Becoming #Instafamous105

Becoming #Instafamous105

Image from: buzzfed.com

Find yo People.

Today I am going to educate you on a really cool, old word called Diaspora.

Just like the cliques at High school, the jocks, the geeks, the punks, the band geeks or the cheerleaders, you will find yourself unknowingly falling into several categories when using Instagram, whether you like it or not. This isn’t a bad thing, it just means you will find like-minded people with similar interests to connect with. This occurrence is similar to what Dr Kuttainen and E. Ma Mung describe as Diaspora.

Diaspora is where a scattering of people all over the world connect from having commonalities, whether it be religious, passion, work or even disability related. These things that bring people from different walks of life will help you able to identify with these other groups and people, and they may very well be complete strangers.

What is diaspora specifically? The word Diaspora is of Greek derivative coming from the word ‘Diaspeiro’. ‘Dia’ meaning across or over and ‘Speiro’ meaning to sow or scatter seeds. (Kuttainen, 2015). As E. Ma Mung puts it in this weeks reading ‘The term of diaspora means dispersal. Originally it only described the dispersal of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Realmof Israel.’ (Ma Mung, 2005)

From these definition I don’t think that it is too hard to connect the similarities to the world of Instagram where the spreading of people who are linked with one another by similar interests and commonalities. This is the integration of old words into modern day context. Hopefully this analogy helps you to understand the word Diaspora and its context. Challenge yourself to see how many times you can integrate the word diaspora into your everyday conversation.

Reference List:

Kuttainen, V. (2015) BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 7: People Networks. [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Ma Mung, E. (2005) Diaspora, spatiality, identities. In W. Bosswick, & C. Husband. (Eds), Comparative European research in migration, diversity and identities (pp. 33-48). Spain: Univeristy of Deusto.