Years ago, ‘Australia Day’ may not have held as great a significance for us as it does today. However, reports now fill our broadsheets and tabloids of the mass exodus from our shores to the land down under at a sorrowful rate. If you are reading this piece chances are you have a family member, friend, or friend of a friend who has packed their bags and gone.

I for one have witnessed a great level of migration from school chums to old flames, family to friends. Today rather than bouncing the bow against the old violin, we will embrace the methods in which we routinely keep in touch with the ones we have lost to the corked hat and glorious sun.

At this point I must be wary of the ramifications of such statements as minister Noonan can testify. Who am I kidding, yes I am saying they are all (for the most part) down there soaking up the rays and living it ‘large’. It was their choice and they are entitled to the outcomes of it.

This leads me to our first resource and a ground of proof for my above remarks.

 

Facebook:

Back in February 2004 Facebook was launched for the first time.  Prior to this Bebo was the platform of choice, but never had such an emigration taken place where the tools we have today were readily available. Enter modern day, we have the platforms and the means to see, hear and share what our loved ones are doing no matter their location.

You may remember the blog piece we did a short while back where I criticised George Hook on his damning of smartphones and the lack of privacy they tie in. Well this piece again alludes to such benefits and without them; we would be reduced to the primitive method of the email and letter writing.

Now, as Australia Day enters full swing, we here are seated at our desks banging away on the trusty keyboard. Upon opening my Facebook page I need only scroll down a couple of finger times and my pudding proof greets me,

My good pal Chris who I spent many a year on the rugby field with is (by the looks of it) having a brew at the Heritage Hotel in Australia.

A few more scrolls and another distant pal is experiencing (and sharing) a traditional barbee with us here in Ireland:

While we cannot be with our loved ones in person we can share with them their experiences through the medium of Facebook and I for one am grateful. But Facebook,with its live chat bar and imagery isn’t the only tool lending a distant hand.

 

Twitter:

If you feel like getting less engaged with your friends and family down under, (let’s face it there may be a minimal amount of jealousy, weather etc) Twitter is another great option. While lessening the interaction we can merely voice our well wishes and leave it at that. Or indeed read those that are also well wishing.

http://analytics.topsy.com/

Above we have drawn figures from the last 22 hours where the term ‘Australia’ or ‘Australia Day’ were mentioned on Twitter. As we can see, many of us were wishing those overseas, or indeed back home, a happy Australia Day. In fact shortly after midnight last night ‘australia’ was mentioned over 20,000 times and by 9am this morning, that number had spiked to a whopping 32,370. As us Twitter users woke and arrived in work etc., we clearly took a few minutes to send our regards. #bless

Using trendsmap.com it is almost sad to see where the bulk of this traffic (#australiaday) is coming from, have a look:

http://trendsmap.com/

A snapshot of (almost) the world over reveals that ourselves and the UK are the driving force behind the well-wishing. It tells it’s own tale.

Anyway, Social Media platforms are not the only tool in our quest to stay connected. In fact if you desperately miss someone you can, almost entirely free with the right app, contact them on the spot.

 

Whatsapp & Viber

If you are a smartphone user these two apps are going to be crucial in keeping in touch with loved ones. At the drop of a hat, provided you’re in a Wi-Fi area (for Viber) you can call or text people in Australia FREE. It’s always an interesting scene when I try explaining this one to my Grandmother and I won’t even bore you with the dialogue but we now live in an age where such luxuries do exist.

Whatsapp is a free messaging system that is literally obliterating text messaging all for an upfront download fee of .99cent. Irrespective of what country you live in, once this app is downloaded and your counterpart has the app on their phone, you can text to your heart’s content. Like so:

A conversation I had with a good friend living in Perth a few moments ago.

The same goes for the platform known as Viber although my opinion of this app is an unconvinced one. With a massive delay in speaking and hearing it can make for a very exasperating phone conversation. However, it is Australia we are discussing here and this FREE app versus an international call to Australia… no brainer really.

While Australia Day is arriving at the witching hour and parties are in full swing, families and friends the length and breadth of the country will be contacting their other halves to say hi. Whether its Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Whatsapp or Viber, we hope you’ve made contact successfully. If you have, share your experiences with us below or make contact with us on any of our Social Media platforms. Happy Australia Day.