There's something about the Internet, I think, that is fascinating to the point it's almost scary. The ability to be constantly linked in to events in the community, around the nation, around the world is mind-boggling; I can read about something happening 5,000 miles away five minute after it happens. That being said, I would say that it's relatively easy to be informed about what's happening around the world and to understand the places in which these events are taking place. When I think of global awareness, I don't necessarily consider it being knowledgable of every culture - or even some of them - but rather an understanding of them, a recognition, of sorts. Ignorance is easy to come by, especially in today's society when cultures, religions, and race are victimized by stigmas that someone (or multiple someones) have in their head. Today, there's so much cross-cultural social interaction that I feel that there's no reason to not be globally aware.
Now, I think that a big part of global awareness is respect. As much as I hate to say it and as much as I wish it wasn't true, ignorance is hard to get rid of. It's almost like asking someone to change a habit, except most of the time, the ignorance has no intention of changing. However, there's a difference between accepting something and respecting it, and I feel as though the latter is somewhat easy to do. I say somewhat easy because I know that, depending on the scale and extremity of things, a lot of things are easier said than done. On a similar note, I think that an important factor when considering global awareness is, for those willing, is to take note of the ignorance and have the drive to do something about it. If we do not actively pursue the knowledge and understanding we lack, how can we expect others to do the same for us?
Technology makes it easy for us to do this, I think. To look up information and even tell other people about it. It's so easy to send a tweet or write up a Facebook post to share with friends, with the world, and I think people underestimate the power of digital-age communication. It's very advanced, very convenient, and very...instant. Rarely do things go under the radar, from political movements halfway around the world, to the polar vortex on the other side of the country, even to what Taylor Swift is doing at this very moment in time (not that that's important to me...really). It's very "in the moment" and better yet, it's easy. I can check the weather for a location miles away, look at movie times for a week in advance. I even saw an app this morning that would allow me to video-chat with a doctor from my iPhone and if I had discovered it sooner, would have saved me a trip to urgent care. It's amazing, the things we can do digital-age communication, but it's definitely important to remember that just because it's easy doesn't mean we shouldn't monitor ourselves and others. Once something is online, it's online. General rule of thumb? If you wouldn't want your grandmother to see it, perhaps you shouldn't be posting it online.
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