Problems with defining globalisation:
Freidman - globalisation is actually westernisation or more narrowly americanisation; it has an American face as America is at the
forefront of globalisation e.g. McDonalds and Disney
Marx - predicted capitalist civilisation of the west would be exported to every corner of the globe and there would be the establishment of
the world market; capitalism is a product of the West therefore westernisation
Giddens - globalisation isn't a one way process as local cultures resist and assert their own cultures when faced with the west
Concepts / Impact of Digital Communication on Identities
Digital revolution:
Castells - ‘Information Age’:
-influenced by a marxist perspective as concerns of abusing access to data e.g. the great hack
-information age- age based on information, data and sharing; data is a big business
-businesses are now hyper-connected e.g. during covid; the worlds become a smaller place due to global and instantaneous
communication
-TNCs/networks powerful and influential
-issues of abusing access to data and digital divide
Ourworldindata.org:
-still inequality with phone access e.g. 92% of UK population accessing internet vs 3.8% in DRC- digital divide
-has been huge digital revolution globally, digital population worldwide was 3.81 billion active internet users (April 2017)
Goffman -
-presentation of self - how individuals perform in order to project a desirable imagine (written before digital communication but can be
applied to it)
, -social media means we can edit, re-touch, crop etc until we get the perfect presentation of self e.g. instafamous-Molly Mae
-an avatar can be used as a mask
Ellison - ‘Identity’:
-individuals can adopt multiple online personalities e.g. what you'd post on instagram vs facebook and these online identities can
sometimes impact people’s offline lives in both positive and negative ways
-e.g. Influencer video where she is too absorbed in social media, like editing pictures so not involved in reality
Boelstorff - ‘Virtual Communities’:
-Second Life community: people can create a character/avatar where all aspects of identity can be changed e.g. gender and age,
controversies around crime such as rape and prostitution not being policed online and boundaries are maintained through introduction of
rules and real life police involvement
Concepts / Impact of Digital Communication on Identities Continued…
Carter - ‘Virtual Communities’:
-Cyber City Virtual Community: people are treating the internet as reality and investing in online friendships just as much as real life ones,
interconnected to find others with similar interests which leads to finding relationships in reality
Digital social networks:
-friendship groups e.g. snapchat- real time communication
-work networks e.g. linkedin- develop a professional profile, networking and future opportunities
-family networks e.g. whatsapp- group chats- connect reducing issues of time and space
-hobbies, interests and religion- facebook + pinterest
Boyle - ‘Media Convergence’:
-social media profiles are interlinked e.g. access facebook friends through instagram so as much data is collected as possible
-linked to promoting western capitalist ideas as a way for ruling class to control and watch over
Giddens - ‘Globalisation’:
-globalisation isn't a one way process as local cultures respond to the West by resisting and asserting their cultures
-reverse colonialism- non-western societies colonising the way things are done in western societies
-latinisation- LA becoming infiltrated with latin culture as they assert and resist western culture e.g. through food and TV