Blog Three: Space,Place and Language in My Virtual World
by Tee2013
Image 1: Facebook space, place and language
Tuan, demonstrated that speech and written words should be taken into account as an essential part in the creation of place,and that as students,we should recognize its importance, if we want to understand space and place, that language is an important power that will make us understand the process making of place and its characteristics.(Tuan,1991.p 686)
In week five, I tried to imagine Facebook as a space,where people interact and share pictures and do all sorts of things, the making use of this space ''Facebook'' is partly what makes this space into a place and gives it its distinctive identity.For example, the familiarity I feel when I open my page, the comfort in seeing my friends and family's pictures through this virtual network, my interactions with them from every corner of the world or with a click of a button I can like or write a comment on these profiles, the ability to simply extend my communication this way, with ease, and feel the human relations in this virtual space, is my sense of place, once more,Tuan, (1970, p417) words describe this feeling better,by saying,'' the emotion felt by humans finds expression and anchorage in things and place.''
Having say this, one cannot exclude, the important role
language plays in making all the above mentioned possible; Language does not limit our representation but rather widens it, by giving us a platform, giving us the use of words to help us decrypt and name this space, it direct our eyes to fellow members, shape sensitivity, provide insight of this space and place, by simply giving us the tools 'words' to communicate,express our ideas and making our feelings more visible
References
Image 1: Facebook space, place and language:
Tuan, J. (1991)
Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative –Descriptive Approach
Annals
of the Association of American Geographers,81(4)1991,pp.684-694
Department
of Geography,University of Wisconsin,Madison,WI 53706
Hi Tee. I can relate to your blog here when you say that Facebook gives you comfort when you open it and see posts from you friends and family. The written word on Facebook helps construct a place where we can gather with friends and family when they are not around, whether it be in a different town or on the other side of the world. As Tuan (1991, p. 690), explains, “The written text…has its own unique powers of transforming reality”. Reality can be altered on Facebook, and in this case it is through the construction of a comfortable familiarity in a virtual place. I have never really thought of Facebook as a ‘place’ before, rather just a space that we all visit to cure boredom or to check up on our friends. However, Facebook can be looked at in so many different ways with so many different ‘places’.
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