It seems today it doesn’t matter what corner of the
earth we travel to, we are still able to stay closely connected to
home. When I turned 19 I decided to take a gap year before I started Uni,
my destination was the U.K. I was born there and moved to Australia when I was
2, so I really wanted to get back and get to know the family I had on the other
side of the world. However what was meant to be one year turned into seven
years. I travelled throughout the U.K, Europe and America. I had a great time
but it was still really important to me to stay in touch with my friends and
family in Oz. Over the seven years the ways of communication changed from
telephone to Facebook and Skype as the world seemed to be getting smaller and
globalisation seemed played a huge part in this.
Globalisation seems to be making its presence known more and more in our everyday lives and it also appears to have more than one definition, which I think is a good thing as it allows people from all walks of life to relate to it. One definition that resonates best with me is from Thompson in the Rantanen reading in week one; he focuses more on media and culture even though he doesn’t actually directly address either. ‘ Globalisation refers to the growing interconnectedness of different parts of the world, a process which gives rise to complex forms of interaction and interdependency’ – Thompson (Rantanen, 2005:7).
Informational flows allowed me to stay in contact
with my family through using Skype and I asked my dad how he found the
experience of using newer technology to keep in touch. He did say that he found
it a little difficult to adapt from simply picking up a phone to using Skype
but once he got his head around it he found it to be a fantastic communication
tool. My sister also went Germany and we kept in contact using Viber, which
uses Wi Fi, and the clarity was so good it was like she was in the next room.
I think its safe to say in regards to my experience
using these technologies it has been positive as I think it is for the majority
of people using them.
Abi Brothers, 2013, ‘Top Tech 2013’ – retrieved
26/7
Rantanen, T, 2005,
‘ Theorising media glaobalisation’, The
media and globalization, Sage, London, p1-18
