Communication Helps Us All Fit In!
By Alice Carter
Forcing pressure on our younger people of society, to maintain traditions and/or connections of a “homeland” (or in this instance, a community), seems to be the way social media works in order to maintain identity for a certain group of people (Kuttainen, 2015). This is seen to be stimulated from people who experience diaspora, at any stage during their life. As the above question states, diaspora in this instance is only termed from people who are geographically distant from friends or family.
People who are geographically distant from their own group, tend to be known to create their own “community” closer to where they are on the map. There are several possibilities for why this occurs, but there is thought that the only logical reason for this occurrence is to maintain the same community aspect, belief and value, within a different group of people. An example of this, is of an individual using Facebook to communicate with people in the area they live in. This communication is based off said individual, wanting to let others (who currently occupy that area) know, that they are wanting to be around them and specifically create a “community”, with those particular people. An individual in this position may or may not fit in to the particular social setting in question, however due to experiencing diaspora, they adapt communication from their country/town/state of origin (Mung, 1992).
Showing the communication to form a new community, helps maintain the original symbol and narrative of the country of origin. It helps the individual experiencing diaspora create a community outside of their country of origin, because having to live far away from friends and family, is a given circumstance that has to lead to said individual creating a new (but similar) “community” in their “host country”.
REFERENCES
Kuttainen, V. (2015) Lecture 7: People Networks. LearnJCU: Power Point
Ma Mung, E. Diaspora, spatiality, identities
Images Retrieved from:
Medcalf, A. (2015) Top Tips for Effective Communication Retrieved from http://www.abbymedcalf.com/top-tips-for-effective-communication/
I agree with your argument of Facebook connecting all people with some sort of similar or familiar backgrounds. The examples you used all seem fitting to your arguments. Another argument you could make along with your previous point of Diaspora, in your case, meaning a geographically distant relationship, you could also use the argument of Diaspora connecting people that have nothing geographically similar to one another. For instance, when various people are in a case 'booted out' of a certain virtual group and so revert to creating a different online group where other people like these "virtual refugees" can feel more comfortable that they have no place of belonging. Kuttainen (2015) describes these groups as "imagined communities". Along with this argument you could also discuss these "imagined communities" and how these "virtual refugees" create their "Diasporic identity and history". (Kuttainen, 2015)
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Kuttainen, V. (2015). People Networks. Lecture, James Cook University.