Culture of the Internet

Now that I have successfully built up my own 'blog community' (as it was called on the task sheet haha)...I can now move on to talk about my own experiences with communication technologies.

Okay, I may not be a whiz at every new technology that comes out, but I do use them. My main uses of communication technologies are probably my mobile phone and use of the internet. I am fairly reliable on new communication technologies to keep in contact with my friends and family.

I admit, I am the type of person that carries my mobile phone EVERYWHERE with me...and if I am having a boring night or weekend, I do like to communicate with friends over the internet - through msn :)

I went to a school that was highly academic, and in doing so, the internet was something that basically every student there NEEDED to have, or else they wouldn't survive. WEll, not literally...but the internet was widely used, and was a lot of help to my studies. Therefore, attending such a school has introduced me to the use of the internet and other new communication technologies.

On the other hand, it was my parents that introduced me to the use of a mobile phone. I was given my first mobile about 5 yrs ago so that I could contact my parents 'in emergencies'...but yes that soon just lead to a handy tool for contacting my friends and family on a regular basis.

Even though I believe school, friends and family were a major influences on my personal use of the internet and mobile phones, subconciously, the reference and use of the such technologies in movies, tv shows and the media has influenced people everywhere to explore this new world of technology. It is now very common in developed countries, such as Australia, to have easy access to the internet and use of a mobile phone. These often seen as basic essentials. How could I live without internet and my mobile phone now? Honestly, I don't think I could. I get stressed/annoyed when the internet is down for a few hours, or when my phone decides to crash on me...new communication technologies are pretty important in my life at the moment, and things would be VERY different without them! :)

So what did the lectures have to say about the culture of the internet???
In week 2...the lecture was basically about history of communication forms, beginning in 1900 with semiotics, in France! The lecture then continued along the timeline, showing the different forms across time from different countries all over the world...right through till the 1990s with the cultures of Europe. Despite all the texts, and opinionative theories shown throughout the lecture, the session was finished with a French New Wave cinema movie named La Jetee. Sounds interesting hey? Though it was hard to read at times (as the subtitles were written in white, often shown on white backgrounds)...this science fiction story was expressed through the constant display of still photographs, telling a story of time travel. I found the movie actually a little confusing, so its hard to comment on it....but the movie itself was something very different, something i have never seen before. Interesting!!!