The Use of the Internet and Global Diversity - Essay Example

Module: Assessment Type: No: Words: 1516 The use of the internet and global diversity Individuals use the Internet for different purposes depending on their work or preference. To some users, the internet is a source of information, and the vast amount of information that it contains is the most important feature. To some, it is a means of communication. Regardless of the type of use by individuals, there is bound to be a level of influence on the different users of the internet. Cultural exchange is one of the possible effects of the use of the internet. As expected, the diversity of the global population is easily shared and learnt by different people from other backgrounds. The level of learning and adoption, however, differs significantly among different users. This difference can be attributed to the different exposure level to the internet or the cognitive abilities of different persons. The acquisition of the information and the use of this vast amount of information, as expected, is supposed to generate a diverse society that appreciate different cultures. On the contrary, the internet use has generated a more uniform society that tends just to copy cultures that are seen as best. This has led to a high level of uniformity in the global society instead of the expected diversity that it is supposed to generate. Thesis: The spread of internet has not helped to create a more diverse world due to the lack of cognitive abilities of global internet users in terms of the usability and users locations. The continued use of the internet and the information within it has promoted a high rate of westernization in developing countries. Westernization is evident in the lifestyles that are slowly adopted by the citizens of these nations. The use of different goods and materials associated with the western culture is evident. The result of this integration is a more uniform culture that accepts a westernised lifestyle. In Asian countries, the trend is similar with most of the products that are preferred being of western origin. The internationalization of even convenience stores such as 7-11 to the Asian continent is an indication of the fact that these countries are greatly affected by westernization. Taiwan is a perfect case example of the impacts of westernization and the influence of the United States. The country is highly developed as compared to its neighbours in the continent. The result of the high rate of development is the adoption of cultures associated with the western world. The reverse of Westernization is a condition where the western world adopts the cultures and traditions of the east or developing countries. It is possible that the global exchange of information through the internet has led to the west admiring the unique aspects of culture in the developing world. China, for instance, has had a great influence in the western world with its unique and beautiful culture. In many western counties, there is a growing respect for the Chinese culture and traditions. In fact within these countries, exhibitions about Chinese culture are a common phenomenon. Chinese foods have become a trend among the population on the western countries as a result of its admiration worldwide (Li 2011). This level of interchange in culture occasioned by the spread of information via a common platform that is the internet has made it difficult for the sustained diversity in the world. The result or impact of the interchange is that a common universal culture is slowly growing among the population of the world. To maintain the level of diversity, it is expected that the users of the internet information could have the cognitive skills to selectively implement or use the available information. This should be done while retaining their unique positions in culture and developments in each field. In education, for instance, most universities have adopted the study of Mandarin in many post-secondary schools. As compared to the study of French or Japanese and even Spanish, this is the most studied language in the country (Pinyin News, 2008). The cyber influence is also an important demonstration of the level of uniformity that is generated by the internet. Cyberspace has no boundaries that can be effectively defined as compared to the international or geographical borders. As a result, the continued developments in the cyber world have proved to be a source of international integrations of culture and political systems. The advent of social networks has proved to be a more unifying factor in the integration process. Here, people from different social groupings can capture and share information via the Internet seamlessly on many types of communication devices. A person using the internet in a given location can access and share their thoughts with other people without the need to physically interact with other persons in different locations. The ability to interact albeit there is no physical contact is enhancing the level of cultural, political and social uniformity. This level of integration is compounded by the fact that the mobile devices or gadgets used for social networking gives the users the power to make independent choices on the information to use or share. The users to are on an equal platform that does not give other users the view of the actual happenings on the ground at each point. The impact of this level of independence is that the individuals using the social networks have the propensity to adopt the positions taken by other persons in a completely different environment due to their varying levels of cognitive ability. Joffe (2013), points out to the fact that the use of Facebook, a social network site has taken a political turn in the recent days. The recent developments that have led to the Arab Spring in North Africa are indicators of the political integration caused by the consumption of social networks. The ability of the masterminds behind the spring to successfully come up with the protests are indicators of the fact that there is a level of freedom in the social networks that have no boundary within nations. In physical interactions, it would be impossible to disseminate the political information that can lead to the same level of protests. Again in this definition, the power to select and consume the information available on the internet The digital divide in the society has done little to salvage the impact of the consumption of internet information. Despite the disparity of access between the rural population and the urban populations access to the internet, the corrosion of diversity is still a major factor. To the population that can access information on the internet, the standard belief is that knowledge is power and with the increased level of information, the general productivity in any field increases. This notion tends to affect the rural population who have little access to the internet to believe that at any instance of exposure to the same would be the results. The result of this condition is limited attention to the cognitive skill of use of information and technology. The cognitive capabilities of the people with limited access to internet will be biased to the beauty and opportunities that are likely to be present on the internet by the fact that they had had limited exposure. The beauty and importance of this fact and the ability to skew the cognitive ability of users is that it is documented that exploitation of different information technologies can create a competitive advantage (Internet World Stats, 2014). Digital divide (2015) indicates that the difference in tecyhnology between the rfich and the poor of the society is still a pertinent issue. This difference coupled with the fact that there is a significant education imbalance between the rich and the poor can also add to the indiscriminate use of the internet information by the poor. At any instance of exposure to the same, the poor are likely to believe that the information that is from the internet is better due to the low cognitive levels. The low cognitive level in this case is motivated by the difference in education between the rich and the poor and the exposure to the internet use. The continued use of the internet is expected to generate a homogenous culture in the world and eradicate the high level of diversity experienced in the world today. The speed and the seamless ability to exchange information that is brought by the use of the internet can change the culture of persons who are not proficient in the use of the same. It requires a good judgement on what to consume as a user of the internet, and this is usually variable. The variability in the cognitive levels is the most common factor that determines a persons ability to use or consume the information from the internet. As such there is a high possibility that the level of cultural, political and social diversity is slowly being corroded. The result of the unconsidered level of consumption of the internet and the available information will give rise to a global uniform culture. This fact is further compounded by the uniformity experienced over the internet and through social networks. References China Divide (2010 April 3rd). A war of westernization in China. Retrieved from: http://chinadivide.com/2010/war-on-westernization-in-china.html Internet World Stats, (2014). The Internet Big Picture: World Internet Users And 2014 Population Stats. Retrieved from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Joffé, G. (2011). The Arab spring in North Africa: origins and prospects. The Journal of North African Studies, 16(4), 507-532. Digital divide (2015) Digital Divide: The Technology Gap between the Rich and Poor. Retrieved from: http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/digital-divide-the-technology-gap-between-rich-and-poor/ Li, J. (2011). Chinas america. Albany: Sunny. Pinyin News ( 2008 August 18th). US post-secondary enrolments in foreign languages and the position of Mandarin. Retrieved from: http://pinyin.info/news/2008/08/ Read More