Group Project Contributions

The skills that I can offer my group include:

• Leadership Skills - I can help organize group discussion and meetings.
• Editing Skills - I can proofread and format our project.
• Computer Skills - I can help with the use of most online services such as Google Hangouts and Google Docs.
• Design Skills - I can help design our logo and create a visually appealing document.

My Proposed Code of Conduct:  Actively participate in group discussions.  Check email and discussion board on a daily basis.

My Conflict Rankings:

1. Collaborate
2. Compromise
3. Competition
4. Accommodate
5. Avoidance

Interpersonal Conflict

About two months ago in one of my classes I suppressed my feelings during an interpersonal conflict.  There was a student in my class who asked a question during group discussion about a particular company.  This student was confused about where the earnings for this company went because he believed it to be a foreign company.  I informed him that I believed it was an American company and he then aggressively said to me “You're wrong, it’s not an American company”.  I was taken aback by his aggressive response and decided to accommodate his opinion on the matter.  It seemed that he might have been upset about my disagreement.  The conversation came to an abrupt end when I kept my mouth shut.  If I wasn't as intimidated by his aggressive response or if I felt the resolution to this conflict was more important I might have supplied him with factual proof.  I didn't think it was worth the conflict.  His response style was defensive and seemed destructive.

A recent example of a time when I decided to express my feelings in a conflict was at the movie theater.  This was a conflict me and two friends had about where to sit in the theater.  I am quite particular about what I believe to be the best place to sit.  This movie was in 3D and I prefer to sit in the middle of the theater height and width-wise to obtain the best view.  The middle of the theater was already taken so we were trying to decide what area would be second best.  One of my friends wanted to sit towards the front, but I assertively told him I thought sitting too close could ruin the experience.  I decided to speak up because I thought I might have more experience with 3D movies.  I believe that my friends accommodated my suggestion because they either thought that I might have more experience or recognized that I care more about the presentation.  The conflict was easily resolved and seemed to be a constructive, albeit short, discussion.

Artifactual Communication in Advertising

The advertisement I chose as an example of communication artifacts is one for Haribo Starmix.  Haribo is one of the biggest manufacturers of gummy and jelly sweets in the world.  The primary artifact seen in this commercial is business attire.

This commercial gives me the impression that Haribo is trying to market their candy to adults.  Small children do not have much direct buying power so the presence of successful business people in the commercial gives it an appeal to the parents of candy eating children.  People working as business professionals, especially those with children would probably find this commercial appealing and amusing.

I believe the artifact (business attire), along with the children’s voices are supposed to express to the audience that you don’t have to be a child to enjoy this candy.  It effectively shows grown adults expressing their excitement for the product while also demonstrating how their children might enjoy it.

This commercial uses a number of additional nonverbal communication systems.  The business professionals all engage in exaggerated facial expressions, eye behavior, and gestures.  Because the business people are embodied by children and children’s body movements are very overt it delivers a clear and humorous message.  The advertiser uses these childish gestures and expressions to dramatize how the target market's child might interact with the product.  I believe the advertiser is trying to make the viewer believe the product will entertain and excite their children.

Deceptive Communication

I have personally been a victim of deceptive communication in an online environment.  Against my better judgment I once sent money to a person selling a car part on an online discussion board and never received the item.  The seller of this item assured me that he had sent the item up until about 30 days after my payment had been sent.  At this time he stop responding to communications and disappeared completely.  I later found out that the service I used to send money only offered protection during the first 30 days after a payment had been sent.  I believe it is likely that this “seller” was aware of this rule and deceptively continued to assure me that everything was okay up until he could safely cut and run.

I believe that people often provide false information about their background, professions, appearances, and gender in both online and real life environments.  It’s likely that some people justify their deceptions by deeming them as harmless.  Of course there are also bad apples who regularly deceive and trick others for their own personal gain, but I don’t believe most people do.

Another experience I have had with a person using language deceptively was again when buying automotive parts.  I believe the seller was misleading in his description of item’s condition.  The consequence of this deceptive communication was my purchase of an item I would have otherwise not been interested in.  The seller used superordinate and basic terms during the sale instead of subordinate terms which would have better and more accurately described the condition of the item.