are linked by a shared passion or emotion; a tribe is capable of collective action, its members are not simple consumers, they are also advocates; (Cova and Cova 2002: 602). The Internet has only helped to increase the potential of tribalism. E-tribes allow people to gather together in groups based on a huge range of cultural and subcultural interests and social affiliations (Kozinets, 1999: 253). Muniz and OGuinn, 2001 argue that it is crucial to notice that tribal communities are argued to be less explicitly commercial than brand communities. Social Media Web 2.0 Social media and Web 2.0 are two words which are many times used interchangeably in the marketing literature, even though they are not entirely the same. As per the marketing perspective, the Web 2.0 should be apprehended as the recent tool for the marketing communication mix and facilitator and enabler of social media. The Web 2.0 term was introduced by Tim Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸Reilly in 2004, it has originated from talks about social software and the communities surrounding these applications. Tim Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸Reilly said the companies that survived the dotcom boom had something in common; these companies realized that the Web is much more useful for delivering service than being used just as a platform for packaged products (i.e. software). Constantinides and Fountain (2008) on the other hand defined Web 2.0 as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Web 2.0 is a collection of open-source, interactive and user-controlled online applications expanding the experiences, knowledge and market power o f the users as participants in business and social processes. Web 2.0 applications support the creation of informal users networks facilitating the flow of ideas and knowledge by allowing the efficient generation, dissemination, sharing and editing / refining of informational content . Hoegg believes that Web 2.0 is the philosophy of mutually maximizing collective intelligence and added value for each participant by formalized and dynamic information sharing and creationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. Both of these definitions are exhibits of similar concepts for amplifying the collated intelligence, a community regulated by itself, effects of the network, openness in showing the information creation and sharing process, but the vital aspect here is the consumer. There are not many changes in the Web 2.0 compared to Web 1.0 applications from the technological aspect; value over here is created by the people as they do not just use this software but also play a major role in the creation of these soft wares. Thus as apprehended in modern IT solutions and models, user input is the most vital aspect, can be viewed on a global level with each social networking website. Web 2.0 applications are still considered to be in the development stage, they are categorized according to the purpose and field of the research. Constantinides and Fountain (2008) classify them into 5 broad types according their nature: Blogs: Short for Web logs: online journals, the most known and fastest-growing category of Web 2.0 applications. Blogs are often combined with Podcasts, that is, digital audio or video that can be streamed or downloaded to portable devices. Examples: www.blogtopsites.com , www.blogger.com and several others. Social networks: applications allowing users to build personal websites accessible to other users for exchange of personal content and communication Examples: www.facebook.com , www.myspace.com and others. (Content) Communities: Websites organising and sharing particular types of content. Examples are applications of Video sharing: http://video.google.com, www.youtube.com, http://etsylove.ning.com, Photos sharing: http://www.flickr.com, Social Bookmarking: www.digg.com , http://del.icio.us and Publicly Edited Encyclopedias (Wikis): www. wikipedia.org , http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Main_Page. Forums/bulletin boards: sites for exchanging ideas and information usually around special interests Examples: www.epinions.com, www.personaldemocracy.com, http://www.python.org. Content aggregators: applications allowing users to fully customise the web content they wish to access. These sites make use of a technique known as Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary (RSS). Examples http://uk.my.yahoo.com/, http://www. google.com/ig, http://www.netvibes.com/. Blogs and blogging Web Logs (knows as Blogs), according to Tredinnick (2006), are arguably the oldest Web 2.0 applications and have been in the web space since mid 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s. Constantinides and Fountain (2008) states that it is the most known and fastest-growing category of Web 2.0 applications. Published in Daily Blog Tips, 2008 A Blog is a Web site, usually run by any individual with regular entries of discussions, happening of events, or other content such as graphics or videos where entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order and has permalinks. Antony Mayfield argues (2008), the most important features of the blogs are Linking, Trackbacks, Comments and Subscription (RSS) which allow companies to engage with their stakeholders and facilitates conversations between them. Good blogs are used by people to easily access information and share the viewpoint of things. People from various geographical locations, can log in and write blogs at one place, being able to share knowledge and express them. Blogs help people discover a lot a things that a layman would not be aware of but yet, through a search engine would reach a blogspot where he or she can gain the information they require. The internet guru Seth Godin (2004) remarked that good blogs work when they are based on: candor, urgency, timeliness, pithiness, controversy and utility. Armano (2008) groups these features to 4 Cà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s of blogging. Furthermore, Huang in 2007 identified the main techniques for how to manage brand communications according to various blogging motivations. Table 2.2. Bloggersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ motivations. Source: Huang (Huang al., 2007) Social networks Social networking is the fastest growing Web 2.0 application, and this is the main reason for the social media to prosper as quickly as it is powered by effective, fast communication, this media is driven by the users demand. A user prefers to believe in their counterpart rather than any organization. McKinsey defines social networking as systems that allow members of a specific site to learn about other members skills, talents, knowledge or preferences. Pew/Internet believes- A social networking site is an online location where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. Wikipedia states that a social network service focuses on the building and verification of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. It provides various ways for users to interact chat, messaging, email, video, file sharing, blogging and discussion groups The features of social networks present an opportunity to create brand communities and interact with them online. It allows people from all over the world to sign up within a few minutes and access the information available, this has allowed the organizations to be acting in a multinational mode, as they can reach anywhere in the world with the least amount of time taken. Tim Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸Reilly (2005) thinks otherwise and said that Web 2.0 doesnt have a hard boundary, but rather, a gravitational core which could be visualized as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core (Appendix 2.4). Therefore it is difficult to classify the Web 2.0 into the precise groupings, because the applications are interrelated and most of the time a few Web 2.0 features works on one platform. The mixture of Web 2.0 applications working under one site are known as Mash-ups. On the contrary according to Mayfield (2008) this combination of two or more pieces of content (or software, or websites) is one of the phenomena in social media that make it at once so exciting, fast-moving and sometimes bewilderingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-. But even more vital aspect of Web 2.0 applications is the coherence with the different platforms. Social applications are getting more and more popular on mobile devices (Phones, iPods (via podcasts)). In fact, according to BBC News (2008) one of the reasons the Internet usage on the mobile devices is increasing Web 2.0 applications. According to Drury (2008) social media applications has an ability to bring Head (Professional) and Tail (UGC) content together in all the formats (audio, video , text). As more and more professionally edited websites incorporate social media content some companies (i.e. Joost) are trying to apply Web 2.0 principals (live participation) for even bigger media platforms as TV. These applications are being tested in the Internet TV and in the near future have a good chance to redefine TV experience completely. All these changes open new opportunities for integrated marketing campaigns, where marketers are enabled to reach bigger number of audiences of consumers at all their touch points with mediated world at one-stop shop. Facebook is the most used social networking site that has involved the masses all over the world. Facebook is a social networking site, which provides users with a platform to create a personal profile page, add friends, and send messages, post on their profiles, comment on their status. Kazeniac, 2009 said that since the company was founded in 2004, it has become the top ranked social networking site. According to Facebook Statistics (2009), there are over 300 million current active users (i.e. users that have logged-on in the past 30 days). Facebook users have claimed the site a necessity, along the lines of oxygen, water, and food (Verna, 2009). For many people, visiting Facebook has become an integral part of their daily lives, and has even caused some to have an unhealthy obsession with the site. According to Elizabeth Cohen (2009), a CNN medical correspondent, therapists are seeing more and more Facebook addicts, who become compulsive Facebook users to the point where the site interferes with relationships, jobs, and normal daily life. The site has transformed social communication in the 21st century, with Facebook and other Social networking sites reaching hundreds of millions of people across the globe. Facebook achieves the comptetive edge by adding new features and developments on a continuous basis. Since it is free to create an account, Facebook has to generate its revenue elsewhere, through a venue such as advertising. Companies can utilize Facebooks features to reach their audiences in different ways. Gangadharbatla (2009) states that Social networking sites are changing the way advertisers reach consumers, and that these changes are transforming online advertising all together. There are a variety of ways to use Facebook, and the different features allow creativity and experimentation in advertising. For instance, when users log-on, they are taken to a homepage called a News Feed which highlights recent activities from other users. Each Facebook account also includes a personal profile page, a Wall to write public messages to other users, Facebook-generated applications (photos, events, groups, video, notes, and links), and an inbox to write private messages to other users. T he site also allows users to add optional features called Platform applications to connect in new ways. According to Facebooks statistics (2009), more than 70% of Facebook users utilize Platform applications on a monthly basis. Since these Platforms are optional, it is significant that users are seeking out additional Facebook features and uses for the site. The purpose of Facebook has shifted, as the continued popularity of added features proves that its users are looking for more than just casual networking with friends. A few of the currently popular platform applications include games, fan pages, and gifts. Social-network gaming company Zynga has dominated the site with applications such as FarmVille, Cafà © World, and Mafia Wars. Zynga has over 126 million monthly active users, making it the leading Facebook development platform. The company reported that they currently spend approximately $50 million on Facebook advertising annually, and this figure is expected to increase as the company continues to develop over the years. The games allow Facebook users to purchase virtual products with a credit card, as a means to advance further in the game. Techniques such as these provide Zynga with Facebook-user generated revenues and encourage more advertising and developing on the site. Advertisers can also utilize the option to create a free fan page, where companies and individuals can invite users to become a fan of a product, service, person, company, brand, etc. The page is set up similarly to a profile page, with the option to add status updates, photos, announcements, etc. According to Facebooks statistics (2009), over 10 million users become fans of pages on a daily basis, which provides growing possibilities to reach consumers without any financial risk. The updates on the fan pages are also displayed on the home page news feed of the fans who have joined as fans. There is also a chance to buy birthday gifts, as Facebook has expanded its gift shop to include real gifts alongside virtual ones. This type of online shopping connects cyber space with the real world, so that what happens online does not necessarily stay online. Impact of Social media advertising Castells, 2000 states that it has long been suggested that the western world in particular operates in a network society. The leitmotif of societing the link is more important than the thing is central to tribalism. Crucially, tribalism encourages dialogue in many directions and combinations; Business to Consumer (B2C), Customer to Business (C2B) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C). Drury (2008) suggests that when analyzing social media marketers too often concentrates on the media factor, when social element is the key, because marketing within social media is about building a relationship and conversation with the audience, where the simple message delivery is changed by ongoing exchange of perceptions and ideas between company and the consumer. Haven (2008) argues that social media key elements are not entirely new as features of sharing, connecting, opining, broadcasting and creating has been long in our lives, but there are several characteristics of new technologies and behaviors that set them apart from the past: Reach Historically, audiences for the common person have been limited: a tribe, family, friends, neighbors, or the local community. Todays technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience. Accessibility The means of production for most media used to lie in the hands of enterprises with unlimited resources (financial or human). Todays technologies for media creation are available to anyone at little or no cost. Usability The means of production typically required specialized skills and training, both technically and creatively. Todays technologies simplify those processes, or in some cases reinvent them, so anyone can create and operate the means of production. Transparency People, especially Americans, historically kept personal information to themselves and had a general distrust of authority (enterprises, government, etc.). Today, people are willing to share anything about themselves (interests, location, family situations, health condition, etc.) in a public venue, and todays technologies make that both possible and purposeful. Recency When people did have the means of production and distribution in the past (albeit limited), the time lag between communications was typically long (days, weeks, or even months). It was a limitation of the technology or system in which it operated. Todays technologies enable instantaneous responses and dialog where only the participant determines the delay in response. From the results of a research, Ofcom (2008) identified the following fundamental principle of social networking; By extending their social networks, users have the opportunity to communicate with people who share their interests and with people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds (Ofcom,2008). And, Communication with family and friends was found to be the main reason adults used social networking sites (Ofcom, 2008). Next Thing Now (McCann, 2008) said that 74% of social media users use the social media to be able to get in touch with their friends. This fact emphasizes on the fact the social network advertising has to be dealt with care and for the reason of not getting into the line of bad publicity. Glen Urban argued that the customer has much more power then ever before because of the three main reasons: More information. More alternatives. Easy transaction. A study from Delloite Touche USA narrated that 62% of the U.S consumers read consumer generated online reviews and 98% of them find these reviews reliable enough. 80% of these consumers say that these reviews have affected their buying intentions. According to Lockhorn (2007) word of mouth campaigns can take off very quietly through niche communities and can be powerfully persuasive, or conversely result in an astonishing backlash. This perhaps is not good for products, the habitat in which they are pushing to gain an entry is not notably considerate, and even if they do get a break, there is still a lot of competitor brand presence. James, in 2009 states that In a UK study by Jam/MySpace in early 2009, 26% of social media users said they already felt bombarded by too much clutter/advertising. The social media networking is uncommon and challenging and the brands that do not comply to the requirements will have to combat as their competitors reap on the market share. But the ones that can exploit the environment stay to make deeper relationships with the audience, and increase their brand awareness. The information over a social network spreads like a fire. Thus a bad word or a wrong mode of communication will also travel to millions of people at the same time, accessible by millions. The User Generated Content (UGC) can become an influential message of the consumer to the consumer (C2C) about the company and therefore should be carefully monitored. In fact, the content is the new message in social media channels. According to Eikelmann (Eikelmann et al, 2008) the best marketers can do in this environment is to try to engage with the consumers through social media in order influence these messages. Drury (2008) proposes that instead of sending simple messages, marketers should provide the audience with content that would intrigue them and would also be a means to kick off conversations at. Therefore, influence will become a standard measurement in Marketing 2.0 (Dowdell, 2008). As blogger and social media strategist Douma (2008) put it: The age of persuasion is over. Welcome to the age of influence. Give us the people control and we will use it, if you do not give us control you will lose us (Jarvis, 2009). Control now lies with the users, their perceptions, opinions, demands, satisfaction is what matters more. Previously, the powerful; companies, institutions and governments believed they were in control, and they were. Now the internet allows us to speak to the world, to organise ourselves, to find and spread information, to challenge old ways, to retake control (Jarvis, 2009). Companies realize this shift in control when they can stop holding on to what is lost, and start indulging in what is going to attract consumers. Engagement means giving the users content that is interesting and would appeal the masses, also providing them space where they can discuss the content. The control can be handed to the consumer. If the consumer spreads out a positive word for brand, this will create a positive image for it. Social media communities are used by humans, for a brand to prevail, it must use emotions, or undergo the subsequent results. Jarvis 2009 quotes Today, when you lose a customer, you dont lose just that customer, you risk losing that customers friends. And thanks to the internet and blogs and consumer rate and review services, your customers have lots and lots of friends all around the world. According to Powell (2009) The brand is no longer