Title: 11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication – Understanding Media and Culture
Headings: 11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication
11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication
Learning Objectives
Electronic Media and the Globalization of Culture
China, Globalization, and the Internet
New Media: Internet Convergence and American Society
Internet-Only Sources
“Live” From New York …
Premium Online Video Content
The Role of the Internet in Social Alienation
The “Internet Paradox” and Facebook
Meetup.com: Meeting Up “IRL”
World of Warcraft: Social Interaction Through Avatars
Social Interaction on the Internet Among Low-Income Groups
The Way Forward: Communication, Convergence, and Corporations
Key Takeaways
Exercises
References

Content: Globalization in the sphere of culture and communication can take the form of access to foreign newspapers (without the difficulty of procuring a printed copy) or, conversely, the ability of people living in previously closed countries to communicate experiences to the outside world relatively cheaply. TV, especially satellite TV, has been one of the primary ways for American entertainment to reach foreign shores. This trend has been going on for some time now, for example, with the launch of MTV Arabia (Arango, 2008). American popular culture is, and has been, a crucial export. At the Eisenhower Fellowship Conference in Singapore in 2005, U.S. ambassador Frank Lavin gave a defense of American culture that differed somewhat from previous arguments. It would not be all Starbucks, MTV, or Baywatch, he said, because American culture is more diverse than that. Instead, he said that “America is a nation of immigrants,” and asked, “When Mel Gibson or Jackie Chan come to the United States to produce a movie, whose culture is being exported (Lavin, 2005)?” This idea of a truly globalized culture—one in which content can be distributed as easily as it can be received—now has the potential to be realized through the Internet. While some political and social barriers still remain, from a technological standpoint there is nothing to stop the two-way flow of information and culture across the globe. China, Globalization, and the Internet
The scarcity of artistic resources, the time lag of transmission to a foreign country, and censorship by the host government are a few of the possible impediments to transmission of entertainment and culture.