Shanghai and Taiwan Adventures

Globalisation, although a broad concept, has greatly impacted our daily lives without us even knowing. According to Rantanen (2005, pg. 7) globalisation refers to a formation of a global society whereby different parts of the world are becoming increasingly more interconnected and the development of more advanced technologies has allowed for this to happen. Moreover, Rockefeller (2011, pg. 557) also theorises that information flows allow easy transmission and accessibility of information almost instantaneously all around the world. Thus, this would enable individuals to connect with other family members and friends at a click of a button or in more modern terms, through a simple status update on Facebook or tweet without having to be in the same room country.

After explaining ‘informational flows’ to my mother, I asked her if this has impacted her life in any way (in Cantonese of course!) to which she replied:

“This year travelling to Shanghai & Taiwan. We were able to video call family members and share photos with them on your iPhone. It is really easy for everyone to know what we’ve been up to and lets us share our experiences with them even though they are still back home. We even took videos of aerobatic performances and sent them to your sister to see.  It’s really convenient.” (Louie, July 27, 2013)

 

 

Photo sourced: Kylie Louie 18th January 2013

I suddenly realized that globalisation was playing a much greater role in our daily lives than I had initially thought. Before flying off I remembered updating my Facebook status which stated that I was heading overseas for a month. When my parents and I were in Shanghai and Taiwan we called my sister via Skype and sent pictures and videos via whatsapp (an application on the iPhone). Even though my sister was half way across the globe we were able to easily communicate with each other and remain up to date with what was happening from both sides of the world.

Social networking sites and mobile connections have allowed a greater unification of culture and information accessibility. Without globalization, this would not have been possible.


 

Photo sourced: Kylie Louie 10th January 2013

 

 

 

References:

Louie, B, Personal Interview, July 27 2013

Rantanen, T 2005, ‘Theorizing media globalization’, The media and globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1–18

Rockefeller, S 2011, "Flow", Current Anthropology, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 557-578.

Introduction

Hi! My name is Kylie, and currently in my second year of Uni studying Bachelor of Arts/ (Media Communications) Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing).
Currently 19 years old living in Melbourne. This blog will be used within my Media and Communication class exploring the themes of Globalisation and the Media and be updated on a weekly basis.
I have a strong passion for all things beauty related as well as the "occasional" cup of coffee in the morning. (Regular Soy Latte 2 sugars please!)