8.3: The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication
Learning Objectives
- Describe the effects of globalization on culture.
- Identify the possible effects of news migrating to the Internet.
- Define the Internet paradox.
It’s in the name: World Wide Web. The Internet has broken down communication barriers between cultures in a way that could only be dreamed of in earlier generations. Now, almost any news service across the globe can be accessed on the Internet and, with the various translation services available (like Babelfish and Google Translate), be relatively understandable. In addition to the spread of American culture throughout the world, smaller countries are now able to cheaply export culture, news, entertainment, and even propaganda.
The Internet has been a key factor in driving globalization in recent years. Many jobs can now be outsourced entirely via the Internet. Teams of software programmers in India can have a website up and running in very little time, for far less money than it would take to hire American counterparts. Communicating with these teams is now as simple as sending emails and instant messages back and forth, and often the most difficult aspect of setting up an international video conference online is figuring out the time difference. Especially for electronic services such as software, outsourcing over the Internet has greatly reduced the cost to develop a professionally coded site.
Electronic Media and the Globalization of Culture
New Media: Internet Convergence and American Society
Internet-Only Sources
In 2006, two reporters for the Washington Post, John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei, left the newspaper to start a politically centered website called POLITICO. Rather than simply repeating the day’s news in a blog, they were determined to start a journalistically viable news organization on the web. The different ways that Politico reaches out to its supporters—blogs, Twitter feeds, regular news articles, and now even a print edition—show how media convergence has even occurred within the Internet itself. The interactive nature of its services and the active comment boards on the site also show how the media have become a two-way street: more of a public forum than a straight news service.
Key Terms & Concepts
- globalization
- media convergence
References
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press.
Pew Research Center. (2008, December 23). Internet Overtakes Newspapers As News Outlet.
Licensing and Attribution: Content in this section is a combination of:
9.4: The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication in Competent Communication (2nd edition) by Lisa Coleman, Thomas King, & William Turner. It is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA license.
11.4: The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication in Mass Communication, Media, and Culture by Anonymous on LibreTexts. It is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA license.