Think Locally, Act Globally: Reflections on Virtual Neighbourhoods

The article proposes to explore extrapolations of ideas previously applied to ethnic groups in light of advancements in telecommunication technologies. It briefly examines several related topics including the transformation of identities in diasporas, the shifting boundaries between public and private realms, how certain kinds of diversity may be sustained in the face of cultural imperialism, and some issues in policing the Internet or WWW. It explores the idea that the introduction of new technologies may enable the creation and maintenance of “virtual neighbourhoods,” which retain the sense of affinity among neighbours found in traditional small-scale, focused geographical neighbourhoods. This point emphasises the fact that affinity is based on focused interest rather than proximity. Telecommunication technologies used in the ways hypothesised here have effectively redefined the word “local” so that it now encompasses two senses; geographically focused (proximate) and focused (shared) interest. The resu...