Culture and the Internet: April 2007

References

Honeycutt, Lee. (2004). Literacy and the Writing Voice; The Intersection of Culture and Technology in Dictation. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Vol. 3, p. 294.

Chow-White, Peter A. (2006). Race, gender and sex on the net: semantic networks of selling and storytelling sex tourism. Journal of Media, Culture and Society. SAGE Publications, Vol. 28, p. 883-905.

Lewis, Tania. (2006). Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture & Society. SAGE Publications, Vol. 28, p. 521–539.

George, Cherian. (2005). The internet’s political impact and the penetration/
participation paradox in Malaysia and Singapore. Media, Culture & Society. SAGE Publications, Vol. 27, p. 903–920.

Woo-Young, Chang. (2005). Online civic participation, and political empowerment: online media and public opinion formation in Korea. Media, Culture & Society. SAGE Publications, Vol. 27, p. 925–935.

The Up and Comming Internet Culture

I recently bought a new computer and was truly fascinated with all of the new technologies that are coming to be. One of the newest gadgets that I purchased was a microphone for my computer that I can use over the internet. I really feel that this devise is going to create a whole new culture of internet users. “Voice recognition has the potential to be a useful technology for bridging the spoken and written word” (Honeycutt, Lee). With the addition of being able to look at words that others have written and connecting a voice to them, I feel that it is going to make the internet feel like they are more connected to what they are reading. People will become more involved over the internet and will be able to express themselves with less and less confusion. “As a generation that has known mostly silent writing, we might be tempted at first to dismiss computerized dictation as a technological gimmick that disrupts our embedded silent literacy practices” (Honeycutt, Lee). I really feel that this phase will end quickly because people will really connect with each other and be more able to relate their feelings.

Culture of Participation

The internet has created a culture of involved citizens. People are finding it easier and easier to actively participate in governmental issues. “The avenue to be opened by the online media is expected to be a path that leads to a more vibrant form of citizen participatory democracy” (Woo-Young, Chang). I really feel that the rapid growth of participatory democracy will change our society for the better. “An important novelty brought about by online journalism is the renovation in production and circulation of messages and this in turn promotes public discussions in which citizens participate more actively” (Woo-Young, Chang). Issues will become more public and decisions will be made by more people than just those sitting in the office. It will also make political decisions a quicker process because of the almost instantaneous receipt of internet messages. “The newly enabled diversification places online journalism in an antithetical position vis-a-vis traditional journalism, which has tended to standardize methods of message transmission and the relationship between senders and recipients of messages” (Woo-Young, Chang).

Political Internet Cultures

The internet has most definitely made political aspects more of a global concern than the former local concern. Ranging from the online newspaper to governmental blog sites, people all over are obtaining access to political issues that are happening all around the world. One theory that I have recently discovered is that larger countries use this type of information less frequently than those in smaller countries. “A country with lower penetration levels of a medium may, paradoxically, exhibit superior utilization of that medium than a country with higher penetration” (George, Cherian). I thought that this was really interesting, but it definitely makes sense. If a large country is so used to having this kind of access to information it becomes less of a luxury. On the flip side, if a smaller country really does not have as much access or availability, they are going to be more concentrated on it. An example of a specific situation is with Malaysia and Singapore, “Malaysia, being the larger and less wealthy of the two countries, has predictably achieved significantly lower levels of internet penetration than Singapore” (George, Cherian). Singapore has a more concentrated area and therefore more internet penetration.

Positive Trends

The internet has also followed a trend that the world offline created. This is the culture of those fascinated with all aspects of health. In some ways this has been a very positive creation. People are learning how to take care of themselves. It is also giving the average person access to an unlimited supply of information. Nowadays, anyone with a health concern can log onto the internet and literally diagnose themselves without the painful trip to the doctors’ office. “Health consumers are becoming more medically literate’, therefore challenging the traditional balance of power in the doctor–patient relationship” (Lewis, Tania). This availability to medical information could also cause several problems with people who do not know how to differentiate those sites that are reputable and have accurate information and those sites that are advertisements or just plain opinions. People could end up in serious medical situations which they would not have experienced if they had gone to the doctors’ office in person to be diagnosed by a professional. Taking these situations in your own hands and relying on websites for this kind of information could be very dangerous. There are “concerns about the enormous amount of information on the internet that consumers must negotiate, as well as the blurred boundaries between medical and advertising advice” (Lewis, Tania). The internet culture of health concerned people also creates another problem, obsession with health. Sometimes this large amount of information can be fascinating and almost addicting. Some are even labeling these people with “current obsession with researching one’s symptoms on the web as ‘the Internet disease’ or ‘printout syndrome’” (Lewis, Tania). I feel that almost anyone is subject to these diseases, especially those with a lot of time on their hands.

The Ugly Side of Internet Cultures

Some people have even formed cultures that would be virtually shunned from the physical society. People are creating a fantasy world through writing, doing and saying things that they would never do outside of the internet culture that they belong to. “The rapid diffusion of the internet in the 1990s has enabled marginalized groups to establish URLsand innovate their own forms of community”, (Chow-White, Peter A.). I truly believe that people are expressing a side of themselves that they would feel ashamed of if family or friends ever found out. People that belong to these unacceptable societies have inner thoughts and feelings that they cannot express any other way. These internet cultures are almost encouraging these disturbed people and reinforcing their beliefs. “Information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as the internet, are playing a particularly significant role not only in the promotion and packaging of sex tourism but of a new type of global surveillance of bodies, race and desire” (Chow-White, Peter A.). I personally feel that these types of internet cultures should be banned and people should be prosecuted and held responsible for their actions over the internet. Everyone feels as though no one will ever find out who they really are and feel safe saying or doing whatever they want. Just as in the physical society, I believe there should be rules and consequences for not following them. “The discussion boards are not only networking people, but ideas and frameworks of understanding or semantic networks” (Chow-White, Peter A.). This is a growing problem and we need to take control of it and do something to stop it.