WSC 2018 – Special Area:

Human Relationships
Human Relationships
 Discuss with your team: Is there anyone with whom you thought you’d never become
friends, but to whom you are now close? Conversely, is there anyone with whom you
thought you’d be friends forever, but from whom you have since grown apart?

 DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEAM: HOW DOES THE MEDIUM IN WHICH WE COMMUNI CATE

AFFECT WHAT WE’RE SAYING? CAN YOU COMMUNICATE SOMETHING ON S NAPCHAT

THAT YOU CAN’T ON, S AY, WHATSAPP – AND WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE ONE MEDIUM

OVER ANOTHER? PUT ANOTHER WAY: WHY AREN’T CURRICULUM PREVIEWS POSTED

ON INSTAGRAM?
Discuss with your team: how does the medium in which we communicate affect what we’re
saying? In business Prezi commissioned research to see which of the following presentation
methods – powerpoint, oral or Prezi – was the more effective (Prezi research). Unsurprisingly
the latter showed a communication preference for using the panning-and-zooming animations that
characterize Prezi presentations.
“The medium is the message” is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form
of a medium embeds itself in any message it would transmit or convey, creating a symbiotic
relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived…..the message of a
newscast about a heinous crime may be less about the individual news story itself — the content
— and more about the change in public attitude towards crime that the newscast engenders by the
fact that such crimes are in effect being brought into the home to watch over dinner
(source:Wikipedia)
Can you communicate something on Snapchat that you can’t on, say, Whatsapp – and why
would you choose one medium over another? A thought that quickly springs to mind is that
Donald trump favours using Twitter as his favoured means of communication. Why? Well it is
short (140 characters) and means that he does not have to go in to depth about what he is
opining. This also characterises his press conferences (a means of communication for the
famous) where he merely repeats the same phrase, and rarely shows the ability to go deeply into
the topic being discussed. He use a medium that suits him, and his followers I daresay. So why
use twitter?
Microblogging: This one is obvious, but in the rush to put Twitter to other uses, many people
forget its first use as a micro-blogging platform. And it is still one of the best uses. It’s easy to
make a quick tweet telling the world what you are doing, how good your morning coffee tastes or
how bad your lunch went. And it is a great way for friends and family — even those halfway
across the world — to keep connected to your daily life.
Quick Answers: The idea of crowdsourcing has never been so quick! You can ask all sorts of
questions to the Twitter universe, from what is the capital of Alaska to what people think of a
particular brand of baby food. And the more friends you have, the more detailed answers you will
receive.
Become Involved with Politics: President Barack Obama laid down the blueprint, and politicians
are increasingly turning to social media sites like Twitter. Not only is this providing a great way
for politicians to get the word out, but it is allowing them to stay connected to their constituents.
What better way to tell your senator what you think about a key vote than to send him or her a
tweet?
But politics on Twitter goes far beyond just following politicians. The 2009 Iran election crisis
showed what a political force Twitter could be, as it not only allowed Iranian citizens to break
through the walls Iran hoped to keep up throughout the events, but also let people from around
the world show their support by turning their profile pictures green.
Snapchat has led the way in “temporary” social media, allowing users to share content that can
only be seen for 24 hours at most. This is an appealing way to communicate for a generation that
doesn’t like the commitment of making a Facebook post. The method of rapidly advancing
through Snapchat stories is also changing the attention span of users. It is another tool for real-
time storytelling and sharing life’s little moments.
Snapchat is big on privacy. Your data is deleted as soon as it’s seen, and there’s no tracking.
Taking a screenshot sends an alert to the sender and is frowned upon. And this kind of privacy is
useful for everyone. I’m sure you’ve been burned by Facebook on this issue already. You wanted
to share something to a particular group but because of the complicated privacy settings, it was
shared to all your friends.
Snapchat has one of the simplest implementations of video calling that I’ve come across.
If you’ve used Skype, you know how frustratingly complicated video calls can be. As such it is
useful as an oral communication tool as well as a visual one.

With messages and emails people usually have enough time to think twice before replying or
taking any action for that matter, but Snapchat messages can be viewed only once. What this
means is that people are urged to react promptly, thus creating a real-time form of
communication. Furthermore, emoji have proven to be very popular stimulus for interaction and
their range is growing on a daily basis. Finally, the fact that images can be shared means that
people who prefer to communicate using such visual aids can take an equally active part in
communication.

So WhatsApp. What is it all about? When the app was launched, it was not for calling. It was
for texting. So, instead of being perceived as alternative to then popular apps like Skype, where
people would have to choose, it was welcomed as a new way of texting that could be there along
with Skype. So there was always a place for it on smartphones irrespective of whether to use
Skype or not.
But it went one step further than Skype in a certain direction, that of identifying users on the
network. It started what was a new model of identification, and one that is more accessible and
easy. It identifies people though their phone numbers. No need to ask for a user name. If you have
someone’s phone number in your contacts, it means they are already in your WhatsApp contacts
if they are using the app. This made it easier for texting than Skype. On WhatsApp, you are easily
found, since anyone having your number has you on the network, and you cannot choose to be
offline. You also cannot hide behind a fake identity. These could stand as weaknesses for
WhatsApp, but these have contributed to its popularity.

Soon after the launch, WhatsApp has managed to get an app to users of all popular platforms,
ranging from Android and iOS to Nokia phones, the latter being the most common phone in
developing countries back then. So it has been able to gather people around every corner of the
globe. It could even work in very old phones. Everyone knows how annoying ads can be.
WhatsApp hasn’t imposed ads on any of its users. This is because they too are annoyed with ads
on the other side. If they show ads, they have to invest resources in data mining, tuning and
everything that comes along with it. So by keeping ads away, they made everyone happy.
WhatsApp uses your phone’s Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi-Fi, as available) to
send and receive messages to your friends and family. You do not have to pay for every message.
As long as you have not exceeded your data limit or you are connected to a free Wi-Fi network,
your carrier should not charge you extra for messaging over WhatsApp.

So in essence WhatsApp is easy to use, no text limit, has emojis, and now has a robust video
feature that rivals Skype/Facetime. Adults use it a lot!

Put another way: why aren’t curriculum previews posted on Instagram?

So why is Instagram so good at engaging with audiences?

 Mobile functionality. Instagram is easy to use when you’re on the go. It’s a mobile-
exclusive platform and can immediately edit images you take on the move to post on the
platform. That makes it an in-the-moment experience, which naturally attracts more
people. It’s also a very simple app to use, with only a handful of posting options and the
lovable “infinite scroll” of new content.
 Visual nature. Human beings prefer to gather and interpret information through sight,
which is why visual marketing has become so popular in recent years. Instagram appeals to
that visual nature. Nearly the entire newsfeed is occupied by the horizontal span of images,
and since they’re all reduced to the same square format, it gives a certain level of formality
to the experience.
 Novelty. Instagram is also a departure from apps like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn,
mostly because of its simplicity. It’s done a phenomenal job of attracting younger
audiences, with the majority of its users clocking in at under age 30, and has an energy that
older social media brands have lost over the years.
 Function. Instagram also caters to an interesting audience. It offers publicly available
posts like Twitter, but at the same time has greater control over spam and reasonably tight
personal networks. It isn’t limited to just one social function, like LinkedIn is used for
professional networking, and is approachable to a wide number of people. This maximizes
Instagram’s potential user base, and naturally encourages people to interact more.
The Downsides (why the WSC curriculum is not posted using this medium)
Unfortunately, Instagram isn’t a perfect platform. There are some downsides you’ll need to
consider when developing your campaign:

 No links. For starters, you can’t publish links in your Instagram posts, so it’s harder to lead
people back to your site. The usual workaround is to include a link to your homepage in
your main profile, and reference that link in your post. Though it may be annoying, it’s part
of what cuts down on spam—making audiences more engaged.
 Text trickery. People don’t jump on Instagram to read posts; they want to see images. If
you have a written message to share, you may not reach as much of your audience as you’d
like (unless you use the text as the image, meme style).
 Conversation limits. Instagram also wasn’t created for extended back-and-forth
conversations. If you’re looking for debates or dialogue, you may need to find another
platform.
(source: Forbes March 2017 – https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/03/28/why-
instagram-is-the-top-social-platform-for-engagement-and-how-to-use-it/#4ce3b66936bd)

Tracy Huang I think this was probably the most established forum before those platforms became
more popular. IG is more about curation though it’s becoming more about user engagement.
Snapchat doesn’t lend itself to discussions with a large group of people unless they are in your
circle of friends. I always prefer live face to face convos over the important stuff because so
much gets lost through a written medium. (source; Facebook WSC group)
So what would you use as a communication platform for WSC curriculum postings? Text and
image friendly ones – Facebook, vlog platforms, blogging platforms like wordpress and weebly.

 IN CHINA, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TALK, SHOP, AND WORK THROUGH THE SERVICE

WECHAT,WHICH ENABLES ITS USERS TO CONDUCT NEARLY ALL THE BUSINESS OF

THEIR DAILY LIVES. WHAT ASPECTS OF A CULTURE MIGHT MAKE IT M ORE FEASIBLE

TO IMPLEMENT SUCH A SERVICE? ARE THERE ANY DRAWBACKS TO CONDUCTING YOUR

LIFE THROUGH A SINGL E PLATFORM? WHY HAS WECHAT HAD TROUBLE EXPANDING

INTO NEW MARKETS?

In China, millions of people talk, shop, and work through the service WeChat, which enables
its users to conduct nearly all the business of their daily lives. What aspects of a culture might
make it more feasible to implement such a service? Well, there needs to be a mass population
that is available to make it financially viable. China, India, Brazil – places with large
populations, for example. Then the technological know-how to develop the service (education)
and a generation of users who are savvy enough to use the service. Legal services also need to be
strong enough to ensure the service is safe for users. In political terms China has a history of
controlling its citizens more than, say, the USA and so such a system would not fall foul of anti-
trust laws that are common in the USA and Europe.
Are there any drawbacks to conducting so much of your life through a single platform? A lack
of competition means that you may not be paying the cheapest price for any service that you
use. Also one provider (We chat/tencent in the article) will have access to all your data, and offer
deals that lead your choice of services/products rather than having a wide range to choose
from. Also is it wise to give one provider access to all of your data? What if there is a
breach/hack of the data, and it falls into unscrupulous hands?
Why do you think WeChat has had trouble expanding into new markets? Different cultures
have markets that have different histories, commercial laws, attitudes towards monopolistic
practices and stances on the morals of domineering companies.

 DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEAM: ARE YOUR FRIENDS MOSTLY IRL, OR DO MORE OF THEM

LIVE ON THE INTERNET? IS ONE KIND OF FRIENDSH IP SUPERIOR TO THE OTHER?

Personally I have no friends where the friendship has started on the internet. My friendships are
maintained through the internet, as living so far away from friends and family necessitates this to
keep the relationships intact. But is this because I am generation X, a product of a pre-internet
age? Where as i-geners are known for less “in person” and “face to face” contact with others due
to more time connecting via smart phones. I am very comfortable with person to person, but feel
that I would struggle with an internet friendship. The body language of another person plays a
large part in developing the friendship, and this would be missing with an internet
relationship. So knowing the person IRL is a must for me. If a friendship were to start on line, I
would not consider it a real friendship until I have met the person face to face. Internet
friendships are open to too much abuse. Does the person that you are communicating with really
exist? or are they hiding behind a pseudonym?

 LOOK INTO THE FIVE BONDS OF CONFUCIANISM, TH EN DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEAM:

HOW WELL DO THEY DESCRIBE RELATIONSHIPS IN TODAY’S WORLD, AND S HOULD WE

TRY TO FOLLOW THEM IN OUR OWN LIVES? IF YOU HAD TO LIST THE BONDS YOU

BELIEVE APPLY MOST T O MODERN SOCIETY, WH AT WOULD THEY BE, AND HOW MUCH

WOULD THEY VARY FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE OR PLACE TO PLACE?

The Five Bonds are: ruler to ruled, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger
brother, friend to friend. Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets
of relationships. Such duties are also extended to the dead, where the living stand as sons to their
deceased family. The only relationship where respect for elders isn’t stressed was the friend to
friend relationship, where mutual equal respect is emphasized instead. In all other relationships,
high reverence is usually held for elders.
Social harmony results in part from every individual knowing his or her place in the natural order,
and playing his or her part well. When Duke Jing of Qi asked about government, by which he
meant proper administration so as to bring social harmony, Confucius replied:
There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is
father, and the son is son. (Analects XII, 11, trans. Legge)

Particular duties arise from one’s particular situation in relation to others. The individual stands
simultaneously in several different relationships with different people: as a junior in relation to
parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to younger siblings, students, and others. While
juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe their seniors reverence, seniors also have duties of
benevolence and concern toward juniors. The same is true with the husband and wife relationship
where the husband needs to show benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the
husband in return. This theme of mutuality still exists in East Asian cultures even to this day.

Influence on Modern day society? Referred to variously as the Confucian hypothesis and as a
debated component of the more all-encompassing Asian Development Model, there exists among
political scientists and economists a theory that Confucianism plays a large latent role in the
ostensibly non-Confucian cultures of modern-day East Asia, in the form of the rigorous work
ethic it endowed those cultures with. These scholars have held that, if not for Confucianism’s
influence on these cultures, many of the people of the East Asia region would not have been able
to modernize and industrialize as quickly as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong
Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and even China has done.
The Western democratic countries certainly place less emphasis in this day and age on the 5
bonds, with the exception of the friend-friend which often becomes the most developed of
them. The breakdown of the sanctity of marriage has weakened the husband to wife bond, which
has in turn led to more children being raised in single parent families. This has a negative impact
on both the father-son, and older-younger sibling relationships as they do not spend so much time
together.
  CONSIDER THIS ARTICLE, THEN DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEAM: IN YOUR EXPERIENCE,

DOES THE PROCESS OF MAKING FRIENDS ACTUALLY DIFFER AS YOU AGE? SHOULD WE

CREATE MORE SITUATIONS IN WHICH IT IS EASIER FOR OLDER PEOPLE TO MAKE

FRIENDS?
For men it is the formative years where your longest, deepest friendships are formed – school and
higher education. Then life-stage takes over. If you start a family, then this is your focus and
friendships develop but not as much as previously.
Old people have developed social skills and again will adapt to their own context. When a loved
one passes away, we see the friendship group often gather around and help. In Asia this may be
family led more so than in the West.
I agree with the following comment from the article: “When it comes to shaping friendship
patterns, life-stage may well be more important than age. Friendships never come easy, but
single people tend to put themselves out there and take risks. I interviewed a lot of single people
who travel with other singles and develop important relationships that way. Others made close
friends hanging out after yoga classes or pick-up basketball games, while the married people
rushed home to be with their families. Those who live alone have fewer constraints on their time
and fewer responsibilities to others, which means they can be open to new experiences and they
can throw themselves into intense interpersonal situations.”
(source: Adults making friends in middle age)
For men it is the formative years where your longest, deepest friendships are formed – school and
higher education. Then life-stage takes over. If you start a family, then this is your focus and
friendships develop but not as much as previously.
Old people have developed social skills and again will adapt to their own context. When a loved
one passes away, we see the friendship group often gather around and help. In Asia this may be
family led more so than in the West.
I agree with this summing up from the article: Age is just a number. Stage of life is something
else, something far more important in terms of friendships and your lifestyle in general. After all,
if you’re not making friends in your adult life because you simply don’t need them, maybe that’s
not really trouble at all.