intercultural design workshop 2020
Cross-cultural encounters in social media: Indonesia and Germany
Global Internet use and especially social media have become an essential part of everyday life for most of us! More affordable smartphones have boosted a worldwide development that now has more than 4 billion active social media users. Both in Germany and Indonesia YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp are the most-used social platforms followed by Instagram and Fb Messenger. However, the time spent per day on the Internet using mobile devices is much higher in Indonesia than in Germany. Indonesia ranks 4th while Germany ranks 43rd globally. 1)
Being aware of just how pervasive the social media are in both of our societies raises the question as to what degree does social media influences our culture, behavior, and perception. Often social media is a simulation of an idealized reality. Not everyone is beautiful, sexy, funny, healthy, and wealthy. Don’t we know that? However, we create this simulation of reality and strive for it.
There have always been social guidelines, stereotypes, and trends, but the invention of mass media has dramatically changed our perception of reality. Media are instruments of social and political control by special interest groups, individuals and countries. People can be influenced on a greater scale supported by media technology. Images and videos are becoming increasingly predominant over the written word. And most importantly, media can construct a new reality through simulation without depicting something ”real”. Imagine a wonderful sunset with your lover. What would you do to make it even more real? You would optimize the colors and appearance and post this unique moment on Instagram. However, this modified image is no longer authentic or real.
As nowadays - and especially among millennials - social reality is represented to a great extent in media, it makes sense to take this as a starting point for an intercultural experience. The analysis of cultural differences and similarities can be made from either social media reality or ”real” reality. In this workshop, the goal is to compare data that were gained from both social media and ”real” reality. Firstly, data are collected by analyzing YouTube videos from Germany and from Indonesia, secondly, these data are compared with data derived from the ”real” world – from Indonesian and Non-Indonesian pedestrians – by using a questionnaire.
Ideally, the test persons should be Indonesian and German students but this is not really feasible since there will not be enough German tourists readily available during our workshop in Yogyakarta. Therefore pedestrians of other European nationalities will be included based on two different definitions. 2) 3)
The workshop is based on two different approaches to analyze the selected YouTube videos:
A) the creative designerly way that is content-based and uses impressions, feelings, and experiences.
B) the cognitive designerly way that is based on a technical approach
In A) is about understanding the design and relations in society and about interpreting the deeper and sometimes hidden meaning of the message using design techniques such as a series of snapshots, mood boards, key visuals or narratives that explore different cultural realities.
In B) the technology of “eye tracking” is used to capture data about the eye movements of the viewers. In this way, behavioral data about the viewers’ attention and interest can be obtained. This scientific evaluation is the starting point for developing and visualizing information graphics.
The selection of YouTube videos focuses on the following trending categories: VLOGs, influencers, animations, cooking and baking, and advertising for the younger generations in both Indonesia and Germany.
The central goal of the workshop is to facilitate a special setting for the Indonesian and German students that paves the way for self-reflection and encourages cultural awareness and promotes an intercultural understanding and therefore opens dialog. This is accomplished especially in this workshop by providing enhancing diverse approaches and various methods while comparing YouTube videos as a basis for creative analyses.
The design process fosters student empowerment on foreign social and cultural realms and enhances a multidimensional and collaborative approach. It is not focussed on the outcome but rather on the process itself.
Sources
1) https://hootsuite.com/de/pages/digital-in-2019
2) https://europa.eu/european-union/topics/culture_en
3) https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/soziologie/arbeitsbereiche/makrosoziologie/arbeitspapiere/pdf/BSSE_21_Index_kultureller_Aehnlichkeit.pdf
Cross-cultural encounters in social media: Indonesia and Germany
Global Internet use and especially social media have become an essential part of everyday life for most of us! More affordable smartphones have boosted a worldwide development that now has more than 4 billion active social media users. Both in Germany and Indonesia YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp are the most-used social platforms followed by Instagram and Fb Messenger. However, the time spent per day on the Internet using mobile devices is much higher in Indonesia than in Germany. Indonesia ranks 4th while Germany ranks 43rd globally. 1)
Being aware of just how pervasive the social media are in both of our societies raises the question as to what degree does social media influences our culture, behavior, and perception. Often social media is a simulation of an idealized reality. Not everyone is beautiful, sexy, funny, healthy, and wealthy. Don’t we know that? However, we create this simulation of reality and strive for it.
There have always been social guidelines, stereotypes, and trends, but the invention of mass media has dramatically changed our perception of reality. Media are instruments of social and political control by special interest groups, individuals and countries. People can be influenced on a greater scale supported by media technology. Images and videos are becoming increasingly predominant over the written word. And most importantly, media can construct a new reality through simulation without depicting something ”real”. Imagine a wonderful sunset with your lover. What would you do to make it even more real? You would optimize the colors and appearance and post this unique moment on Instagram. However, this modified image is no longer authentic or real.
As nowadays - and especially among millennials - social reality is represented to a great extent in media, it makes sense to take this as a starting point for an intercultural experience. The analysis of cultural differences and similarities can be made from either social media reality or ”real” reality. In this workshop, the goal is to compare data that were gained from both social media and ”real” reality. Firstly, data are collected by analyzing YouTube videos from Germany and from Indonesia, secondly, these data are compared with data derived from the ”real” world – from Indonesian and Non-Indonesian pedestrians – by using a questionnaire.
Ideally, the test persons should be Indonesian and German students but this is not really feasible since there will not be enough German tourists readily available during our workshop in Yogyakarta. Therefore pedestrians of other European nationalities will be included based on two different definitions. 2) 3)
The workshop is based on two different approaches to analyze the selected YouTube videos:
A) the creative designerly way that is content-based and uses impressions, feelings, and experiences.
B) the cognitive designerly way that is based on a technical approach
In A) is about understanding the design and relations in society and about interpreting the deeper and sometimes hidden meaning of the message using design techniques such as a series of snapshots, mood boards, key visuals or narratives that explore different cultural realities.
In B) the technology of “eye tracking” is used to capture data about the eye movements of the viewers. In this way, behavioral data about the viewers’ attention and interest can be obtained. This scientific evaluation is the starting point for developing and visualizing information graphics.
The selection of YouTube videos focuses on the following trending categories: VLOGs, influencers, animations, cooking and baking, and advertising for the younger generations in both Indonesia and Germany.
The central goal of the workshop is to facilitate a special setting for the Indonesian and German students that paves the way for self-reflection and encourages cultural awareness and promotes an intercultural understanding and therefore opens dialog. This is accomplished especially in this workshop by providing enhancing diverse approaches and various methods while comparing YouTube videos as a basis for creative analyses.
The design process fosters student empowerment on foreign social and cultural realms and enhances a multidimensional and collaborative approach. It is not focussed on the outcome but rather on the process itself.
Sources
1) https://hootsuite.com/de/pages/digital-in-2019
2) https://europa.eu/european-union/topics/culture_en
3) https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/soziologie/arbeitsbereiche/makrosoziologie/arbeitspapiere/pdf/BSSE_21_Index_kultureller_Aehnlichkeit.pdf