Following the Leader

[gurujace]

In conceiving the Two Step Flow Model of Communication, Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld make the mistake of dividing people into two distinct categories: (a) opinion leaders and (b) opinion followers. I certainly agree with them that our understanding of media content is filtered by certain people whom we trust because of their competence, values,

Comments

[gurujace]

So, girlfriends really do that, huh? :D

By the way, I got your email. It's just sayang that I had something else scheduled yesterday. But the talk sounded extremely interesting. And very PolComm!!!

[i_make_stuff_up]

yeah Sir!!! the PoS100 talk was really interesting! I wasn't even required to attend but i just thought it might be cool to sit in.

Yolly Ong gave a MEDIAwesome lecture on the way political campaigns are done here in the Philippines and how they should be done.

Her 10 Principles on Political Campaigns Communications might come in handy for our discussion on Political Campaigns!:p woot woot!:p

[gurujace]

I wonder if other PolCommers went. You can share with the class Yolly Ong's insights as a counterpoint to my aunt's real world stories of dirty campaigns. :)

[i_make_stuff_up]

Sir Jace!:p your two-step flow meme should be passed around in different blogs! it's the ultimate Media Student's meme! hahaha!:p

Although, reading this entry got me thinking about the opinion leaders in my life. And yeah, you fall under the category on "how to live a mediated life." haha!:p

[gurujace]

Oh my...here is where I need you to be my opinion leader. What's a "meme?" And how the heck is that pronounced? Hahahahaha!

[i_make_stuff_up]

actually sir, i too am a follower of this online term/concept. Hahaha!:p Ever since i started blogging, all my friends would post "memes" or a list of questions that they've answered and they would tag people they'd want to pass it on to. So think of it as an online "slumbook" hahaha!:p

Because of your question, i searched for the meaning of the word "meme" and here is what i found:

A meme (pronounced /miːm/)[1] comprises any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, gestures, practices, fashions, habits, songs, and dances. Memes propagate themselves and can move through the cultural sociosphere in a manner similar to the contagious behavior of a virus. (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme)

Spread your meme now! hahaha!!!:))

[gurujace]

Thanks! Yey! That'll help me be a better bluffer as regards online stuff. :D

[anonymous]

There's a good reason why theoretical ideals 'fail' in real-life. They are usually simplified to such an extent that they don't necessarily conform to many real life cases. The simplification helps reduce the variables at play, hence the phrase ceteris paribus often used in economics, which allows meaningful analysis to take place.

I'm speculating that the aforementioned Katz-Lazarsfeld (whom I am not familiar with, obviously) were aware that their own theory of opinion leaders / followers dichotomy is not reflective of real life, and that real people were both. They chose to simplify the real world to enable analysis about persons as and when they are inhabiting one of the two roles.

[gurujace]

(1) True. As has been said, theories reveal as much as they conceal. As I say, the Two Step Flow Model may not capture the complex web of influences among people, but it still is analytically useful.

(2) I must say though that scholars must be brave enough to assert that there are good theories and bad theories, depending on what they reveal and what they conceal. Perhaps Katz and Lazarsfeld may have known that people are both leaders and followers in real life. But the way they framed their theory speaks of their positivist ontology and epistemology. As someone who works within the realist tradition, I just cannot help but dissent against the ideology of control that is so embedded in that approach. Hence my disdain for categorizing people as leaders only and followers only. That's not to say though that my own approach is problem-free.

[mucho_suerte]

Bummer - that was me heh heh.. didn't log-in

Yeah, I noticed that the first thing following your critique was that you noted it was useful nonetheless, and went on to show why so..

I think scholars from the recent past, circa 1975 and before, tend to leave it at a reduced, positivist level. So, the task for new scholars is to construct anew the theories in play, to reflect new ideas, but in a disciplined manner that can be proven to explain things better than the reductionist theories of the past.

[gurujace]

I knew it was you! Hahaha!

I just read your email. Oh wow! So you're on track to being Dr. Leow! :)