SmartPhones: Bringing People Together or Splitting Them Apart?!

While the purpose of smartphones was to bring people together through email, chat, SMS and phone calls all on one device, the split they created among their users is getting wider each day. You would see advertisements for any newly established smartphone company that attacks the existing successful one. For example, this is an Apple mac advertisement making fun of Microsoft’s PC in 2009 even before smartphones get that popular:

Then suddenly Samsung started to get popular with their smartphones so they had to tackle the already established Apple iPhone. In this 2012 ad Samsung makes a mockery of iPhone fans waiting, in a long queue, for the release of the brand new iPhone.

Here is another video made by Samsung. Notice the part when he says "Some Smartphones are smarter than others".

With Samsung establishment in the field of smartphones, it has created its own fans, who started hating Apple and calling them “Sheep” or "iSheep". While on the other side Apple fans called Samsung fans “Copy Cats” or "Copy bots". The situation escalated, with the Apple-Samsung judicial fights over patents. This has split the two fans entirely and each side viewing itself superior over the other.

Nokia with its Microsoft Software couldn’t leave the Apple-Samsung fight without making use of it, to regain its popularity once more. In this ad Microsoft and Nokia make a mockery of Apple and Samsung fans.

Now let’s look on smartphone fans in three different Sociological perspectives:

According to the Functionalist Approach Samsung and Apple fans can be seen as the only way to achieve stability and order in the smartphone industry. At the end people can argue that these Samsung-Apple fights serve to help the audience understand the differences between the two products and not get fooled by the media. Therefore, it’s a positive thing.

In this functionalist perspective, Samsung fans gather collectively around their Android totem while the apple fans around the Apple totem. Behind the Apple and Android totems, fans collectively effervesce as they feel a shared feeling of identity in which they experience waves of emotions, a sense of unity and togetherness each behind his favorite logo. Some people feel the pride in wearing shirts that have their company’s totem on, or place their Apple stickers on their cars’ glass. Some other people speak about the advantages and disadvantages on each of the two popular phones of Samsung or Apple of the time and convince others about the best phone in their perspective. Therefore, each community started having its own way of looks and speech to recognize them from the other.

From an Apple fans’ perspective they view Samsung as an out-group which is a group toward which members of the in-group (Apple) feel a sense of separation, opposition, or hatred. Likewise for Samsung who identify Android followers as their in-group while apple fans as out-groups. Samsung and Apple fans despite their lack of physical proximity to one another still feel a sense of belonging each to his community whether its Apple or Samsung. This is what is defined by Grazian in his book “mix it up” as an “Imagined Community”.

According to the critical approach, the fame of Samsung and Apple reflect and reinforce the economic and cultural approach of mass media industry. Samsung and Apple can be defined as the dominant group in smartphones meaning that they are the group with the greatest power, the most privileges, and the highest social status. Statistics show that the Android and Apple market alone control 75.6% of the smartphone industry, so its normal to see Apple and Android fans (or Apple and Samsung fans, since Samsung is the most known Android smartphone).

In this approach one could call the huge firms the Bourgeoisie who are small group of modern capitalists who own the means of production, while the company’s fans as Proletariat who are a large group of population who use Samsung and Apple products and are influenced by their ideas.

However, it is important to acknowledge the awareness some people have when they choose their phones. For example, in these videos are interviews with two Texas A&M University at Qatar students studying Electrical and Computer Engineering like me. They look more into the technical specs than the producing company. (Excuse my tilted videos)

This takes us nicely to the interaction theory which states that culture is created, diffused and consumed among small groups of individuals. Many people buy the iPhone because they see their friends use the iPhones. Many others buy a Samsung phone because they received a word of mouth in their social network that it has higher technical specs. It’s not necessarily that the company intended to divide the consumers. It could be that the small micro-level interactions created the split that expanded and large firms took advantage over them.

My dear reader, while no one is sure which theory of the three sociological perspectives (functionalist, critical, or interaction) explains the realistic situation. It is up to you to choose the ones that make u happy and answer your questions. Certainly one can argue that all the three are bundled together. But which was the the theory that explains the Genesis of the Apple-Samsung conflict?!

On the Cultural Significance of Sham El- Nassim

Yesterday we had an unusual banquet at our house, one that particularly smelled horrible! Yes I did say this. It was a celebration for the ancient dating feast of “Sham El Nassim”. While most Egyptians today think Sham El Nassim is an Arabic word (شم النسيم) meaning the “the smell of the Zephyr” because it is celebrated during the spring time, the word was found to be more ancient than one could think of. This feast of Sham El Nassim has ancient Egyptian origins with the word "Shemu" being used in the ancient Egyptian culture during harvest days meaning “the day of creation”. Greek historians of the first century have recorded accounts of ancient Egyptians eating salted fish, lettuce and onions. That’s what I meant by the horrible smell! Egyptians were thought to celebrate the Shemu since 2700 B.C. and surprisingly it is still celebrated to that day with minor changes.

Later on, Coptic Christians in the second century A.D. found that the feast came during the Christian Lent and were not able to celebrate and eat the salted fish during that time, so they moved the feast to the following day of the Easter. The day of Sham El Nassim has to occur on Monday, since Easter has to be on Sunday. It’s also interesting to mention that the ancient Egyptian word “Shemu” developed to the Coptic word “Shom Ennisim” then finally to the Arabic transliteration “Sham El Nassim”.

While this blog post was not intended to be a historical class, it was important to give a brief background to understand the culture behind what we just celebrated yesterday.

You are probably wondering how the feast is supposed to be on Monday while we celebrated yesterday on Friday. Indeed “Sham El Nassim” is celebrated on Monday following the Eastern calendar of Easter which was meant to be on Monday May 6 this year. However, due to some family circumstances and traveling the feast was postponed a little bit.

Let’s just get to the sociology of this ancient feast!

According to the functionalist approach, Sham El Nassim can be seen as an event with its own rituals and practices that brings people together in social solidarity. Sham El Nassim, as a collective celebration, that makes all Egyptians, regardless of their religion; join together to celebrate in the same way. Also, what is more fascinating is Egyptians in Qatar who unite in family groups to celebrate this event. To us, Egyptians, the culture of Sham El Nassim meets the four characteristics of popular culture: being well liked by everyone, is easily recognized by all Egyptians, all classes in Egypt understand the rituals associated with the feast and finally everyone can relate to it in different ways.

The main practice in Sham El Nassim is family gathering either in public parks or in houses. Yesterday, over seven families came and joined our feast at our house. None of these families are direct relatives of ourselves, but they are friends who we relate to when living abroad. Such a family gathering makes us all appreciate the unity it generates and the sense of togetherness.

The main ritual of Sham El Nassim is to eat “Fisikh”, which is an Egyptian dish of salted fish, and onions, as you can see in the images below. However, yesterday I noticed that the table of fisikh was 80% women with only two or three men only eating fisikh. Those who found fisikh distasteful, like me, were mostly men who had another table with other types of food like pastas, kofta and salads.

Even though everyone who attended enjoyed the family gathering on Sham El Nassim, not everyone enjoyed the rituals of eating fisikh. Therefore, I do wonder with Grazian in his book “mix it up” if such a ritual will continue to be passed through the main agents of socialization. And even if it did will it still generate the same sense of social solidarity and unity amongst the celebrating community?

I also noticed the segregation that Fisikh has made, most women sat on the Fisikh table and most men and children sat on the normal food table. It could be because of health or dietary choices, especially because Fisikh has direct correlation to high blood pressure, dehydration and occasionally food poisoning if not cleaned well. But this phenomena of less than 50% eating Fisikh could be also because of the other options that were available that included Italian pasta. Hence, globalization can be a factor that interferes with cultural elements of Sham El Nassim.

Will the feast that survived more than 4700 years be able to survive the 21st century? While, globalization might seem to be destroying the rituals of eating Fisikh on Sham El Nassim, it has given me an escape from eating it so maybe having more options can be good! Yet fisikh lovers like my mother will still love Fisikh anyways.

Northwestern University

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Northwestern University’s main campus in Evanston, Chicago. It was my first time, and thus was curious to compare it to Qatar’s campus. I was extremely surprised with large number of students involved in extra curricular activities and clubs, and most importantly their respect towards Northwestern’s traditions and rituals. During today’s class, I thought the functionalist theory was extremely similar to the social structure in NUE. The campus is stable, orderly and systematic. Everybody has a specific role and are divided into groups; resulting with the lively and outspoken campus we have today. They all collaborate together and respect one another’s opinions, even though they may not agree with it. For example, there are many accapella groups, sororities and frat houses spread across campus, and although each group may have different personalities, they all acknowledge each other in a mature manner. I believe this campus also relates to the functionalist theory because without the help and organization of these students, professors and faculty, Northwestern university wouldn’t be moving forward. The campus would not be stable or as productive. Even social problems such as two clubs fighting over the historical Northwestern rock can make a positive contribution to the society. This will motivate them to stick to the rules to see if the other group will give up on guarding the treasured totem. It will also allow the Daily Northwestern to have a story to write about. Another concept that we covered in class today, which reminded me of Northwestern’s main campus, was the idea of collective effervescence. During my trip, there was a baseball game that is extremely popular amongst Northwestern students. There are a certain number of seats saved for students in NUE and usually there is an extremely large turn out. During this event, there is a shared feeling of identity in which each student experiences waves of similar emotions and a sense of togetherness. They are all rooting for Chicago and wear Northwestern jerseys and sweatshirts to support their team. This is also considered a ritual as it forces students from different groups and organizations to gather together and reinforce their collective identity. Why do we have students, professors and faculty in Northwestern University and what do they contribute to that specific community? Why do we have different organizations and clubs? Why is there a different positions and roles for every individual? Without this structure, Northwestern University would not be able to manage all of their students or provide everyone with an activity that meets their needs and expectations. Although many sociologists criticize this theory, I personally believe it is an excellent fit for this university. Photos: The first photo is one of the many acapella groups in Northwestern. They are called Purple Haze. The second photo is how the rock looked like after we painted it. The third and fourth photo are from online sources

Why movies need villains

What happens when you wipe out the Mercury Man, Darth Vader, The Joker or even the malicious mother-in-law, friend,step-mother that you see in movies? Would the movies with these characters still have had the same impact without them; more importantly would the characters set up just to triumph against these baddies be looked at with the same admiration if it wasn't for these characters? The role that villains play in movies is often one that is under-estimated, yet one that on hind side would convince anyone of their worth.
A villain need not only conform to the stereotype of being physically intimidating, sociologists define anyone who violates certain norms to elicit negative reactions from others as one worthy of being labelled a deviant,or in more informal terms, a villain. Aware of the conventional modes of behavior, they seek to thwart the balance and order of the society.

The first and most conspicuous exception to the stereotype that villains are physically dominant,ruthless characters capable of overpowering hundreds of people would have to be The Joker. Lacking the combat skills or the physical strength to face off with his nemesis, the Batman; how is it that he was always a thorn to Batman's attempts to clean up Gotham City? The Joker is renowned for his evil schemes that challenge the very foundations on which Gotham society is established and question the role that each individual has to play in order for the society to remain stable. Time and again, the element common to most of his plots is one where you would have to question your beliefs and decide against what would suit you personally and what would suit the society as a whole. Yet, what would a society without someone like The Joker present to an audience? Even six years after its release, the Dark Knight is fondly remembered for the brilliant ways in which the Joker was portrayed, with his character influencing some people to such an unfortunate extent that they decided to emulate his deviant, evil nature.

Unlike most aspects of movies, villains cut across gender discrimination and there have been several women villains that have enthralled us with their devious thoughts over the years. Imagine this scenario: a middle aged woman living on her own, with a keen admiration for a particular writer. Doesn't really add up to the traits of a villain right?Think again. It was this very role of Annie Wilkes played by Kathy Bates that won her applause from critics and moviegoers for the movie Misery. The idea of watching an entire movie about an over-possessive, psychotic fan seems quite disturbing but it was pretty much the main reason Misery was a success.

Villains have always established tremendous support from audiences. The most obvious reason for this is the good vs evil philosophy that societies around the world are made to learn right from a young age. The delight we get on seeing a villain ultimately fail at the hands of the hero is irrepressible, it reinforces our belief that deviance is always going to come to an end in our world, where order and stability as suggested by the Functionalist Theory are paramount. As long as our world leans towards these two factors, the space for those few individuals aiming to destroy it will always be noticed.

Here is a video of Annie Wilkes' mean streak as seen in the movie Misery:

The links below list some of the prominent villains of Hollywood till date :
http://blog.koldcast.tv/2010/koldcast-news/10-female-villains-we-love-to-hate/
http://www.hollywood.com/static/top-10-all-time-best-villains

Tarneeb's Subculture; The old in the new generation

Cards “Shada/Kotshina” is a game most Arab parents teach their kids as means of entertainment. However, in the heart of Qatar, in a certain location in Qatar foundation, card games are played with so much seriousness, one would think it’s a life or death skill. “To me, cards is not just a game, there’re several skills that card games can teach. Observational skills, compatibility with your partner, counting cards, and speaking up. All these skills have to be perfected to have a flawless card game,” said one of the many participants of the card games. In this setting, I found that the game everyone has perfected is a game called Tarneeb.

In the 18th century, Tarneeb became famous in the Fertile Crescent area. After getting to know the players, I realized that most of them are from the Fertile Crescent area, Egyptians, Palestinian, Jordanian, Iraqis. Some players had learned the game from their parents and grandparents. Those players agreed that Tarneeb was taught to them for the seriousness and competitiveness of the game.  “When I play with my grandfather all hell breaks loose if we lose. Although, it’s fun sometimes but I don’t like being yelled at for a game” said a Palestinian, Qatari female participant who is nicknamed Queen of Tarneeb. Others who participate in the games said that they learned it from friends and that the game is a great ‘break the ice’ activity. When I started getting involved in the Tarneeb scene, I realized that there’s a whole subculture to it, where the best is at the top, the good is considered bad, and the bad is not included in the games. When I was looking at it from a sociological perspective I realized that this subcultural fulfills one of the main theories that we recently studied.

Functionalist theory in Tarneeb…
What is Functionalist theory?
Functionalist theory states that the society is an entity that has different parts. In order for the society to function all the parts of the entity must be present and working. Analogy: Society is like a machine; each part in the machine has to do its job in order for the machine to function properly. Thus, solidarity is created within the society itself.

When studying the groups who participate in the card games, I understood that card games are utilized as a tool of communication in this setting. The games are played in order to “have fun and enjoy our time”. Thus, I came across social statuses within the cards subculture:The ruling class which is marked by the best players, the middle class which is marked by the good players and the lower class, marked by the bad players and/or the audience. In these three classes in the subcultural of Tarneeb there’s solidarity and unity that is created in order to fulfill the general goal of playing the game, which is communication between the players and the audience, to induce the feeling of “having fun” and thus, to complete the function of the game.

Study note: I removed names and places from this mini-study with respect to the subjects' requests.

Getting Sociological on the VMAs

There are so many theories in every subject and sociology is not an exception. There are three big sociological theories: the functionalist theory, the conflict theory and the symbolic interactionism theory. One of the three big sociological theories is the Functionalist Theory, which can be applied to almost anything. The functionalist theory is basically looking at society as if it is a car and knowing that each part in the car has a particular function, and that if there was a part missing then the whole car, society, will fall apart. The functionalist theory believes that people actively work making stability and order happen.

The Functionalist Theory can be applied to almost any event. Recently there were the Video Music Awards that aired this summer. If we look closely the Video Music awards you can apply many different functions of the functionalist theory.

This year the event was held in Los Angeles but there was no host for the VMAs, as they were unable to find anyone that matched the requirements. Different celebrities presented the awards and there were several performances done by different people. Every year the VMAs try to go over the top and give a completely unexpected performances but there is a certain degree as to which you can out do something, so this year the VMAs were much simpler than the extravagant events they used to be. Even Lady Gaga didn’t change into a million costumes throughout the event , instead she dressed as a man, which is still not the most normal thing to do but people always expect something different from her and she always delivers.

The manifest functions could be that the VMAs brings people/family together whether they are watching it on Television or Live in Los Angeles. Everyone is interested in what the celebrities are going to wear and who's going to be there. The marketing and Public Relations sectors benefit from this event. Companies can place advertisements throughout the show, every time it was time for Jessie J to perform during the break several advertisements for fast-food restaurants or products played., particularly Taco-Bell.

Latent functions that are associated with the VMAs is the focus on public transportation as people would more likely use the bus or train to avoid traffic jams. The VMAs could bring complete strangers together if they have similar tastes in music or videos.

Anticipated disruptions of the VMAs are the same as the disruptions that happen with any large celebration, traffic, littering and shortage of clean toilets because of the large amount of people.

Everything can be looked at in a sociological way even the most unexpected cases.

You call that a handshake?

Through many years the most known gesture was a handshake. It expressed respect and friendliness to the other person. Today, people managed to develop their gesture which mainly presented their cultural identity and individualism.

The functionalist theory suggests that symbols and practices surrounding popular culture brings people together by generating a shared sense of social solidarity. So, today, the way you greet someone expresses the society and culture you come from. In-fact, it could represent the subculture you belong to. For example, hip hop fans have certain gestures they understand and interpret in their own way. While on the other hand, Kings and Queens have very different gestures that expresses their belonging to a royal family.

 

But today, a gesture doesn’t only represent your society or culture it symbolizes individualism. People now greet each other with different gestures than the culture or society they belong to and no longer need to commit to their society’s gesture. For example, in many of the gulf regions men greet each other by nose. However, this gesture is not preformed by every member of the society, some people prefer to greet each other with a high five or just a hand wave! 

 

 

A hand shake is no longer the ultimate gesture and the most recognizable one.  Many high school and college students have created their own unique gesture to greet each other and most of them agreed that a handshake expresses formality. So, greeting someone with a handshake is now conceded a professional gesture used for strangers and older people!

 

While observing my friends way of greeting each other, I’ve noticed that each person greets in his own way. In the Arab regions, there is the confusion of kisses. In the gulf region girls greet each other with three kisses on one cheek while in other countries girls greet each other with one kiss on each cheek. Also, in most of the Arab countries, men don’t greet women which sometimes could lead to an embarrassment to both sides.