What Can You Tell From…

 

So what can you tell from the picture above? Can you tell what message it is trying to put across to the its target audience?

This is a very good example of Effective Verbal Communication paired with good use of imagery to convey a simple message.  This campaign as we all can see is an anti-drug abuse campaign. It makes use of simple terms and words that are well understood in our context and society. With the words “Imagine spending the next 10 years in this” it entices the audience to want to take the first step in opening the little match box. On the inside, the image of a small cell with just a bed and a urinal, the universal perceived image of a jail cell, it begins to intirgue the audience, wanting them to find out more about what they just saw. And as the matches of the box are fully removed, one will be able to see the text “DRUGS. THERE’S NO ESCAPE.” The text again simple and concise, does not use jargons or slangs that would draw distinction and single out certain groups withthin the community. The campaign is not just well understood in our context and society but will be equally well understood in many other developed countries.

This message is meant for all as drug abuse transcends all ages. Nevertheless there is a particular target group that is more susceptible to the temptation of drug abuse. The message is well placed, being printed on match boxes that are then distributed at pubs and clubs especially to people who smoke; it is the number 1 hotspot for drug abuse. This will enable them to effectively reach out to the intended target audience garnering greater awareness among the people.

Is it true that our world is defined by our communications?

In today’s context, does this social constructivist perspective still apply? With rampant media and ever-changing surroundings, is what we know about ourselves and the world around us all from our communications?

With the internet taking off in recent years, and with communications across borders becoming so convenient, it is easy to learn and find out about anything; with just the click of a button, whatever information you require appears in front of you. In the past, if one wanted to know about the culture of a foreign country for instance, he would have had 3 options. Firstly, he could read from books/publications. Secondly, he could hear from friends and lastly, he could have made a trip there himself.

But with the creation of the internet, these have changed drastically. We can do everything with the internet, from reading up on publications online to find out more or we could even view other people’s posts put up on forums and blogs about how they felt on their trip to a particular country. Becoming highly fashionable too, are online virtual tours. One could even take a virtual tour of a tourist attraction online and still be in the comforts of their home. How times have changed.

 Being exposed at a young age to virtual media, people of the 20th century are well-learned; be it about culture, customs or even general knowledge. But why is this? Is the internet the only media that has accelerated our learning through communications? I believe not.

The invention of the telephone has played a great role as well. Can you imagine a day, in our modern world, without your mobile phone? It has become, from what used to be a priviledge to have, a necessity. But how has that widened our communications? In the past, when technology wasn’t as advanced, people could only communicate through face to face communication and through letters. For people living in different context, the process of communication was even slower. Take for example, placing an order for a shipment of cargo from a foreign country; would it not have taken months for a complete transaction to be processed?

We can see how our communications have shaped our society and culture at large. It is even more apparant when we make comparisons to countries across the world. Don’t people in Africa who lack communications through technology fall way behind us in comparison to our fast-paced society. Because of new technology and the communications we have, we are driven to move rapidly and are unable to live in a laid back, slow-moving society. Therefore our world IS defined by out communications.