Globalisation and the blogosphere

The public sphere was developed by Habermas and can broadly be defined as “a social room which is created when individuals act communicatively” and a place “where equal citizens assemble into a public and set their own agenda through open communication” (Eriksen & Weigard, 2003, pp.178-179).

The public sphere is based upon freedom and allows citizens to discuss and debate the general conditions for the common good (Eriksen & Weigard, 2003, pp.196). From an organizational perspective it serves to increase public participation in the functioning of a company and thus empowers consumers and the wider society.

There is a plethora of nutrition, health and fitness writers in the blogosphere, talking about things from how to do a push up, to which protein powder to add to your green smoothie recipe. While generally all these types of blogs are based upon an individual’s opinion on how to get healthy, they differ quite significantly blog to blog. This is a huge aspect of the public sphere, an area where individuals can come to discuss.

The public sphere allows citizens to access freedom of information, which is a “fundamental feature of a democratic society,” (Street, 2011, p. 327).

What I find most interesting about the abundance of information these blogs have to offer is that they are coming from every corner of the globe. The technical and original meaning of the public sphere was literally a room where society came to converse, however with improvements of technology has developed an innovative diversity to the term.

The blogosphere encapsulates the ideal behind the public sphere, as it allows individuals to offer their ideas in an equal and independent manner. According to Myers (2010) “blogs broaden the terrain of public discussion, potentially allowing anyone with an Internet connection to speak to a wider audience” (p. 273). The uses of colloquial language in blogs also creates a sense of understanding and relate ability amongst readers as Dettori & Torsani (2013) argue informal language helps to enrich the learning process of individuals (p. 93).

REFERENCE:

Eriksen, EO & Weigard, J 2003, ‘Public opinion formation and rational politics’, in Understanding Habermas, communicative action and deliberative democracy, Continuum, London, pp.178-196

Dettori, G, & Torsani, S 2013, 'Enriching Formal Language Learning with an Informal Social Component', Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 16, 1, pp. 93-103, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost,

Myers, G 2010, 'Stance-taking and public discussion in blogs', Critical Discourse Studies, 7, 4, pp. 263-275, Humanities Source, EBSCOhost

Street, J. (2011). Mass media, politics and democracy, 2nd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 303–328.

Plagiarism Vs Copyright Violation

We hear the plagiarism spiel just about every other day as university students, and I think its pretty well knuckled down into our brain. Using someone else’s work as your own without reference is plagiarism, you will get caught, and there will be consequences. I don’t know about you, but I’ve become pretty stringent with referencing and paraphrasing. With the plagiarism gun pointing swiftly at my head with every assignment I submit, the temptation of cheating is far outweighed by the unrelenting fear of being kicked out of uni.

But what exactly is copyright violation? According to Weatherall (2012) copyright infringement involves “traffic in stolen movies, TV shows, and music or even counterfeit prescription medications and other goods ... online havens for theft, enabling criminals to profit from content or intellectual property they had nothing to do with creating” (p. 110).

Unlike plagiarism, these thieves are not claiming the stolen goods to be their own work, however, they are making money of someone else’s hard work in an unmerited manner. While I’m not making money off any of my study procrastination TV series downloads, how do I diverge myself from a copyright thief? Or are we all thieves in our own right?

Retrieved from: http://www.mediainstitute.org/IPI/2011/052511.php

Reflecting on all of this, what I found most interesting was the fact that the threat of being caught for plagiarism stands much higher than being caught for downloading a movie for me at least. Perhaps this is in part due to the consequential action each violation incurs. As a student getting caught for plagiarism seems highly likely, and the consequences are dire. However, according to Gibson (2011) the chance of a copyright violator going to jail is ‘highly unlikely’ (p. 1).

REFERENCE

Gibson, J 2011, Intellectual Property Issues: Will you go to jail for copyright infringement?, http://www.mediainstitute.org/IPI/2011/052511.php, accessed on 12/08/2013

Weatherall, K 2012, 'THE NEW (OLD) WAR ON COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, AND HOW CONTEXT IS OPENING NEW REGULATORY POSSIBILITIES', Media International Australia (8/1/07-Current), 143, pp. 110-121, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost,

Globalisation and Coming of Age

I was pondering what to write for this post all week, there are so many styles and movements that have affected me over the years, how could I narrow it down to just one to write about? It wasn’t until I was walking to my local coffee shop that I wandered past an empty shop, with a sign in the window reading “African Drumming Class: 7:30 Wednesday 14^th August.” As insignificant as the sign was it took me back to my travels through Africa and our visit to the Maasai Mara.

The Maasai Warrior Jump Dance is a ceremony, which is performed as part of tradition to mark the coming of age of Maasai boys. The dance involves the warriors jumping in a straight posture, and the lucky warrior with the highest jump gets to choose whichever female he likes from the tribe.

While this type of ceremony is quite a foreign concept in Australia, there are many rituals performed as part of the process of ‘coming of age’ throughout the world. According to Larson & Martin (2012) “rituals of initiation are common in nearly every cultural and religious tradition. Many rites of passage involve guided risk taking and adventure, marking the road to maturity”(p. 37).

The Warrior Jump Dance got me thinking about the tradition of  “coming of age” in Australia, and how even though our culture is so drastically diverse from the Maasai, we are still able to celebrate the same traditions. Be it sinking their first can of VB or jumping as high as they can, the passage a youth takes from child into adulthood is a significant step and one that is celebrated worldwide as a shared tradition.

 

Nederveen (2004) argues "the development gap between advanced economies and new industrial counties has narrowed, but the gap between these and the least developed countries has been widening" (p. 14). While the gap between the Australian culture and the traditions of the Maasai are widening, to understand some of the shared traditions these divergent cultures hold is inspiring to say the least. 

REFERENCE:

Larson, S, & Martin, L 2012, 'Risk Taking and Rites of Passage', Reclaiming Children & Youth, 20, 4, pp. 37-40, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost

Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004, ‘Globalization: consensus and controversies’, Globalization and culture: global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7–21.