Is it true that our world is defined by our communications?

In today’s context, does this social constructivist perspective still apply? With rampant media and ever-changing surroundings, is what we know about ourselves and the world around us all from our communications?

With the internet taking off in recent years, and with communications across borders becoming so convenient, it is easy to learn and find out about anything; with just the click of a button, whatever information you require appears in front of you. In the past, if one wanted to know about the culture of a foreign country for instance, he would have had 3 options. Firstly, he could read from books/publications. Secondly, he could hear from friends and lastly, he could have made a trip there himself.

But with the creation of the internet, these have changed drastically. We can do everything with the internet, from reading up on publications online to find out more or we could even view other people’s posts put up on forums and blogs about how they felt on their trip to a particular country. Becoming highly fashionable too, are online virtual tours. One could even take a virtual tour of a tourist attraction online and still be in the comforts of their home. How times have changed.

 Being exposed at a young age to virtual media, people of the 20th century are well-learned; be it about culture, customs or even general knowledge. But why is this? Is the internet the only media that has accelerated our learning through communications? I believe not.

The invention of the telephone has played a great role as well. Can you imagine a day, in our modern world, without your mobile phone? It has become, from what used to be a priviledge to have, a necessity. But how has that widened our communications? In the past, when technology wasn’t as advanced, people could only communicate through face to face communication and through letters. For people living in different context, the process of communication was even slower. Take for example, placing an order for a shipment of cargo from a foreign country; would it not have taken months for a complete transaction to be processed?

We can see how our communications have shaped our society and culture at large. It is even more apparant when we make comparisons to countries across the world. Don’t people in Africa who lack communications through technology fall way behind us in comparison to our fast-paced society. Because of new technology and the communications we have, we are driven to move rapidly and are unable to live in a laid back, slow-moving society. Therefore our world IS defined by out communications.