Week 7 What is the Blogosphere?

The blogosphere is a term used to describe the millions of interconnected blogs on the Internet. The term was first used in late 1999 as a joke, and continued to be used sporadically as a humorous term for the next few years. The blogosphere is a way of describing the social creature that grows from a critical mass of blogs.

So what’s so great about mining the blogosphere? What can you find in the world of blogs? I think I can sum it up in one word: people. Blogs are all about personal, customized content – what you read is what you get. For instance, I have a personal blog in which I write about my daily life with my family, my cats, and life in general. Sure, it’s probably not interesting to anyone but me, but it’s got that all-important element of “people” in it.

When you start poking around the blogosphere, you’re going to get a lot of blogs about cats (not kidding), but you’re also going to get blogs centered around someone’s political views, another person’s take on the latest fashion flubs, somebody else’s opinion on technology news, and so much more. The blogosphere is the personal side of the World Wide Web, and there’s definitely a lot to explore.

Week 6 Diasporic Culture

Diaspora cultures exist as a result of the dispersion of communities throughout the world; this dispersion is often forced or has historical reasons. Diaspora communities represent and maintain a culture different from those of the countries within which they are located, often retaining strong ties with their country and culture of origin (real or perceived) and with other communities of the same origin in order to preserve that culture. This is an essentially cultural phenomenon and is not necessarily linked to migration.

Some diaspora cultures, which have clear origins and are the result of enforced dispersions, are well documented, for example the Armenian, Greek, Irish, Italian and the Jewish diasporas and, more recently, the Balkan diasporas. However, the majority of countries throughout the world, and therefore most Council of Europe member states, in fact recognise their own diaspora culture. In addition, whilst some diaspora cultures are relatively unknown, the majority of member states are “host” to a great number of different diaspora cultures.

New forms of cultural practice in these societies address themselves to this project for the very good reason that, as Fanon puts it, in the recent past.

Colonisation is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it.

Reference:

Frantz Fanon, 'On National Culture', in The Wretched of the Earth, London 1963,

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Week 5 Diasporas and The Media

Diasporic population devoted to maintaining their home country tradition and coming to terms with new cultural and social value, it’s also seek to engage with the affairs of their ‘home’ country (ALC 215, p.3-4). In this condition, the technologies and media are being a critical agent for them to continue to maintain a social contact with the ‘home’ community and to engage with the ‘home’ affairs.

Technologies and media took a vital role in daisporic culture. Cyberspace is a significant ‘place’ where allow diasporic communities to exchange information and maintain relationship by form a ‘virtual neighbourhood’ (ALC 215, p.3). The internet communications are seen to be the new possibilities of democratic and rational public debate which allowing all to become ‘equal’ to speak (Sun, p.132). Hence, whether you are Migrants who are restricted the freedom of speech in origin country or have been suffered an unfair treatment because of a demographic factors, you allow to become ‘equal’ in internet. Social media are now a one of powerful tool that allow migrants to received information, to express opinion or even the ‘hate speech’, and thus to participate in the political activities of origin country.

photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/events/111167695699731/

By today’s hot issue in HK, ‘withdrawing the national education’, we can see that how social media become a communication tool for Migrants to compatriots at home, and how diasporic communities desire to engage with the politics of their countries of origin. HKSS is a Deakin student club who launched a signature campaign with others 8 universities in Australia to support the campaign in hk. And there are different supporting campaigns are held in the world as well.

Australian overseas higher education student (Hong Kong) joint statement: Requesting the Hong Kong government withdraw the Moral and National Education Curriculum Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/100141230141998/

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHJRiYtKF64 by NTDTV

Reference

ALC 215 Study Guide, Topic 3, pp.3-4

Sun, W 2002, ‘Fantasizing the homeland: the internet, memory, and exilic longings’, Leaving China: media, migration, and transnational imagination 2002, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, pp. 113-136

Week 4 The Olympics as a positive global event ?

The original aim of the Olympic Games was to show the physical qualities of the athletes who competed and to encourage good relations between cities across Greece. Up to now, this major international event is aim to encourage good relation between nation and nation.

Is it a positive global event? It is highlighting the global conflict OR transcending it? In my opinion, the global conflicts were raised during and after the games. In this games, the audience are sensible as this is an competition, they are standing for their own country. It emerge a contradictory state.

Several events in this London Olympic Games had become a conflict between country and country. In women football games, North Korean against Colombia, the flag of bitter rival South Korea was proudly shown on the big screens around the stadium. Thus, the North Koreans refused to play the match at the scheduled 7.45pa start time. It is become big news in all nation newspaper and be widely debate by people, not only the North and South Koreans, also in other Asia country as well.

Another event that lead to a global conflict.

‘Chinese swimmer’s result is questioned.’ By HLN.

The Global broadcasting also is the factor that lead to the possible of global conflict. People now not only can see the related report of Olympic games by their own nation TV corporation. They also can see the report from other nation TV through the media, such as interest (Youtube).