Poster’s (1998) argument that geography is no longer important rings true. Today, technology has made the world a tight-knit community where people who belong to tribes can maintain their tribal identity outside of the tribe’s geographic borders. For example, immigrants who move to a new land can still maintain contact with their homeland using internet technology.
Even in Canada, tribes are tied together with technology. Usually Canadians associate a tribe with an immigrant community but Canada itself is made up of tribes – also known as regions. We have Quebecers, easterners, westerners, central Canadians, and so forth. With some regions having a more robust economy than other regions, people have left their tribe in search for work. For example, people from across Canada have made their way to Alberta to work in the oil industry. In the past, travelling and working in another part of Canada would disconnect a person and their tribe. However, now people can break the vast distance of this country and connect using technology. For example, people can use Skype to have face to face contact with loved ones back home.
Technology has taken the public of Habermas (Kennedy, 2010) and has expanded it. The coffee house is no longer located in one building – it is now located in home offices and on mobile devices. Our virtual coffee house allows participants to talk to one another, engage in debate and keep informed about events as they happen.
The improvement of technology has allowed different publics to form, which breaks the barrier of geography. For example on professional websites, such as LinkedIn, users can join different groups, and engage in conversation from their home or from their phone. Before internet technology, people could join a local chapter of an association but their contact with others outside of their geographic boundary was rare. Often, it was the yearly convention when people broke through their geography constraints and talked to members of other tribes.
Geography is no longer a physical space. It is now part of wires, cable and computer screens that make up modern technology. And, what is happening is good because it breaks down barriers within tribes and even among tribes. It also allows people to connect with each other more freely. With the virtual public, we continue to get to know one another even though we may have left our geographic boundary, which makes home just a click away.
References
Poster, M. (1998). Virtual ethnicity: Tribal identity in an age of global communications. In S. Jones (Ed.), New Media Cultures: Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting computer-mediated communication and community. (pp. 184-212). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452243689.n7
Kenedy, P. (Host). (2010). Ideas with Paul Kenedy. The Origins of the Modern Public. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Communication Theory 