Technology of Communication and the Nature and Identity of Community - Essay Example

? How does the technology of Communication influence the nature and identity of community? In the modern era mankind has become too much dependent onthe use of technology. Technology up gradation has happened almost in all the sectors. The wide uses of technology have facilitated the human beings to a large extent and almost every minute works of daily life can be achieved with the help of technology. The significant achievement made by the technology is in the field of communication. The innovation in communication technology has reached its peak and the users are offered highly improvised solutions to meet their needs. The rapid growth of technology has expanded its domain across the major countries of the world, with the superpowers enjoying a large share of the benefits. The presence of satellite communication has made it possible for the users to communicate in the most remote areas. The vast outbreak of technology has impacted the communities across the world. The effect of technology has been so massive that the behavior and identity of a community can be determined and is influenced by the communication technology in use. Communication and Community: The interdependence of proper communication and community development has been agreed by the modernist of the 19th and the 20th century. German theories suggest that proper communication is effective in community building as communication is helpful in suppressing and ignoring individuality to a large extent. Several theories were in proposition regarding community and communication. It was claimed that communication leads to community as communication is helpful in the creation of mutual recognition and promotes mutual respect among each other. Some liberals have the idea that the communication helps the individuals to express their own ideas and their expression of ideas gives rise to competition and differentiation, which leads to the effective growth of community. The theories suggested by optimists and pessimists vary in respect of community and communication. However similar ideas were shared which included the importance of communication on community and that both are necessary for the overall growth. The pessimist held the idea that mass communication as a false mode of communication and culture. Whereas the optimist believed that the mass communication is highly important in the integration of huge number of people to form communities. They propagated the idea that interpersonal communication and the formation of social organization will not be sufficient enough to have diversified ideas and will not result in creation of a great community. It has been highlighted that the behavior of community is associated with communication. In order to increase the tie in a community it is important to get involved in more participation.1 The technologies of communication in the recent years aim to serve various communities in their own unique ways. The popular modes of communication technology involve the global use of internet and its associated technologies, Satellite television, newspaper, Radio broadcast. The use of technology for communication has been differentiated in the developed and the developing nations. The improvement of information and technology communication has affected the socio economic aspects both in a good and bad manner. The benefit of the ICT network has been significant in providing of essential service to the people. The effect of technology in communication has been significant in strengthening the community and increasing the community capacity. The increased access to communication enhances the ability of a community to communicate with business and other administrative units. The participation of a greater number of people in the community development program and in their governance also increases. The wide use of the internet helps in the transformation of the social capital and involves a considerable mass to be in contact with each other. The local group base solidarity is eliminated to a large extent by the spatial dispersed social networks. The availability of information available over the web space also helps in diminishing the social content to a large extent. The impacts of technological advancement relating to communication have huge implications on the different parts of the community. In remote areas communication is benefitted by the use of video conferencing facilities. It also provides greater business facilities, education and health. Cross cultural communication has also evolved to a large extent and is the medium for expressing the difference in idea of culture.2 The presence of online discussion groups within and across communities facilitates people to take part in considerable number of activities. The involvement of communication and community functions are listed below. Presence of community email alerts which links residents among each other and with the internet helps to create neighborhood identity and reinforce the community. The overall socialization process in a community can occur by the public tele centers used for web access and by the bulletin boards. The use of community Wi- Fi coverage for the residents in a community provides a platform for the expression of personal ideas. In order to inculcate the sense of belongingness to a community the community members may document about themselves in the chat rooms which are available for public discussions. All this activities which are media publicized helps to bring people closer and increases harmony with in the community. The development of communication facilities allows participation of more number of people under the common platform. The efforts to diffuse the technology across diverse segments of society and communities will further result in the overall enhancement of democratization and civic development. The overall responsibility of the general population will increase by the dissemination of information and the society would react more proactively in the general issues. The presence of open forum in a community encourages people to express their ideas regarding any event. Countries which are more developed like the United States and the China shows a greater participation of the peoples all round. People have a large platform to express their ideas and there exist greater harmony and co-operation among the inhabitants of the community.3 Example of impact of communication technology on different segments of community: I) Student Community The use of internet as a mode of communication technology has a large impact over the student community. The use of internet not only provides immense help to the students from the academic point of view but also proved to be a medium of communication where they can express themselves, get involved in creative work and redefine themselves. In general environment, much value is not given to the views expressed by them and their views and suggestion regarding any matter of serious concern is overlooked and held with no importance. The web space provides an ideal platform for them to be a part of the large population. Presence of several blogs allows them to post their views and discuss and carry on conversation with other persons from similar or different society and communities. Besides blogs, student’s access social networking sites like face book and twitter to share what is there on their mind. Students also access the community of their own choice and get involved with people and contribute to the society in their own way. Students often face emotional depression and face challenges regarding their identification outside their familiar home environment. The presence of instant messaging and email facilities helps them to provide supportive relationships from their peers and family members. The support provided to them helps them to sustain in precarious conditions. The use of communication technology also helps the students who are facing difficulty of racial identity. Cases of solidarity and political activism were noticed in the multiracial individuals. Students originating from mixed heritage use the online platform to connect with people with who they share common experiences as they want to establish a multiracial identity in a safe and sound environment. The internet functions efficiently to eradicate negative stereotypes and acts a significant factor in organizing multi racial cause. The presence of effective communicating media also helps in reducing the isolation of the students and prevents them from getting involved in activities like intoxication and other habits which may cause serious health hazards.4 II) Rural Community In rural community the advent of technological communication has benefited the service of the healthcare of the people. In most rural areas proper healthcare attainment is a serious problem, The difficulties includes communication constraints and the considerable distance of medical service providers from the rural areas. The shortage of medical staffs willing to work in rural communities often added to the pressure. The problems are significantly high in poorer countries. In order to counter the problem and unique text message system was introduced to bridge the communication gap in Malawi, one of the poor countries in Europe. In order to improve the physician patient communication system frontline text message system was introduced. The health workers in the area were provided with a cell phone and it had free messaging service. Health workers maintained good communication with the patients and it had direct contact with the hospital present in the urban areas. Various health services were provided at ease and in much better rate to satisfy the rural community. The messaging service proved beneficiary as the inhabitants of the rural community as any shortage of medication facility required by them were immediately intimidated to the concerned place and the relief was provided within a short period of time. Other facilities which were monitored by the system were emergency services, acute care, and treatment monitoring. The serious implications resulted in overall health improvement of the rural community and lesser number of casualties. The effective barrier in communication due to the unavailability of service was overcome to a large extent. The technological improvement in communication facilities increased the overall living standard of the community. Precautionary measures relating to health were taken and effective communication with the health workers provided them with considerable knowledge of avoidance of certain ailment. In the global arena various health communities have been developed to facilitate the health service to both rural and urban communities. This has dramatized the overall improvement in condition of health. 5 The above two studies show the effect of technology communication and its effect on the nature of the community. The natures exhibited by the two communities showed considerable improvement both in respect of societal and humanitarian values because of the direct influence of communication technology on the services being accessed by the community people. Conclusion: The wide application of the innovation in communication technology has benefitted the communities to a large extent. The nature of the growth and development of the community has depended on the extent of communication technology up gradation experienced. From the study above it signifies that communication technology has provided immense help to mankind both in societal nature as well as in maintaining humanitarian values of a community. The improvement of communication technology in the rural areas of Africa has considerably changed their position in respect of health care facility and thus has earned solidarity among the rural community. Communication technology has been instrumental in dealing with societal issues as reflected in the role play of internet in the student community. The spread of ideas and information is necessary for the buildup of a quality community. The super growth of the technology initiates the process and provides a new identity to the community. The accessibility of more communication facilities increases the information flow among the community members and the integration of the overall society is obtained. In recent generation the increased use of cyber space has led to the development of web based communities and their integration is also done by the improved communication technology and the flow of information as fed by the community users. The communities are segregated according to the choice and preference of the users and evidence of inter community communication is also evident. Communication has proved to be a new model for the attainment of desired structure of the community and much stress is being given to the factors that promote technological empowerment of communication. It is also to be noted that there is interdependency of technology and the community in concern. Bibliography Atkin, David. Communication technology and social change: theory and implications. London: Routledge, 2007 Gudykunst, William B. Cross-cultural and intercultural communication London: SAGE, 2003. Gasser, Heather Shea “Being Multiracial in a Wired Society: Using the Internet to Define Identity And Community on Campus” New Directions for Students Services 123 (2008): 63-69 Mahmud, Nadim, Rodriguez, Joce and Nesbit, Josh “A text message-based on the intervention to bridge the healthcare communication gap in the Rural developing world” Technol Health Care 18 (2010): 140-142 Shepherd, G, J. &. Rothenbuhler, E, W Communication and community Tampa: Taylor & Francis, 2001 Read More