The impact of information communication technology (ICT)
has led to a world dependent on the Internet, but it has allowed users to
easily obtain the information they need within seconds of searching on any
forum or server. From Transnationalizing
Viet Nam, Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde labels this phenomenon as “Social
Transformations from Virtual Communities”, in which the power of ICT has
allowed Vietnamese from the homeland to maintain connections with Vietnamese in
the diaspora through the use of Internet, cell phones, and other sources of
ICT. However, even this source of communication was limited and regulated by
the Vietnamese government, and in the diaspora, connections within were often
limited and conflicted. Such connections included the VNForum, which was
eventually closed to open soc.cult.vietnam (SCV). Due to debates between
communist and anticommunist sympathizers and lack of accountability, the online
discussion forum became uncontrollable because it was a space of expression and
concern for the homeland, but it was also a space to attack those who did not
share the same political views. Conflicts, sentiments, and feelings about the
homeland do not go away even when you are online. Even on cyberspace, forums
like VNForum and SCV ultimately reflect the state of the homeland and the
diaspora.
Question: Beyond VNForum and
what existed when ICT first emerged decades ago, what is the state of ICT
currently in Vietnam?
Works Cited:
Valverde, Kieu-Linh
Caroline. "Popular Music: Sounds of Home Resistance and Change." Transnationalizing
Viet Nam: Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora. Philadelphia:
Temple UP, 2012. Print.
Image: http://brandaiddigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ICTBanner.jpg
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