The Global Online Community: Improving Cross-Cultural Relations |
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| Event | Interactive 2011 |
| Format | Panel |
| Organizer | Andrew Kneale – British Council |
| Description | What do you know about every-day life in Pakistan? Can you name the most commonly used social media platform in China? Do you know what efforts Europeans are making to green their cities? Ensuring there is greater understanding between cultures is arguably one of the most important endeavours of the 21st century. If the internet holds unlimited capacity to distribute information, why is the world failing to talk to one another across cultures? We can communicate our stories and share our culture through web-video, social media platforms and geo-location; but it is also important to enable meaningful discussions through these tools which lead to greater understanding, and ideally, the identification of common interests. Education, the arts, science and sport are the common languages of culture and are often the basis for initial, positive face-to-face discussions, but how does this transfer to the web? Obstacles exist to inhibit online cross-cultural communication: differences in language, platforms, norms of engagement, technical and governmental controls all act as barriers. But as these barriers shift, and abilities to work around them become more sophisticated, the potential for engagement is exponentially increased. The international panel will explore what has been done in this area, what more can be done, and how the new media community can play a greater role in cross-cultural relations worldwide. |
| Questions Answered |
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| Level | Beginner |
| Category | International |
| Tags | community, Culture, International |