Impact of the Internet on Westernization - Essay Example

Rather than being a medium for Western culture alone, the Internet actually helps promote and strengthen the societies of non-Western nations” Using existing literature and data, evaluate this claim in relation to two of the following areas: Culture and Business Abstract The internet is one technological advancement that has taken the world by storm. It is surprising to note that some western countries are considering adding internet as a basic human need. This is because if used reservedly the benefits arising from internet use are unrivalled. However, wrongful use of the internet can also lead to painful and drastic losses and damage either financial, social or psychological. This paper aims at looking at the impact of internet in non-western nations in the advent of globalization. Introduction The internet is a global systemic interconnection of different computer networks. These computer networks can either be academic, private as well as public that are linked together through various forms of networking technologies. It carries various forms of information depending on the people that seek different information resources. As a form of communication, the internet is an advanced form of traditional communication technologies like the wired (landline) telephone and the fax machine. The internet dates back to research especially by the United States government and other private firms in the 1960s. Although real time connectivity of the internet was only successful in the 1980s, the last few decades have seen significant improvement in the quality of service as well as security and speed of connectivity. The world today is heavily dependent on internet-based technologies that without them the world would “ideally” come to a standstill. The internet has transformed the lives of very many people in very many different ways. Among services and or products that the internet has facilitated to the public include but not limited to the following listed below. Information transfer Communication Data transfer These are general uses; we shall look at the specifics of these uses as we analyze the use of internet and its impact on culture and business. At the moment there are a variety of means through which internet is accessed. This may include hand held mobile devices, high-speed data modems, as well as the ordinary fixed line telephones using a personal computer. Analysis with respect to culture Culture in simple terms is asset of goals, practices, and shared values of a certain group of people at a time in history. Thus, culture is dynamic and changes with time. The use of certain symbols for specific meanings or a use is one way of characterizing a people’s culture1. In this sense then we expect the culture of different societies, groups, or institutions to be different from those of others. With respect to this fact, the internet as a mode of communication and information transfer has had a very big impact on changing or informing people about the culture of other groups. Through the internet, people of all lifestyles can portray their culture while at the same time learning about the cultures of other groups of people. Western culture in many occasions is synonymously used to refer to European civilization or what is commonly referred to us western civilization. It refers to cultures of European origins through their norms, artifacts, heritage, as well as technologies and political systems dating from as early as ancient Rome and Greece, the middle ages, the period of renaissance up to the many significant European empires studied in history. Among the key tenets of western culture are Existence of subcultures Syncretism Political pluralism Technological advancement Imperialism The internet is a technological breakthrough with its origins in the western world. Just like any other innovation, the internet was quickly used by western nations to promote their culture. Thus before non-western nations could get the policies, platform or an understanding of how the internet can be harmful or beneficial to their cultures they would only get what is availed to them by the internet. During these early stages, the internet was used as a medium of transmitting or relaying western culture to the non-western nations. Many non-western societies were exposed to western civilization in modern times through internet-based technologies. By being exposed to political pluralism and cultural syncretism espoused by western societies, many non-western societies or cultures especially in Africa and Latin America have been greatly assimilated into the western culture. Freedom of speech and a search for democracy are some of the things that these societies have agitated for especially in the onset of internet. The recent violent demonstrations and protests that have rocked the Arab world have a trace to the advancement of internet-based technologies that have enabled the populace to seek information and support from the global society. Without the internet, some of the information gathered concerning their plight would not have been discovered since some of these governments have been very conservative. The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates. Each emirate is governed by an emir who maintains absolute power over the emirate. The UAE is an Islamic nation. Internet within UAE was adopted in the year 2000 and it is highly monitored and regulated by the government. As thus, the country has not been highly influenced by western civilization since internet based cultures and practices of western countries like dressing, freedom of speech and a free lifestyle are highly prohibited by the countries strict Sharia laws. However, the UAE has a population of 80% comprised of migrant workers. This makes the society multicultural with a majority being migrant workers. This condition has forced the USE to be more liberal while compared to many of its neighbors like Saudi Arabia. These migrant workers have had more internet exposure from their native countries. Through information sharing, they have helped to change the culture of the locals either directly or indirectly. Regardless of this fact, the country has benefitted a lot from internet-based technologies especially in the financial sector. Apart from UAE, we can also look at the impact of internet on another non-western culture or society. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Although there is, a relatively high human capital lack of industrial advancement has been one of the basic reasons why the region has stayed under-developed. However, the internet has helped the region to expose its culture to the world. Although cultural changes date back to the colonial period, the internet has fast-tracked adoption of the western culture. Thus, the internet has acted as a medium of western culture in the region. In addition to this, the internet has also been critical in helping to promote and strengthen the societies of sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, the Maasai tradition and culture has become a significant tourist attraction for Kenya and Tanzania. Thus the Maasai community living in both countries have benefitted from the internet since it has helped to promote their heritage through one of the wonders of the world “the wildebeest migration” between the Maasai-Mara and Serengeti national parks that lie within the borders of the two countries. From this, we can conclude that the internet has not only acted as a medium of western civilization in non-western cultures but it has also been an important element in promoting and strengthening the societies of non-western nations. Analysis with respect to business Some of the most remarkable and beneficial effects of the internet has been its influence on business transactions. The internet has changed the ways of conducting business on a global perspective. Through the internet, the world business sector has been converged in to one small village. Many traditional business transactions can now be carried out over the internet. It has reduced the cost of doing business significantly. Just as was the case in cultural analysis the internet has acted as a medium of western or foreign business operations while at the same time being a channel through which non-western societies have promoted and strengthened their business operations. Electronic commerce, online banking, mobile banking, and EFTs (electronic funds transfers) have all been made possible using the internet. Although a majority of these services originated in the western world, the adoption of internet in non-western societies has proved to be of very critical importance in supporting technologies beneficial to the public. The USE has created the Dubai internet city. This business park supports the adoption of internet-based technologies led by companies like IBM, Nokia, and Microsoft. In addition to this, the financial sector especially the banking industry has highly adopted internet based banking to meet the needs of many people who happen to be international businesspersons and need to transact from any region in the world. This has made the financial sector to improve dramatically when compared to that of its neighbors. However, the government filters internet content that it deems ‘inappropriate’. However, the advancement of internet has helped Dubai to attract many western universities to the country. These universities enjoy special tax incentives. Additionally they offer distant learning programs through the virtual university concept. Other services that have improved include home based businesses through outsourcing of certain clerical jobs, telemedicine, and freelance journalism among a range of other businesses. Thus, with respect to the United Arab Emirates it is clear that the internet has had very significant contributions to the success of different kinds of businesses in the country. With changing times, we expect that regulations will improve so that by 2012 more people will have access to the internet with fewer restrictions. On the other side, we shall also look at the impact of the internet on another non-western society in terms of business. Just like the case of culture, we shall look at a section of sub-Saharan Africa. In this case, I will look at a specific case example of Kenya. Kenya is a developing country with a high percentage of people living below the poverty line. In terms of business, Kenya has a high percentage of foreign owned companies. As a result, these companies have the potential of investing in internet-based technologies to reduce costs and increase efficiency of operations. As a result, the internet has been a conduit for further western investments within the country. The telecommunications industry has one of the highest percentage usages of internet. Most mobile operators within the country have embraced the internet to increase service delivery. Due to a high percentage of people living in rural areas with little or no significant infrastructure, mobile devices have been used to access the majority of the country’s poor. For instance, the biggest mobile operator in the country Safaricom a subsidiary of Vodacom was the world’s first telecommunications company to effectively offer money transfer services using mobile phones. This was arrived at because a majority of the country’s population have no access to the banking or financial sector. In addition to this one of the country’s leading banks Equity has used internet-based technologies to offer mobile banking services to most of the country’s rural population. This has helped the bank to become one of the fastest growing banks in Africa. From these two examples we can see that in terms of business the internet has both acted as a conduit for foreign capital while art the same time it has been an important element in promoting and strengthening the nature of business operations. Conclusion It is undeniable that regardless of the many advantages of internet it still has some potential harmful effects to non-western country’s especially those, which have no enough work force and technology to filter harmful contents available over the internet. For instance, pornography, electronic and identity theft by hackers have led to great losses. However, it is important to acknowledge the fact that despite these disadvantages the beneficial effects of the internet outweigh the demerits. Read More