The article was both an academic and informing in presenting analyses on location aware mobile media and its relations to the common Havana internet cultures. I found the fact that “location -aware mobile applications will increase communication and coordination, facilitate chance encounters and mobility, and increase user’s awareness of urban spaces” (Sutko and de Souza e Silva, 2010) very compelling in a way that many are witnessing the internet culture’s powerful influence at national level. The example with the HBO’s series Game of Thrones also grabbed my attention because the power of media and television shows is beyond measure because of the development in technology and the accessibility that people have with mobile media; the practice of immersing oneself into the part of the media circle of the contemporary online world is inevitable, and the experience becomes part of daily routines and patterns of many people in Latin America, in this case Cuba. As mentioned in the article by Grandinetti and Eszenyi, from different research around the topic of mobile media and the influence of the internet world, the reliance on mobile media to have a voice and ears for the internet is established and constantly developing into one of the main platforms that represent how the people of certain areas represent themselves and are represented in different streams of media. Factors such as “political, social, cultural and economic evolutions” are interrelated in a way that in today’s society, people have easy access to knowledge, important life lessons, and media that triggers different emotions of those audiences. Especially in Latin American culture, the access has been limited in the past for the majority of the population to have access to the online world, but the country’s history, infrastructure and the system of international relations are shared throughout the country through mobile media platforms and many of them became easier to be exposed to. The improvements in communication through location aware mobile devices in Cuba shows an increase due to the internet sensations and through this, recognition of different cultures around the world can be identified by those individuals living in the villages in Cuba and experience indirectly what the North Americans, the Europeans and those living in different cultures with a few touches and clicks on mobile devices. The web connectivity and the interwoven aspects of the internet culture is in motion as we speak, and the complexity of the system is hard to comprehend, but the equal opportunity for people around the world to have the tool to gain knowledge about how the world is run is necessary to utilize the true advantage of the world of internet and the media.
Class question: What is your experience with mobile media? Looking back, how does the developments and the changes in technology and media forms affected your own personal view on the society, the politics, the economy and your self?
Great post! I think most of us at UBC can agree that our constant access to mobile media has completely shaped our identities and has even added to our resource-rich sense of self. Moreover, without censorship, it is much easier for us to engage in political discussions online and even influence change right from our phones. There is that lack of physical sense of community that we do not get from sharing say communal USBs but we are allowed to engage with more like-minded people than ever before. I, for one, have become much more left-wing since I began using social media because of vast amount of free information circulating on the internet which I am grateful for.
Nice post! It is hard to imagine my personal development without mobile media. On the one hand, it offered me numerous platforms to connect with new people and hear new perspectives. For me, the different views social media brought to me were especially relevant because, without them, I would be limited to the very conservative and oppressive ideas of most of my family. So in this sense, it allowed me to find open and progressive communities, which became necessary to develop my sense of self. On the other hand, I saw social media leading people around me to have more extremists opinions and close themselves in the same type of thinking bubbles. Moreover, the judgement, comparison, and social conformity that comes with social media often make me feel less confident. Still, I think the opportunities for change, connection, and improvement that social media brings are more valuable.
Hey there, thanks for your post! In response to the second part of your question, I think that media and technology change our perceptions of social, political, and cultural institutions because they are currently our primary sources of information. As such, depending on what information we are exposed to and how rapidly (in this case, very rapidly) will affect how we view those institutions.