Unit 3 - Section A: Globalisation - Impact of digital forms of communication on identity Flashcards
Castells
‘Information Age’ - Influenced by Marxist theoretical perspective, as a negative stance as the internet is another way in which we are controlled by the bourgeoisie as it is deregulated and drip feeds ideologies. He claimed that we are moving from an industrial age to an information age, that occurred due to evolution of new-information technologies, the focus has shifted from fossil fuels, as data is important and it is seen as valuable to sell big data as everyone now has a digital footprint. Helped enhance communication as it allows for the removal of the issue of space and distance, and for globalisation. Communication is instantaneous, changes the relationship that people have with time. Social networks now ‘hold power’, so some networks are global in scale. Negative consequences as those at the bottom of society are excluded, are low paid, likely to be poorly educated, and have little chance of social mobility. If you have computer skills and knowledge about technology, you are able to sell your labour and be socially mobile in a capitalist world. However, people in developing countries and less skilled manual workers do not have access to this. Transformed globalisation from a fashionable academic concept to a new phase. New information technologies have not only transformed technology of communication but brought about a new age, where new technologies are organising logic and principles. States that the world has shifted from industrialism to post-industrialism to informationalism - not mechanical but informational. Change in the way economic activity and production is conducted, through networking. Rapid and dramatic impact on human relationships - concept of time, as the world has become a smaller place, with on set of information technology, we can interact and respond in real time. New social movements are posing a formidable challenge to the old nation state system - whole communities and forms of life can be cut out. Their traditional roots have no value and little security is provided by the new order.
Ellison
Suggests that individuals can adopt multiple online personalities and online activities often leaving us with visible traces which can be captured, tracked, packaged and shared. These choices can tell us a lot about individuals and attitudes in wider society. These online identities can also sometimes impact on people’s offline lives in both negative and positive ways.
Goffman
How we present ourselves, individuals ‘perform’ in order to project a desirable image, using the theatre to illustrate how individuals contrast front stage and back stage. When in front stage, wear a mask not becoming a different person but a version of that individual. Even telephone conversations are insufficiently rich and lack visual cues, present ion physical interaction. This has enabled through all of the multimedia options given through digital communication. Splitting of the self in online communication and how the self is presented online is a version of the self - virtual identities might be just as real to users as non virtual identities. An avatar can be seen as a mask used by online users which is important to the user suggesting that they do place value on how they see themselves. We create multiple roles and identities in everyday life. For example, social media now means that we can retake/edit/crop/add filters to pictures until getting a ‘perfect presentation of self’ - influences such as ‘Molly Mae’.
Boelstorff
In 2003, changed name, status, personality, lifestyle. Avatar’s were first introduced, which was a completely electronic, made up version of yourself. Could change gender, ethnicity, sex, etc. Attracted to the website as users could create versions of themselves that they preferred over their real self. Little regulation of online behaviours, as had law breaking behaviour, e.g. porn, prostitution, etc. 2007 Belgian Police began patrolling the virtual world of Second Life, adult censors, those who broke codes of conduct were booted off. However, some of the crimes were difficult to report or punish. EVAL = STRENGTHS = at risk users make virtual creations of themselves as they feel as though they are unable to make friendships in real life, therefore feel accepted (real life vs fantasy life). WEAKNESSES = Secondlife is a website which doesn’t reflect reality, as technology was not advanced enough to make it as good as it was being sold. Additionally, online friendships/relationships made can break real world relationships.
Carter
Refers to a social network of individuals who create an online community which may or may not reflect their lives offline. Virtual communities can be formed through message boards, chat rooms, virtual worlds, groups/pages on social networks. Carter explores the idea that we live in a ‘global village’. Explores the way that digital forms of communication are used in creating and maintaining relationships in an increasingly globalised context. One particular virtual community is Cybercity, which has 1,062,072 registered users as of June 2004. The research took place over 3 ½ years from 1999 to 2001. It was visited once every day, and had a Western sample. Participant observation and questionnaires, offline semi-structured interviews. Cyberspace is another place to meet people with similar interests, and enhance social networks. It has characteristics of a city, which appeals to users. Users invest effort into maintaining relationships/friendships, highlighting how trustworthiness and authenticity affects social relations. Cyberspace is increasingly embedded in people’s everyday lives, which manifests into real life, through offline relationships.
Boyle
Media convergence - previously separate forms of media can now be accessed through one device, also a range of media can all be stored and accessed on one profile, which is interlinked. These patterns of convergence have been adopted to promote Western, capitalist ideas (pursuit of profit, private ownership, and material objects) are presented as important. Companies can now advertise on a range of media platforms. Ex, Facebook owns everything, so media sites have become interconnected, which enhances our relationships with other people.
Giddens
Argues it is not a one-way process. It is transformative but has an uneven effect on all parts of the global system. This transmits Western civilisation to the rest of the world, which sparks unpredictable responses, leading to proliferation of localist and nationalist movements across the world. Revival of local cultural identities, which makes stronger claims to survive. Globalisation is not characterised purely by the West, for example, Mexicanisation in English and Spanish services, Spanish speaking shows, signs, etc. It is becoming decentered and characterised by reverse colonialism, where non-Western cultures are colonialising ways in which Western societies do things. Latinisation for LA, which has asserted their own culture, shows the global system is becoming radically decentered. Gradual emergence of global cosmopolitan culture that has Western origins.
Friedman
‘Globalisation has an American face’: Americanisation has had an impact on both developed, and non-developed societies due to their economic power, through Western consumer products, e.g. Coca Cola, Apple, Disney.
Spybey
Views Globalisation as an exchange of practices between multiple locations (e.g. mass production, East shares with the West). Americanisation is the most visible and dynamic manifestation, with Us techniques being so powerful and adopted by all. Different societies are becoming more common - yes, a positive, as believes that this has benefited Western cultures, which is spreading to non-West.
Fukuyama
Political definition, historical trajectory of the world is in the direction of the kind of civilisation found in Western capitalist liberal democracies, which is seen as the ‘ideal’. General public fights for democracy through voting, political parties, and becoming socially mobile. Free market in relation to market, private ownership, self employment. However, it can be criticised, as it fails to acknowledge variations within it, as it focuses solely on US experience. Rejects European social democratic, limits cultural and critical slant.
McLuhan
predicted a global village would occur, where one world was interconnected by an electronic nervous system, making it part of our popular culture before it actually happened. He coined the term ‘global village’ and suggests that now information can be passed on electronically and due to it ‘moving at the speed of light’, this creates new patterns of communication and social interactions. He suggests that these progressions in digital communication and the creation of a global village means that ‘everybody lives in the utmost proximity created by our electric involvement in one another’s lives.’ Electricity, especially through the media of the Internet and TV, brings information instantaneously from the four corners of the planet and invests distant events with a personal dimension. Communities across the globe become entwined in one another’s affairs and the internet reduces the entire globe to the dimensions of a village - a global village.
‘Ourworldindata’
Percentage of internet users in each world region. Europe = 87.2%. Africa = 47.1%. North America = 90.3%
