Friday, 21 August 2015

Connecting Our World

Connecting our world


Image: (Bracewell, 2014)


Ana White once said ‘Internet has made the world a small town again’. Is she right? The internet has connected the world and put everything in some sort of space making staying in contact as easy as being in a small town (White, 2014)

A map is not only images on page showing position and size, it is much more. A map is a representation of any area. Maps show us the way, social network maps go even further by showing us these areas and the cultures within that space. Every map is a purposeful selection from everything that is known, bent to the mapmaker's ends. Every map serves a purpose, every map advances an interest (Seeing Through Maps, 2001).

Facebook may not seem like a map to some but in way it is. It connects you with the rest of the world through pages and posts. Sure it’s not a conventional map but thanks to Facebook and the social networks made through it everyone has an idea of what our world looks like. Maps reflect how we see the world and they inform and shape the way we act in it (Learn JCU, 2015). 

Facebook is a map I use to see ahead when I travel. Before going away I always search on Facebook the region that I’m visiting as it has all the local insider knowledge of their space. This not only connects me to that space in the world but also informs me of what that part of the world is like.

To see how the how the world is being connected checkout this Facebook's mission is to 'connect the world' This page gives a few examples of how Facebook is connecting the world and how it is improving the world’s connections.

Facebook is helping our world connect, but as F. Scott Fitzgerald once said “the world only exists in your eyes, you can make it as big or as small as you want” (Fitzgerald, 2013) . 



References

Bracewell, P. (2014, June ). The price of Blood . Retrieved from From my blog : http://www.patriciabracewell.com/2014/06/bookadayuk-hooked-me-in-to-reading/
Fitzgerald, F. S. (2013, December ). Fans of David Archuleta. Retrieved from It’s a Small World After al: http://fansofdavid.com/archives/101423
Learn JCU. (2015, August ). Retrieved from Lecture 4: Maps : https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1992266_1&course_id=_69740_1
Seeing Through Maps. (2001). In D. W. Abramms, & W. L. Kaiser, All Maps Are Slective . New Internationalist Publications™ Ltd.
White, A. (2014). Bright Bold Beautiful . Retrieved from 5 Inspirational quotes for 2014: http://www.brightboldbeautiful.com/2014/01/02/5-inspirational-quotes-2014/


Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Unknown23 August 2015 at 18:59

    I agree with your idea that social media is making the world more accessible and that it's a matter of perception that dictates whether it is also getting smaller or bigger. In our first lecture we were shown a video based on the theory of six degrees of separation. According to blogger Bill Sheridan, the University of Milan has proven that the degrees of separation have been lowered to 4.74 due to the connections made through social media. So as we're being more closely connected by social mapping, can we really consider the world becoming smaller or bigger, or is it more that our idea of the world is being changed as we adapt to the new networks.


    Reference:

    Sheridan, B. (2013, November 23). The world gets smaller, thanks to social media [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.macpa.org/blog/1695/the-world-gets-smaller-thanks-to-social-media

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)