The digital age has vastly changed the way many of us communicate with each other. Nowadays we have the potential to reach a much bigger platform and convey our message with the right tools. The same can be said by many influential people and global leaders, who have now started to embrace the technological revolution and become a part of the social media era. The most relevant example that many of us can think of someone readily embracing the use of social media apps, is President Donald Trump’s use of Twitter. He has been using the social media application in order to broadcast his opinions, achievements, praises, and criticisms to his 51.3 million followers. His use of Twitter has revolutionized the way we think about political discourse and the way global leaders can decide to distribute their own ideas. Is this necessarily a positive change, however? Or is it a step in the wrong direction?

As mentioned in the reading, communication is the process of encoding and decoding information, i.e. a person generates an idea, decides to shape it into a message, then shares the message with another person, who interprets this idea. There are many ways this process can go wrong, however, and one of the most common ways can be attributed to miscommunication within technology.

As human beings, we suffer from egocentrism, especially when thinking about our own ideas and perspective. “We write with our own perspective, and we assume other people will interpret it the same way, but often it can result in miscommunication.” (Penn State, 2018). Since this type of communication lacks verbal cues, it is very easy for readers to misinterpret the message, especially people who speak other languages as their first language or are part of different cultures.

Therefore, tweeting incessantly while having such a large platform, with arguably the most high-profile job in the entire world, will create problems with the encoding and decoding of information. As a global leader, there are certain expectations, in which he or she must recognize the power of their voice and try to utilize it as sensibly as possible, especially considering not everyone is going to have the same understanding of the message as the writer intended it.

While Twitter (and other forms of social media), are incredibly useful tools that should absolutely be utilized by heads of companies, politicians, celebrities, writers, etc., there should be a general understanding of responsibly distributing information in ways where it leaves less room for wrongful interpretation. A way of achieving this is by getting help from a group of people, as opposed to just tweeting from one perspective. By working in a team environment, especially of people who come from different backgrounds, a global leader will be able to have a more culturally aware and inclusive background, which will make the message less egocentric and easier to understand by the receivers.   And as previous First Lady, Michelle Obama said, “I think when you’re the first lady or the president, the commander in chief, and you have that voice, and that power, and that platform, I think what comes with that is the responsibility to know that every word you utter has consequences.” (Kurtz, 2017).

 

References:

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (n.d.). OLEAD 410: Lesson 4: Challenges of Communication in a Global Context. PSU WC.

 

Kurtz, J. (2017, November 01). Michelle Obama: ‘Don’t tweet every thought’. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/358246-michelle-obama-dont-tweet-every-thought

As mentioned in the reading, there are many components that tie in culture and genetics together. Biology and genetics have been proven to have an effect on one’s personality. This, in turn, affects an overall population’s culture, since people that share a common space tend to have similarities in their genetic makeup. This remains the case with Russia and other eastern European nations, who have a shared genetic history.

 

According to social psychology research, these similarities make people more likely to help others that remind them of themselves. This has become a huge part of Russian culture and relationships between Russian people, and how they view outsiders.

 

The shared experiences between Russians (such as experiencing hardships in their tumultuous political past), “have left individuals highly dependent on family support” (Live Science). There’s also an importance placed on their land and home, and a big emphasis on pride in their country.

 

While Russia is a country with a large population, 77.7 percent of its people are of Russian descent, with similar genetic makeup. This helps explain why many Russian individuals have such a strong sense of identity that is easily recognizable. Furthermore, since the USSR didn’t split until 1991, the neighboring territories that later became independent, also share genetic similarities that further tie them together.

 

Overall, the shared historical experiences and the personality traits make up for a population that is very focused on helping each other and their family, as well as having an emphasis on protecting their own homeland.

 

Reference:

 

Pennsylvania State University. (2018). Leadership in a Global Context–OLEAD 410. Lesson 13: Eastern Europe and Russian Population. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com.

 

Russian Culture: Facts, Customs & Traditions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://www.livescience.com/44154-russian-culture.html

Throughout the years, many companies of different industries have faced serious backlash and PR nightmares after releasing marketing campaigns or advertisements that are seen as insensitive by multiple communities. Many people believe these company disasters could’ve easily been avoided by having a more inclusive and diverse marketing and/or advertising team in place. While it’s evident that companies never strive to make these “mistakes” in the first place, it is also evident that these could’ve been avoided in the first place. Surface level diversity is something companies take into account when marketing a specific product, but sometimes they don’t take into account deep level diversity, which includes cultural differences, that do make a difference in how you want to market a product.

An example of this could be seen with the recent fiasco clothing company H&M faced. H&M was accused of making a child wear a hoodie that could be interpreted as having a racist slogan. The hoodie said “coolest monkey in the jungle”, which given the context of the child’s race, many interpreted as showing a negative and outdated stereotype. This sparked a huge controversy in which celebrities spoke out in disappointment, rappers G-Eazy and The Weeknd ended their campaigns with the store, and people rioted and destroyed several H&M stores in South Africa. In reaction to this controversy, H&M appointed a new “global leader for diversity and inclusiveness.” While I’m sure most don’t condone the violent tendencies that were sparked by the unfortunate choice of words, it could also be inferred that if perhaps H&M had had a diversity leader before all this took place, it perhaps wouldn’t have been approved.

Another example of an infamous controversial ad by a mega company could be seen by Pepsi’s commercial with Kendall Jenner that was criticized for trivializing Black Lives Matter. The ad showed a Black Lives Matter protest, and Kendall Jenner handing off a Pepsi to the police officer, essentially ending the tensions between the protesters and officers. This ad was criticized by many for being tone-deaf and missing the mark completely with the issues regarding police brutality. This could be seen as another example of brands missing out on the voices of people of color, who perhaps could’ve provided a different perspective.

Studies show that the advertising industry faces diversity disparities, and many people of color reported that they believed many of their coworkers did not value their opinion. However, it is evident how important having a diverse work force and team are for a company to continue being successful and get a positive message across with their products.

 

References:

Fumo, N. (2018, January 19). H&M Hires Diversity Manager In Wake Of Racist Hoodie Fiasco. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolafumo/2018/01/18/hm-diversity-manager-hire/#141f32eb5337

Victor, D. (2017, April 05). Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/business/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad.html

E. (2017, November 02). New Adobe Study Highlights Diversity Issues in the Advertising Industry. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.adweek.com/agencies/new-adobe-study-highlights-diversity-issues-in-the-advertising-industry/

 

My name is Natalia Paternina, I currently live in Midland, MI, but will be moving next week to Atlanta, GA for an internship. I’m originally from Colombia but moved to Michigan when I was younger, and later on to PA as a freshman in college. I’m 21 years old and a junior attending Penn State University Park, but I will be taking the semester off to complete an event marketing internship with Turner Broadcasting.

(Thats me on the right)

I decided I still want to graduate on time (May 2019), which is why I’m taking a few online classes through World Campus while I’m away for the semester. I’m a public relations and international relations double major, and in the future I hope I can get a job working in corporate communications or marketing communications.

As for leadership experience, I haven’t really had any formal work experience since I’m still a full time student, but I’ve been a part of a THON organization since I was a freshman. I’ve been able to participate in THON and attend twice, and became both social and homecoming chair in the past years, which gave me some leadership experience. As for my hobbies, I enjoy reading and watching TV and movies, as well as hanging out with my dog, Emma.