Nadia’s blog

Please refer to Spot the difference 2 for further details on the subjects of my media maps.

Liz Benson

Liz Benson is obsessive. At the centre of her obsessions is her dining table, at which she gathers materials on her obsession and delves into magical places. This is what I explored in my Spot the difference visualisations.

This is a more literal look at Liz’s dining table and what media she might have on it. Given her obsession with travel at the moment, I suggest she would have travel guides, an atlas, the TV guide with programs such as Getaway highlighted. Liz is also a late-night ‘internetter’ – she would definitely have a computer, possibly a laptop, so that she could use it in her private space.

I see Liz as taking anything by the horns, and being driven by her experiences. I think that she would definitely take a camera on her trip to India, pehaps an old SLR, because I see her as being quite tech-savvy in some ways, but also being traditionalist in others – I feel that she would think that you have to do things properly. For example, she does not own a dishwasher.

Liz also professed a love for ABC radio, where she first heard an interview with Gregory David Roberts, the author of Shantaram, her favourite book. This book’s website is displayed on her laptop, as I see it as something she might regularly check, given its pending sequel and film and that the author regularly replies to fans’ questions.

Finally, Liz is no doubt a devoted mother, she is spending $30 000 on a trip, mainly because she can’t bear to leave her children behind. I think she would definitely take an active role in her children’s lives, and so her table would probably also be cluttered with their belongings.

Hermina Schaap

As a Bible devotee, I get the impression that Hermina sees all her decisions as being written in black and white in the Bible. Her decisions about what channels to watch, what newspaper and books to read all come back to the Bible, if not directly, then indirectly.

Given her religion and area of residence, I see her as a National/Liberal voter, who might read the Australian. I see her as being reasonably tech-savvy, but not being obsessed with the newest technology. So she would have a computer and a television, but not the newest ones, she might not see the need to upgrade to an MP3 or CD player, and might still have a cassette walkman.