The term "globalisation" is defined differently by different individuals. Some state that it is a disregard of cultural boundaries, whereas scholars such as Albrow refer to it in the case of unification "which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world, global society" (1990).
Then there are others, such as Rantanen (2005) who wish to dig deeper and investigate how this phenomena of globalisation has affected the lives of individuals in different locations. How the global flows and scapes have influenced particular generations. And I firmly believe that one of the greatest influential flows of this generation is Informational flows.
With the rise of social media it is easier then ever to access and be linked to individuals all over the globe. Or in my case, I can stay up to date with my favourite celebrities. I can be sitting on my sofa at home in Australia whilst Nicole Richie can Instagram a photo of her on a yacht in some exotic location across the globe. Through social media her followers are the first to know, with the tabloids finding out afterwards that she is on holiday. Several decades ago it would be the tabloids that people would rely on to find out information about their favourite celebrity.
Yet there are others, such as my colleague Nicole Condos who has used the platform of social media successfully through her line of work. Nicole is a celebrity PR guru who has worked for global companies such as Ed Hardy and knows how social media has become "an essential publicity tool" (Condos, 2013). When I asked her about how social media has affected her work for her clients she responded "Social media is a brilliant online tool that many celebrities leverage their online presence for endorsement deals". Therefore the global flow of information means that celebrities and their products can reach individuals globally with ease through social media raising promotion for that product. Before social media Nicole relied on email press releases and worked locally and nationally. Now she can target audiences globally through Facebook and Twitter.
So whats the future for Celebrity PR through social media? "The ordinary person, will rise to fame and generate publicity by creating an online presence before the potential of being propelled to mainstream success and recognition" states Nicole. "Social media and online media will continue to expand and reduce the role and impact of traditional print media and Celebrities will utilize publicity stunts online to drive interactivity".
So there you have it, but who knows what the next generation will bring us and how these Informational flows that were once "unimaginable " (Srivastava et. al 2013) will grow.
References:
Instagram . 2013. Instagram Available at:http://instagram.com/p/b4mvSQJui1/. [Accessed 26 July 2013]. (Nicole Riche's Instagram)
Rantanen, T 2005, ‘Theorizing media globalization’, The media and globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1–18
S, Srivastava, B, Warren, C, Moore . 2013. Global Flows and Scapes . https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1880460/View. [Accessed 26 July 13]
 |
| Nicole Richie via Instagram |
 |
| Nicole Condos with JLo |
