An Electronic World - Report Example

AN ELECTRONIC WORLD An Electronic World A. It is agreeable that technological advancements across the world have greatly impacted on how people live, communicate, and conduct business. Besides, technology has touched on the inherent feature in human lives- culture. In recent times, there has been raging debate on how internet technology has impacted on the cultures among communities and societies across the world. Specifically, the debate has been on the impact of the internet on celebration of countries’ cultural identity. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the claim that the internet can allow all countries top celebrate their cultural identity. In general terms, cultural identity refers to the distinctiveness of an individual or group of individuals in regard to how they are influenced by their belonging to a particular culture (Clothier, 2005, p. 45). Cultural identity is crucial for a community’s sense of self and how they interact with each other and to the “outside world”. Each country has its distinct way of application and assimilation of emerging technologies. Internet, as a “neutral” technology has been integrated into the social and cultural relations that exist in countries. The fact that the concepts of social space and distance are changing in the face of globalization cannot be disputed; these changes are resulting to the emergence of new cultural and social relations which transform and replace the existing one. Jones (1998, p. 44) argues that the influence of internet in this process is immense as it contributes to both the diversity and unification of cultures. Even though there are those who claim internet usage disallows all countries to celebrate their cultural identity, there are those who claim that the internet plays important role in allowing all countries to celebrate their cultural identity. Indeed, the internet has had significant influence in the development of cultural identity in countries (Krivolap, 2011, p. 29). The correlation between the internet and celebration of cultural identity in countries is in tow main dimensions: internet as a tool that helps in developing cultural identity through on-line technologies that persuade off-line practices; and, internet as the space where people acquire new self and new identity as it allows people to perform enormous potentialities that may be impossible in other spaces. National internet spaces are global and this implies that nationals of a particular country can celebrate their cultural identity anytime and from any destination in the world. In this sense the internet has greatly diminished social space and physical distance that could hinder such a celebration (Jones, 1998, p. 53). Developers of national Internet resources often ensure that their community can celebrate their identities. In addition, the internet allows for the sharing and consumption of cultural items such as music of particular countries. Besides, internet technology helps in “storage” of culture which goes a long way in allowing all countries to celebrate their cultural identity. Storage of culture of countries using the internet technology not only allows their nationals access it anytime and anywhere, but also enables their posterity to access them thus ensuring that cultures of countries are not lost (Krivolap, 2011, p. 32). However, sometimes internet proves to be detrimental to celebration of cultural identity by all countries. Clothier (2005, p. 44) argues that internet tend to lead to homogenization of cultures, as well as giving rise to hybrid cultural identity. As a result, people tend to disregard their national cultures and start to celebrate the “globalized” culture. Unification of cultures and creation of hybrid cultural identity through the internet absorbs distinct national cultures thus endangering the later (Clothier, 2005, p. 49). That notwithstanding, it is evident that the internet can allow all countries to celebrate their cultural identity. B. Internet and social networking technologies are the most embraced of all technologies in human history; people of all races, nationality, religion, and even age are using these technologies in increasing numbers. Internet and social networking are used for various purposes such as networking, conducting business, and communication. These technologies have played a critical role in diminishing the social space and physical distance by bringing people together regardless of their physical location. Even though internet usage statistics show that there are disparities in usage in different continents and countries, the bottom-line is that there is an increasing usage of these technologies. Statistics show that 32.7% of the world’s population use the internet, and this percentage is expected to increase in the coming years (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2012). Recent years have witnessed increasing use of social networking not only for networking purposes, as well as for business and communication reasons. According to Social Networking Watch (2012), social networking is the most used online activity as most people spend most of their online time visiting social networking sites. Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are the most popular social networking sites, although there are other social networking sites. The increasing use of social networking is evident through high revenues realized by the companies owning them. Statistics show that about 83% of the world’s population using internet log on to social networking sites. This high number has been attributed to the fact that web-enabled mobile devices can access these sites (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2012). Increasing usage of internet and social networking has had many effects on business and governments. Due to high number of people using these technologies, businesses and governments have been forced to incorporate them in their activities. Incorporation of these technologies in business and governments is critical in enhancing “connection” between them and their customers (Longbottom and Bamforth, 2008, p. 31). Customers and citizens have increased expectations and demands due to the changing technology and time. Therefore, in order to avoid losing out to competitors, businesses and in some cases governments have to incorporate the use of these technologies in order to survive and enhance their profitability. Internet and social networking technologies have unique abilities to build relationships and transmit information among large groups of individuals who are physically disconnected. Therefore, businesses incorporate them in their activities in order to augment their survival and profitability, while the government uses them to foster civic engagement (Dadashzadeh, 2010, p. 86). Bibliography Clothier, I, 2005, “Created Identities: Hybrid Cultures and the Internet,” Convergence, Vol. 11 No. 4, p. 44-59. Dadashzadeh, M, 2010, Social Media In Government: From Government To e-Governance, Journal of Business & Economics Research, 8, 11, pp. 81-86 Jones, S. G. (1998). Virtual Culture Identity and Communication In Cybersociety. London: Sage. Longbottom, C., and Bamforth, R. (2008), “Social Networking in the Public Sector,” Knowledge Management Review, 11(5), 30-33. Krivolap, A, (2011), Construction of Cultural Identity in the National Internet Space, Journal of Siberian Federal University; Humanities & Social Sciences 1 (2011 4) 29-36 Social Networking Watch, 2012, Social Networking Market Research Report, Available: http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/all_social_networking_statistics/ (Accessed: 12 April, 2012) U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2012, Information & Communications, Available: www.bea.gov/ - (Accessed: 12 April, 2012) Read More