Social Media Has Negatively Changed Our Culture - Coursework Example

Social Media Has Negatively Changed Our Culture Introduction Social media refers to computer-mediated platforms that enable people from different parts of the globe to create information, share ideas, or exchange pictures and videos through virtual communities and networks. As such, social media relies on web-based technologies in order to develop interaction platforms. Some of the common social media platforms include Face Book, Twitter, MySpace, and Skype. Culture on the other hand refers to the way of life of different people clustered within different communities or societies from different parts of the world. According to Berns (18), culture defines several aspects of the community such as its values, its customs, its beliefs, its traditions, as well as its languages. People from the same culture usually have these ideologies in common. Therefore, culture is a reflection of the history of a given community, its heritage, as well as the manner in which it expresses its ideas and creativity. The inception of social media platforms in the world brought about significant transformation across various sectors of the economy, governance, as well as societal and cultural settings. One of the positive gains of social media was enabling the close intermingling of people from different parts of the world on the same platform. Cunningham (74) argues that a social media user in the United States can have friends and followers from different parts of the world, such as China, Brazil, Africa, and Europe. This means that the user can get to learn the cultures of all his or her friends and as they share and exchange pictures, ideas, as well as information. However, this close interaction of people from different parts of the world through social media equally has negative consequences on the cultural settings and beliefs of the said communities. It is imperative to note beforehand that a culture provides the subsequent measure for the quality of life, the health of a society, as well as its vitality. Culture provides people with the sense of belonging, both cognitive and personal growth, and the ability to relate and empathize to one another. According to Joosten (112), some of the direct benefits drawn from a solid cultural platform include self-esteem, health and wellness, social capital, economic return, and skills development. The inception of social media threatens these benefits of culture by transforming the traditional cultural settings that held societies together. Negative Impact of Social Media on Culture A community holds its cultural practices and beliefs dear and important. However, the interaction of people from different communities and different cultures causes intermingling of cultures to the extent whereby people start questioning certain cultural practices and beliefs within their community. Powell (84) argues that this comparison of cultural beliefs and practices leads to the erosion of cultural standards of different communities. A good example of how cultural erosion takes place in a community was the Scramble and Partition of Africa in the late 19th century by European colonial masters. Before the coming of Europeans to Africa, different African communities had their own set of cultural beliefs and practices, including religious beliefs and practices whereby they sacrificed and gave offerings to their gods. However, the coming of Europeans introduced Christianity to the African communities, many of whom had to abandon their traditional religious practices and embrace Christianity. Though this was a positive move, it eroded the cultural background and practices of the African communities. The gods that they were worshipping since the days of their ancestors became irrelevant since they had to stop worshipping these gods and worship the one true God preached in Christianity. According to Sun (187), the inception of social media in the world has the same effect on culture like the way colonization transformed African religious practices. It changes the cultural settings and standards since people from different places of the world share and exchange information and ideas about each other. This leads to a situation known as cultural homogenization, whereby people drop their traditional cultures for mainstream global practices and cultures. Cultural homogenization is the reduction of cultural diversity mainly through the diffusion and popularization of a wide array of different cultural symbols, inclusive of customs, physical objects, values, as well as ideas. Bissessar (45) argues that cultural homogenization falls under the numerous aspects of cultural globalization. This process leads to the transformation of absorption of local cultures by a dominant outside culture thereby leading to the elimination of all other different small local cultures as they paved way to a dominant global culture. It therefore has a significant impact on the culture and national identity of individuals and their communities after suffering erosion from multinational media and global cultural industries. Social media stands out as the mainstream multinational media platform promoting cultural homogenization as it promotes the development of a global dominant culture. Social media absorbs diverse cultures across the world and transforms them into a global culture whereby people from different backgrounds want to leave behind their original cultural backgrounds for what it trending globally (Cai, Gyimothy and Munar 145). Social media promotes life on the first lane, of people seeking popularity even on wring platforms, and of people becoming famous despite the effect of what they do on the society. Social media has seen the rise of socialites, who are high-end prostitutes who use their body assets and arousing figures to lure men. This, for example, was not acceptable in any community for a girl to use her womanhood to promote sexuality for cash Bloggers are also on the rise, and so are different public figures that use these social media platforms to influence their followers from across all corners of the world. There are those who will tell their followers not to obey the law, to disregard court orders, or to forgo church and become pagans. They will use literally use every avenue to achieve their objectives and turn law-abiding citizens into rogue personalities and criminals. According to Papacharissi (77), no culture can stand the emerging force of social media as more and more people, especially the young adults, teenagers and the youth, rely more on social media for their daily practices and activities as opposed to what their parents and guardians or teachers tell them to do. For instance, a young girl will want to boost her bodily features and flaunt them on social media just because she saw a socialite do it in Face Book, Twitter or Instagram. Social media is the major cause of the erosion in morality experienced nowadays within the modern society. It is also noteworthy that morality was the glue that held communities together, as well as preserved their cultures and traditional practices. For instance, the Muslims have strong sense of morality whereby it would be unheard of to see a Muslim girl dress skimpily and later post the images on social media cites. However, despite the strong Islamic teachings from the holy Quran, some Islamic communities are slowly giving up this culture and taking on new practices promotes through social media. Most Muslims leaving in towns and cities rarely wear “Hijabs” to cover their hair or face, or a “Buibui” to cover their body. This is all thanks to social media, which argues that religion practices belong to the heart, and not through the clothes, that one wears. In fact, some of the leading socialites in the world are of Muslim faith, such as Zari Hassan from South Africa, and Huddah Monroe from Kenya. This is a practical example of the erosion of different cultural identities for a single dominant global identity and culture (Davenport, Larose and Straubbaar 89). Secrecy and management of personal space are very important in holding together cultural values and traditions. This is the reason why the elderly were the custodians of cultural norms and practices, and as such, only passed these cultural secrets and practices onto the younger generation when they reached the opportune time. However, with social media, this formality of secrecy on cultural deeds and practices is no longer viable. On the contrary, social media brings about unduly interference into the deeper secrets of the families and traditions. Most people who post their personal stuff on social media end up losing their privacy to other unknown individual, especially hackers and other internet fraud practitioners who may hack into an individual’s social media account for use with negative intentions. A society exists because people interact with one another and meet each other physically. However, social media creates an isolation of persons from different quarters. In traditional settings, people came together and interacted physically in order to discuss and practice cultural events. On the other hand, social media tends to join people to thousands of friends and followers across the internet. The only problem is that these people might never meet or see each other face to face. They are like a virtual community that only meets on the internet. This therefore strips such a community of cultural values and practices, such as communal labour, and assistance of one another, as it normally happens in ordinary communities. Social media sites merely isolate people in their living rooms, offices, or homes as they spend a large amount of time on social media sites rather than undertaking face to face interactions. Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperative for those promoting the usage and uptake of social media to equally consider the effects that these platforms have on the culture and social standings of modern day societies. Most people can now access social media platforms through mobile-based technologies, thereby making social media the largest social network across the world. More people will visit social media sites on one day as opposed to the listening to news on TV or radio, or going to church on Sundays. As such, this proves that social media has a far more resounding effect on its users, and the society, as opposed to the other means of networking. This situation places cultural practices and beliefs on a compromise as some of these features go in a precarious position especially in the event that they turn out not to be trending with the modern day fashion and practices. Social medial promotes people to adopt what is trendy, up to date and fashionable, and to leave behind what is traditional, old school, and apparently not “swaggerific.” As such, the youth will go for what makes them look “cool” among their peers, leaving behind their traditional cultural practices and beliefs. In the end, these traditions and cultural practices fade away slowly until there is nothing left of it because the youth born through the culture do not practice it, and the elderly men and women who are custodians of the traditions and culture die due to old age and fatigue. In addition, the parents of nowadays will train their children to be modernized and take on new things that modernity has to offer and disregard old age traditional practices that defined their backgrounds, identity, as well as cultural practices. Works Cited Berns, Nancy. Framing the Victim: Domestic Violence, Media, and Social Problems. New York: Transaction Publishers, 2004. Print. Bissessar, Ann. Globalization and Governance: Essays on the Challenges for Small States. North Carolina: McFarland, 2004. Print. Cai, Liping, Gyimothy Szilvia and Munar Ana. Tourism Social Media: Transformations in Identity, Community and Culture. Bradford, UK: Emerald Group Publishing, 2013. Print. Cunningham, Carolyn. Social Networking and Impression Management: Self-Presentation in the Digital Age. Lanharm, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. Print. Davenport, Lucinda, Larose Robert and Straubbaar Joseph. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Jones, Elin and Uribe-Jongbloed Enrique. Social Media and Minority Languages: Convergence and the Creative Industries. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2013. Print. Joosten, Tanya. Social Media for Educators: Strategies and Best Practices. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Papacharissi, Zizi. A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites. London: Routledge Publishers, 2011. Print. Powell, Helen. Promotional Culture and Convergence: Markets, Methods, Media. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. Sun, Huatong. Cross-Cultural Technology Design: Creating Culture-Sensitive Technology for Local Users. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. 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