Topic
The Growth in Internet Use has Affected Cultures around the World
Instructions
“The growth in internet use has affected cultures around the world, leading to a westernized, homogenous world culture.”
Using existing literature and data, critically evaluate this claim in relation to at least 2 of the following areas:
- Politics
- Business
- Youth culture
- Language
Answer Preview
The speed with which the internet has been accepted all over the world as the information age’s primary communication medium is responsible for the uniformity of youth culture across the world. Through the internet, the West is now able to exercise cultural, economic, and social hegemony over developing nations (Albirini 2008). According Jin (2011) the internet is actually managed by a private sector body known as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which remains under contract from the US government.
There is a great imbalance in the outward flow of information from Western nations when compared to developing nations. According to Fuchs (2010) the internet is essentially a wealth of information about various aspects of American culture. As this information is not available through other mass media channels, the internet has radically increased the amount of information about American culture that can be easily accessed. According to Ebo (2001) any internet user who does not wish to read information from American or other Western sources has to actively seek to avoid messages that promote Western culture. Due to the sheer proliferation of information about Western culture on the internet, other cultures are slowly disappearing.
Word Count: 2500