Postmodernity

Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century life. Among these features are included globalization, consumerism, the fragmentation of authority, and the commoditization of knowledge.[Wikipedia]

Personally, I would tend to add “technology” as a sect of the above definition for the reason that keeping up and engaging on many levels with technology - its continuous change, development, transformation, expanding, and most importantly its fusion with people’s daily tasks - makes us postmodern. It’s not only physical engagement with technology that counts; mental incentive is the higher drive for synchronising our states, since evolving based on a need and a must is what rendered cave men today’s architects of the future.

Relating postmodernism and multiculturalism, virtual communities are not a replacement of real communities, yet, they complete each other (in a sense) and are related to each others. A simple example, in my humble opinion, is Flickr as one example of social software, forums, academic online discussions (to mention a few) as well as the multiple shapes of communicating socially via technology; not only as a way of bridging time and space in the confinement of a mutual goal, but as a way of strolling in parallel and effectively in communicating any certain message on both the levels of real and virtual.