classroom discussion

A short story about Goffman's theory 

 In the  bookstore in the city center, the clerk Xiao Liu is the "informant" here. His job is to pay attention to the customers who come to the store and get valuable information from their conversations. Xiao Liu always looks busy but friendly, and he skillfully organizes the bookshelves to help customers find the books they want.

One day, a regular customer, Professor Li, came to the bookstore and started chatting with Xiao Liu. Professor Li is a "service expert" who knows the book market very well and is particularly good at analyzing the popular trends of books. Xiao Liu took the opportunity to ask about the future trends of several best-selling books and gained a lot of useful insights from Professor Li.

At the same time, another customer, Xiao Zhang, was also wandering in the bookstore. Xiao Zhang is actually an "informant" who likes to find out all kinds of gossip everywhere and then sell it to those who need it. This time, Xiao Zhang accidentally overheard a conversation between a couple in the bookstore and learned the inside information of an upcoming best-selling book.

Not long after, the bookstore's owner, Sister Wang, appeared. Sister Wang is the "go-between" of the bookstore. She is responsible for passing on various collected information to those who need this information and making a profit from it. She always wears a warm smile and mingle with customers, but her eyes are always paying attention to every detail.

After closing in the evening, Sister Wang called Xiao Liu, Professor Li and Xiao Zhang to the back room of the bookstore. Xiao Liu reported the information he got from Professor Li, and Professor Li further analyzed the value of the information. Xiao Zhang also contributed the inside information he heard.

Sister Wang integrated all the information and passed it on to several publishers and bookstore competitors through her network. A few days later, these publishers and bookstores made more targeted market strategies based on this intelligence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to our blog

This blog is a digital forum where students from the Spring 2024 class in Everyday Life at Hanyang University in Korea will discuss their weekly readings and activities. For each section of the course, you are expected to post a blog post on relevant readings on our blog here and make a comment on another student's post. An ideal commentary should be about 800 words, divided into three clearly labeled sections in which you: 1) summarize in your own words of materials you read; 2) mention any new, interesting, or unusual items learned; 3) identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle that is either problematic in some respect or could have been elaborated more. This question is likely to be incorporated into our class discussions. You are allowed to quote an interesting passage from the text(s) you've read, but the quotes will not count toward any length requirements. The blog’s deadline is always: Sunday, midnight, of the week the question is posted. Remember: in
Read more

Answers of 3rd class's question

 1. How do we shape our behavior because of others? We put  different personas for each opponent. That's why I think we're doing different things to different opponents. I think it can't be helped because we have to take different postures depending on the opponent's status, condition, etc. . For me, I act different poses to my parents, to my friends and to the professers. I have to 'act' different manners to each. So they look me various ways which i had pretended.  2. What is definations of early or late ? i ansewer depends on Korean culture It is polite to arrive on time or about 10 minutes early for office workers or unfamiliar people. However, it is implicitly allowed for close people to be late to some extent. Korea's unique culture of 빨리빨리[ppali ppali] seems to have made time commitments in office relations thorough. Actually the more earlier, may could be more politer in Korea 3. Why is color black common in Korea clothing? Koreans may not like to be
Read more

week 2 classroom questions

w.2 1. I think the team is that everyone has a different division of labor, not only the individual work results, but also the team's results.Everyone in a team has complementary skills to solve problems together to achieve common goals. It's like a family party where the mother will be responsible for shopping, the sister will be responsible for cooking, and the brother will be responsible for setting up the scene. 2. Why do Koreans prefer black clothes?First, I think black clothes are more resistant to dirt than other colors.Second, black is a classic and colorful color, do not choose the body, do not choose the skin color, suitable for various occasions.Third, black clothes can show simplicity and luxury, and can show different styles with various clothing styles, especially black coats and down jackets, which can not only blend into the winter atmosphere of Korea, but also reveal luxury and urbanity in simplicity. 
Read more