Completion of my day

While I was trying to find a medium to focus for the last time, I realize that I never thought of music as a medium while it is one of the tools I use to communicate with people and myself the most during a day. Since the times people started creating melodies, they used it as a way to entertain themselves. It probably became one of the things people enjoy a lot to have in their lives. With the new melodies, new tastes appeared, new groups were formed and music’s position in people’s lives got stronger.

For instance, different melodies attract different people. While some people like classic music, some prefer jazz. People’s preferences get them into groups in which people enjoy the same things. The concerts, events related to that music gather people and enable space for communication.

One other way of music’s use for communication is the lyrics composed for melodies.  The music inspires some people and makes them want to express their feelings. Those people compose lyrics that go well with the melodies that inspire them and show their feelings, thoughts. Other people who share the same thoughts feel that they are bonded to the composer and feel like as if they wrote the song. They either use those songs to tell people around them how they feel. So lyrics bond both the composer and the listener, and the listener and the person he or she wants to communicate with.

Clubs, restaurants, stores use music as their tool for communication as well. They gather people under a roof and prepare the best environment for their customers with the help of music. Some places are preferred just because of their music in them.

After writing about music’s communicating people, I thought how much I use it in a day. I listen to it when I wake up, when I drive, when I have free time, when I study, when I dine and when I go out. I think it’s something that completes my day and helps me to contact people.

Skype,best medium for distance.

Skype’s being one of the most popular media tools is a common fact nowadays. It opened a new window in the technology world and brought its users the opportunity to see and talk to other people whenever they want, wherever they are. While people are paying money to lines to speak on the phone, Skype offers voice calls for free.

As an international student in the United States, Skype helped me the most in my orientation period. I was skypeing with my parents at the end of each day and telling them about my day. Knowing that I could reach them any second felt me feel safer.  I also kept in touch with my friends who were studying at different corners of the world.

It was obviously not helping me only. I realized how much it is used by business man working globally. The conference talks help offices in different locations to brainstorm together and take decisions.  Sides can do both instant messaging with each other and talk with cameras. Companies even accept job interviews through Skype if their candidates are somewhere away. Skype also helps people in file transfers. Some files cannot be sent via e-mail because of their size; but Skype does not let its users face a problem like that.

I got used to living away from family with knowing the existence of Skype. I wonder how people were standing being apart from their relatives for long periods when they didn’t have the chance to see each other and share moments.

Electronic version vs. Hard Copy

I was one of the people who really enjoyed reading news on the paper. The feeling it gave when I touch and the smell were pulling me into the lives I was reading the news of. When I moved to the United States, that newspaper I was waking up for every morning was probably the biggest sacrifice I had to make. Since it was impossible to reach the paper copy of the news in Turkey every morning, I started myself getting used to the electronic copies which I can’t do without now.

Hurriyet, the most popular newspaper in Turkey, is my starting page in my computer. It gives me opportunity to start the day with my favorite columnists and offers me the most recent news that happens in my country. After I started using it for a few months, I realized that I now like the electronic copy more. In a paper copy, you cannot read the most recent news since there is a publication period before release. You can only learn about the news that happened the previous day. However, the online websites of the newspapers put the hottest news right that second and you can watch people commenting on that news too. It’s kind of a live news system.

Another thing that I like so much about the electronic version is the “related news” part. Whenever I click on a news on the website, it gives me the chance to look at the previous news on that topic as well. This way, I can see what happened before and what changed. It offers the people who are reading about that topic for the first time, the chance to get background information, which I think, is very crucial. Not everyone can track the news everyday; so electronic copies are better to enlighten people about a topic from the beginning.

The electronic versions of the newspapers are better for the companies, which give advertisements to the newspapers as well. When their ads are on the website, the reader can click on the advertisement and directly move to the company’s website.  So the company reaches the potential customer quicker. In a paper copy, readers see the advertisement only and they search about the product or the service later with their own efforts, if they remember about it. So if I were a company owner, I would prefer electronic versions of the newspapers to give advertisements to.

It’s not just newspaper that I like the electronic version of. Nowadays I watch Turkish series from a website that offers High Definition Quality. I connect the laptop to the T.V. screen and feel like I’m in my country and watch the Turkish T.V. channels. This website allows you to stop and restart whenever you want and skips the commercials which I hate. So when I visited my country last year, I realized that I got used to watching it without ads and stopping it when I need to grab something from the kitchen.

Even though many people still do not prefer electronic copies, I think it’s because they did not have to use them yet. Once they start using it, I’m sure they won’t stop since they will get used to the features that electronic versions of media tools offer.

Medium for Homeless People

I’ve always liked train stations. It gathers all kinds of people from all kinds of place, with different lives. Each person lives a different story and they use the train stations to reach another destination in their lives.

This weekend, as one of those people in the New York Penn Station, I was scared for the first time. Arriving to New York very late wasn’t something I preferred, but I had nothing else to do.

By the time I arrived, I realized another fact of train stations for the first time. They were the homes of people who are in need. They gathered all homeless people under a roof and saved them from cold. While I was walking down in the station, it appeared to me that the homeless people there even became friends. It looked like they were spending every night there, so they formed friendships. While one group was sharing a blanket, another couple in the opposite corner was arguing something.

It was really interesting to me to see how train stations gathered people. When I arrived home, I typed homeless people in Penn Station in Google, to see if people recognized that there were hundreds of lives there. The results showed me that there were foundations for homeless people which were showing consideration to the ones in the Penn Station. They placed some groups of homeless people there in some several homes for people without houses. It was the best proof of how a location attracts attention and helped to solve a social problem. I’m sure that if those people were sleeping on the streets, they wouldn’t take that much attention as the ones did in Penn Station since streets are usual places for homeless people.  For this reason, Penn Station acts as a medium.

Food, restaurants, ads were common media tools for me, but I’ve never thought of train stations. It looks like Penn station not just helps people who have money to travel to reach wherever they want, but also enables the homeless people reach their new homes.

Does it really stop people?

It is a fact that government has a big control on T.V. broadcasts. While some things are stopped from being broadcasted, some are put especially on T.V to affect people.  Turkish government is probably one of the governments that have a big influence on T.V. probably when we observe the issue worldwide. RTUK, Upper Radio and Television Institution, is working on behalf of the government and determines what can be put on the T.V. programs, and what is not appropriate to broadcast. It’s working order and rules depend on the current Democratic Party that is ruling the country.

For the past 8 years, AK Party, which is the conservative party of Turkey, is leading the country; therefore the programs we watch on the T.V changed a bit. Some of the sex scenes had been cut from the films and some popular programs are broadcasted at late so that the kids don’t watch and get affected. However nothing stays as a secret. Once they cut a scene from a film, they disrespect the efforts of many people working on that project. Producers, directors and the actors of the films spend many hours to shoot just a single scene; therefore they protest the cut of their efforts. When I put myself on their shoes, I would probably do the same and try to save my rights by raising my voice in public.

A T.V series called “Kucuk Sirlar” which means “Little Secrets” faced a problem like this. Since it targets the young people mostly, the government did not want any young person to see the sex scenes. However, their limitation was heard through the newspapers and the actors; and many people started to search for those scenes online. Some people found those cut scenes somehow and it was spread to everyone. So their limitation didn’t work; moreover it raised more attention and even people who did not watch the series found those parts and watched it. Therefore; the government did not do anything but raise more curiosity.

Same thing happened in the film Sex and the City, too. Many people were shocked when they realized that they did not actually watch 151 minutes. Again some of the sex scenes were cut and some other things that were thought as inappropriate.

In my opinion, when you stop someone to do something, that person becomes more eager to try that thing. You raise more attention to the issue from before by accepting the fact that it is not normal. I understand that some things really affect people in bad ways like torture scenes or bias information up to a point but things that are broadcasted everywhere else but not in your country should not be cut. If it is broadcasted everywhere, it means that it does not have an extreme effect that you think it does.

So I watched the “Kucuk Sirlar” online all with its scenes, am I different now from the people in Turkey?

Who are you/do you want to become?

With the coming up Halloween, I started seeing costume stores and Halloween party organizations everywhere. People are trying to decide what they will wear, where they will go and whom they are going to be with.  As a non-American student living in the United States, Halloween is probably my favorite tradition of Americans. I never see anyone sad on that day no matter what. Everybody shares the partying idea and gather in different places. Even though it’s not a religious day, people encourage each other to be happy and live the spirit with their costumes.  But how do people decide what they are going to be out of millions of characters? Do they have specific reasons while they choose their outfits?

Even though every one becomes someone different than whom he or she really is, he or she still shows part of him/herself in his or her costume. For instance, a funny guy prefers to become a baby instead of a superman or while a sexy girl chooses to be a French maid, another girl who does not like to show sexuality can be a country girl. A guy with an emperor costume and a Cleopatra girl both show that they like authority and see/want themselves as leaders. Therefore I think costume choices depend on your character. Personally, I was an M&M last year, which took so much attention since it was so cute; however most of my friends would not choose that costume since they would prefer more feminine costumes.  I really liked taking attention and people’s requests of taking pictures together. A  distant person would not like to have pictures with foreigners; therefore would not wear that costume probably.

In this sense, one’s Halloween costume act as a medium, which helps people to get an idea about that person. It gives the message of whom you like or whom you think is worth to be.

Another Halloween tradition, “Trick or Treat” is also a medium between people. Small children visit their neighbors and relatives on Halloween and get the chance to talk to them. Many grownups see those young people with this chance through this tradition.

Since I’m too old to take a Trick or Treat trip, I’ll only satisfy myself with another funny costume which I’m planning to wear this year. I’ll again draw attention and people will come and meet me. What are you going to wear? Who knows maybe your costume will bring new people to you.

Who gets the message?

People think different ways of proposing. While one of them wants to be romantic, the other can try to catch a casual moment to pop the question. Mostly, guys are expected to come with the proposal. It’s almost the same in every culture. One other thing that is universal is the diamond ring which comes with the proposal.

With no reason, every girl dreams of a diamond ring when marriage idea appears. Sometimes they don’t need to hear any word from the guys. Seeing the ring is enough to understand him which makes the ring a medium between the girl and the guy. Guys show that they are serious in their relationship and want to spend their entire life with those girls by spending both their effort and money while choosing that one ring.

How did this diamond ring idea come up in the first place? How did it become a tradition? It probably started like all other fashionable things. A guy who proposed his girlfriend did this romantic favor and it was spread among the girl’s friends. Many girls wanted to have the same romantic gift; so every guy began to get a ring first to give the girl while proposing.

I personally think that even though it really has a great view, diamond rings are bought mostly to show the community the engagement. Even though guys use it to ask their question, it is a strong medium between girls also. Girls prove that they have a male figure in their life and that guy is serious enough to give her a ring. It’s size, shape and karat matter only to girls. If it would be a medium used by guys only, nobody would care about how many karat a ring is. At this point another question becomes visible: Diamond ring is a stronger medium between whom? Guys and girls or girls and girls? I think the advertisements with a ring on a woman’s hand give the answer J

Whose medium is that?

Men gather around sports games, women around shops, cafes and young people around music. How about the little girls? Barbies are the strongest connection between little girls, needless to say. I remember myself becoming friends with many other girls in a restaurant just because I liked their princess Barbie more than my pregnant one. Like people following columnists, I was tracking every new Barbie that came up. Nothing was giving me more pleasure than adding one more Pocahontas Barbie or Barbie with a hair saloon to my doll collection. Like houses and cars showing the status now, Barbies showed your interest, your possible toy collection at small ages. Therefore they were the most important medium for girls since it had a gathering power.

But what was the thing in Barbie that showed us whether someone could be our good friend or not? Did the playing manners really introduce us people?

When I try to remember what I looked for in Barbie playing, I see that the most significant thing for me was the sharing part. If a girl was voluntarily sharing her Barbie, that girl was starting the game ahead. Other than that, the conversations were important. Girls make the Barbies talk spontaneously; so if the conversation was good, I understood that we had similar interests with that friend. Even though they do not look important at all now, they used to be when I was young since I did not have anything but to worry making friends and having new Barbies.

Last year, the ultimate shoe designer Christian Louboutin and Mattel, the producer of Barbie, worked together and launced three Louboutin Barbies which all had 3 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes. Since I really like Louboutin shoes, I fell in love with those Barbies and remembered my past. The shoes are so cute and almost the same with the real Louboutins, with the same shoe bags.

Since little girls would not now about Louboutins yet, it looks like Barbie will target adults as well and this time be the medium of collectors.

P.s: While I was checking my Twitter,(like I told you 2 posts ago J ), I saw one of my friends posting a Barbiefoot! It was such a coincidence to find that picture the day I wrote about Barbies for my blog. Now, the guys are added to the target market of this medium as wellJ.

Take you chance to meet someone

When we were talking about the medium we use the most, Brittany said baking is her favorite medium since it gathers everyone. While I was thinking about this one day, I realize how Berryline, a small, cozy frozen yogurt place in Harvard Sq, changed my life.

Serra, who was a senior at Babson last year, told me about this place. I asked her to take me there one day and she did. After tasting that delicious frozen yogurt, I fell in love. It serves yogurt with several flavors and gives you the chance to decorate it with different toppings such as fruits and candies. That first day I made my special for the entire year and had original flavor with strawberries and granola.

Berryline does not only offer a delicious taste but also a very nice environment, which includes students mostly. It’s location in Harvard Sq, attracts many students and stands as a nice meeting point. People come and join each other while eating. We saw many people who met there and started hanging out together. For this reason, I think it’s a good medium, which gives both a taste and a nice atmosphere.

Even though we knew each other from before, Berryline made Serra and me closer as well. We called each other every night to repeat our small trips. While going there and eating our frozen yogurts in Berryline, we realized how much we are alike. We started calling each other for programs other than Berryline as well. So, Berryline is one of the best mediums for me since it brought me one of my best friends now. People who would like to taste Berryline, the address is:  3 Arrow Street, Cambridge.

This week, Serra will visit me in Boston. Berryline will again be our meeting point and will bring us together. I think you should visit once; who knows maybe you’ll meet someone important as well ;)

Why blame that little bird?



According to the dictionary “tweet” is “a weak chirping sound, as of a young or small bird”. In the old times, pigeon was one of the earliest and most important medium used by people. Many messages were going back and forth through these small birds which helped people communicate. Many years between those times and the 21^st century in which we are living now, witnessed many discoveries in technology world and supplied us many ways of sharing news with other people. Clearly, internet became the best area containing those ways. Among many of the websites created for this purpose, the one Jack Dorsey opened, in 2006 took us to nostalgia and brought that little bird back into our lives with a new name: Twitter! Twitter started as a social networking and media blogging website in which people can follow each other learn and learn other people’s statuses. Each person uses an account under his or her name and composes phrases stating where he or she is or what he or she is thinking at that time. Tweeting depends on preference of course! Some people prefer just to follow people, while some spend their whole day on Twitter commenting on every single tweet they see in their homepage. They see the tweets of people they choose to follow which can include their friends, friends of friends, celebrities, authors, even politicians. With this way, they get the chance to bring their comments on ideas of the people they cannot even reach in real life’s ideas and get into discussions.

With no offense, human being is a curious creature. Moreover, everyone wants their ideas, project or actions to be known much or less. Therefore, this website became too popular in the recent years since it offers live news of everyone and I cannot reject that I am one of those people. Yesterday, while I was trying to write a paper for a class, I noticed how often I check my Twitter, both from my computer and my cell phone. I caught myself updating my homepage every 10 minutes to see if anyone did anything new or anyone started a discussion. When I realized that I could write so little after a long day, I questioned myself why Twitter attracted me this much. Was I looking for some specifically or was I in the need of proving that I constantly have opinions on things going around me?  At the end, I accepted the idea that, I really feel left and distant when I’m not moving with the speed of people. I always want to learn new things and look for either support or critique for my ideas. Improving myself and having a small idea about recent things make me feel connected to life and excite me for future.

When my paper finished very late, I blamed the Twitter first and thought that maybe we should have stayed with the telegraph like the old days, only getting informed about urgent things. But then I realized that I grew up in the 21^st century and I’m only satisfied with the new things I learn every day. Why blame that little bird?

Path to Development

People born, grow, live and die.  While passing these steps, other people join them sharing their moments. In this life cycle, they aim for things, make preferences and work for their targets. The social environment they belong is as important as their own effort to make their wishes come true. To accomplish what they want, they have to influence people about their claim to make it valid. Media comes up at this point and help them introduce, argue, change or improve their idea. For this reason, I think that medium is a social tool, which both helps and stands as an obstacle at the same time for people working for their aims, by creating interaction and information sharing between them.

There are many channels of media. Some of them provide people visual information while some of them create influence just by words. When one channel offers concrete evidence, the other addresses the same issue in an abstract way. However they are all ways of expressing yourself to many people and a way of expanding social perspective. Through these channels, people learn each other’s opinion and either gain more or add more things to the opinion. The popularity of the topic can bring more researches and develop the idea. With this way, the argument becomes stronger with everyone’s contributions. As an example, when a new technology about a cell phone comes up, many people start discussing it through media channels. Every idea can bring new points and the potential buyers of that cell phone can decide the right thing for them accordingly. In a way, media stands as the leader of a group work who tries to gather everyone’s work and perform a valid project at the end.

On the other hand, media can be at the opposite side and gather people who disagree with your opinion and create a stronger claim against yours. For instance, a media can be a big obstacle to pass to a pop star doing an illegal work. All channels of media can bring comments about her behavior and put distance between her and her fans. In this case, media helps the community interact about an issue while it causes problem to the star.

Like McLuhan says; “It is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (9). In both cases, media helps the community gather. In some ways it’s like a carousel carrying everyone on the same track, but in different ways as like different horses; still connecting them to each other. Each one follows the other, like an idea bringing a new vision to the previous one in the community. While some people ride those channels, some people prefer to watch and observe.

In another way, it’s like a vegetable soup. Like each vegetable having its own flavor, all media channels carry their own messages but their combination brings a totally different, stronger flavor; message.

For this reason, media, the communication system of humans, yields humanity to the development.