Cyber Culture and the Digital Age - Essay Example

16 August Cyber Culture and the Digital Age With the advent of computer and internet technologies, the modern humans rely heavily on these media for entertainment, education, business as well as interacting with one another through means of social networking. As a result, the concept and processes of communication have undergone tremendous changes in the recent past, especially in terms of the transition from letter correspondence to emails and other technologies used in sending and receiving messages such as texting. Cyber culture can be perceived as a “new cultural model” that emerges from the widespread use of internet, which has changed the “patterns of social relation, self identify and community” (Ardevol 2). The constant advances in digital technology also have made available a wide variety of devices such as I-pads, I-pods, smart phones etc that enable people to easily get connected to the internet due to which they constantly remain engaged with computers, internet and other devices. From desktops to laptops to handheld devices such as smart phones, modern technology has evolved at a tremendous pace and the ease and speed with which one can connect to internet encourages people especially youngsters to remain engaged with these devices for entertainment, communication, business and social networking. Thus, the modern humans have acquired a kind of overreliance on technology for every activity, which has made them addicted to it. The issue of addiction to computer and internet is more significant in the case of youngsters as this habit affects not only their studies and social life but health also. In the modern age of digital technology, people have acquired a cyber culture, where they engage in a wide variety of online activities and this entails a lot of negative impact on their lives especially in the younger generation. Most of the people in the modern day live in the cyberspace, which, according to Gibson (1984) as quoted in Bell (2007), is a “consensual hallucination experienced by millions” of users who rely on computers and internet for executing different activities in their daily life (2). Most of the communication today occurs through computer and internet. Similarly, people now a day rely on social interaction through networking sites such as Face Book, Twitter etc. The attitude of humans has changed drastically over the past few years and they have embraced in what can be termed as “cyber culture” which reflects in the everyday life of people. Dery (1992) as quoted in Bell (2007) defines cyber culture as a far reaching and loosely knit amalgamation of various subcultures, the common trait of which is the “subversive use of techno-commodities often framed by radical body politics” (4). Culture, in the general sense, is used to define the way of life of a group of people within a society and the manifestations of cyber culture becomes evident in the way in which people communicate with one another today, using digital devices such as mobile phones, voice chat, text chat, social networks etc most of which involves the use of computers and internet. Digital technology is the primary platform that offers today’s humans the gadgets used in their interaction, and young people use these dev ices more often for different purposes in their daily life. Ardevol (2005) traces the evolution of a cyber culture, which is a new model, through the rampant use of “internet as a tool” for the purpose of creating various components of a digital culture that has transformed the media forms to challenge the “mass media” concepts (2). Thus, young people in the modern day have acquired a different cultural norms and attitude that have changed the way people interact with one another. The advantages of the digital media are many, including the ease, cost effectiveness and quickness of communication, use of the internet and other technology in education and business etc. In addition, the use of technology also negates the investment of time for various activities. For example, a student does not have to physically move to a library for accessing a book as he or she can conveniently do it by sitting at home. The technological advancements such as online shopping and banking bring many benefits to people, especially youngsters, as they drastically reduce the expense and time involved for getting tasks done. More significantly, the digital media including internet, allows people to interact with one another through social media, which negates geographical boundaries and facilitates a healthy amalgamation of different cultures across the world. However, the benefits notwithstanding, over indulgence in the cyber culture related activities can have serious negative impacts to the social and psychological life of the people, especially youngsters, apart from affecting their health and well being. A good example can be seen in the fact that the use of internet for business involves the risk of exposure of personal information such as credit card number and the resultant possibility of “theft or embezzlement” that may “impede the growth of electronic commerce” (Levy 188). Similarly, overindulgence in digital media may preempt people, especially the young generation, from engaging in creative arts or healthy social interaction, which is essential for the cognitive as well as psychological development of children. For example, a child addicted to computer and internet may rather tend to download and play games on the computer than attempting to draw or paint a tree or play with his peers. On the other hand, a lot of objectionable material such a pornographic pictures and movies are easily available on the internet for free and young people will be tempted to view such material than to engage in creative activities. Addiction and overtly engaging with these activities can have damaging negative impacts on the psyche of youngsters. It further transpires that with the emergence of cyber culture and the rampant use of the internet and computers by people in every day activity, has arisen the problem of “cyber security concerns” that challenge the government as well as industries (Leggitt, Shechter and Lang 1). It needs to be understood that the widespread use of internet exposes the users to several risks such as hacking or spying in which an antisocial element “actively seeks and gathers” information to be used for fulfilling any ulterior motives including accessing of personal or bank information (3). Similarly, friends in a social network can victimize a person by “posting detrimental photos” or hostile elements from other nations may target people who “possess valuable information” to use for offensive attacks (13). So far it relates to younger people, they may become addicted to “online multiplayer games” which require only limited competitive skills and are designed to persuade the users to engage with computers for longer period of time (13). All these activities necessitate the revealing of personal information to websites of the service providers who may misuse such data or sell them to third parties. Thus, it becomes evident that the use of internet and computers not only limits youngsters from engaging in healthy physical and social activities but also poses dangers to them due to divulging of personal information. Another major problem confronting the youngsters over the cyberspace is cyber bullying, which is a concept that is hard to define but can be understood as bullying on an online platform or “online harassment” (Cyber Bullying Hurts 8). This type of harassment occurs in many places such as the internet, “networking sites, text messages” as well as instant messaging and may be manifest in different forms including defamatory or hurtful comments, “circulating photos or videos” or social exclusion of a person or a group of person on grounds of race, social class or religion (12). Evidence suggests that “85 percent of all cases” of bullying happen when witnesses are present while in the case of cyber bullying “25 percent” occurs in the presence of bystanders (15). Cyber bullying when combined with physical bullying can be a cause of emotional and psychological problem for younger people that may create devastating impacts on the psyche and thus hamper their academic performance as well as mental development. In addition, youngsters who are bullied may plan retaliation, which may encourage them to engage in violence or other criminal activities as a response. Thus, it can be construed that the overindulgence with internet and computers can cause several problems for the young generation, which can entail serious mental and physical problems for them. Another study by Bae Young (2006) finds that information technology including internet “exerts increasingly more influence” on the daily activities of individuals, especially youngsters, and a large number of people spend their leisure time engaging in online activities which is a dominant characteristic of the cyber culture in the digital age (107). Evidence from this study further indicates that “94.8% of teenagers” remain in the cyberspace for various activities such as games, social interaction, studies, recreation etc (107). Identifying a dangerous trend of cyber subculture of insensibility to “deviation behaviors,” the study further contends that internet and social networking exposes young people to “selective friendship” with people involved in crimes (108). However, some studies do point to the fact that “frequency of internet use” has positive impact on the social interaction of younger generations and it can expose them to a wide range of culture that will breed healthy tolerance in them to other cultures (110). Similarly, they can also know about what is happening on other parts of the world through the interaction with people from other regions of the world. However, while this may be true in the case of youngsters who are able to take informed decisions, there may be others who are less matured, who may fall prey to the influence of bad elements that frequent the cyberspace with the intention of misleading others through propaganda such as religious fundamentalists. Overall, cyber culture is the most dominant in the modern digital age, where most of the people, especially younger generations, use computers and the internet for executing various tasks in their life including banking, shopping, social interaction and education. Computers and the internet offer youngsters immense opportunities in terms of the ease, cost effectiveness and speed with which they can communicate and interact with others in different parts of the world. Similarly, the modern gadgets in today’s digital age provide the youngsters ample platforms for acquiring knowledge and promoting education in a cheap manner. However, overindulgence with computers and internet for the purpose of playing online games and interacting with others through social networking has several disadvantages, which may hamper the creativity and other skills in the youngsters apart from exposing them to various risks that may damage their mental as well as physical health and well being. Thus, it transpires that while the modern humans need to understand the benefits of cyber culture in the digital age, they also need to appreciate the inherent risks, especially to the younger generations. Therefore, there is an imperative need to strike a balance between the use of cyberspace and overindulgence with it, so that one derives the best benefits of the internet and other technologies while keeping the dangers at bay. In addition, there also appears to be a need for government intervention to prevent the presence of harmful contents and sites from the internet or at least restrict the access of younger people to such content in the cyberspace. Works Cited Ardevol, Elisenda. Cyber Culture: Anthropological Perspectives of the Internet. University of Catalunya. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. Bell, David. Cyber Culture Theorists: Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. New York: Routledge Publishers. 2007. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. Cyber Bullying Hurts: Respect for Rights in the Digital Age. Standing Committee on Human Rights, Canada. 2012. Web. 16 Aug. 2013. Leggitt, John S, Shechter, Olga G & Lang, Eric L. Cyber Culture and Personnel Security – Orientation, Concerns, and Needs. Defense Personnel Security Research Center, USA. 2011. Web. 16 Aug. 2013. Levy, Pierre. Cyber Culture. (Trans) Bononno, Robert. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. 2001. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. Young, Bae. A Study on the Effect of Internet Use and Social Capital on the Academic Performance. Development and Society, Vol.35 (1): pp.107-123. 2006. Web. 16 Aug. 2013. Read More