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The rapid development of new media technology has become one of the most controversial topics among scholars. Moreover, one crucial element of this development is the social impact that technology causes for societies. As Rifkin (2000, p.11) argues, ‘[w]e are journeying into a new period in which more and more human experience is purchased in the form of access to multifaceted networks in cyberspace.’ The proliferation of new media, particularly the Internet, has significantly transformed not only the way people communicate with each other but also the way they live. Emails, web pages, or online communities, such as chat rooms and weblogs have reduced distance and culture is spread easily, fast, and uncontrollably (See culture jamming). With more people and web pages becoming part of the World Wide Web, a question is asked: has the internet influenced diversity or homogeneity in the world’s culture?
For many centuries, culture has been viewed as ‘the common ideas on which a society or group rest’ (University of Southern Mississippi, no year). Nevertheless, there is a growing belief that the spread of culture through mass media is unbalanced and thus has led to the term cultural imperialism (and also moral panics) being applied in society. Tomlinson (quoted by Poux, 2004) defines cultural imperialism as ‘the use of political and economic power to exalt and spread the values and habits of a foreign culture at the expense of a native culture.'
Before this term was used in the context of the Internet, cultural imperialism, which actually has happened long time ago, seems to have become popular at the time when modern economic capitalism occurred. According to Tomlinson (2000, p.54), economic power has enabled high capitalistic countries to exert a considerable control over ‘weaker’ countries economically and culturally. Since America or Western countries are seen to dominate the world’s capitalism, their popular culture, Hollywood, the English language, and companies that include Nike and McDonalds, appear to show their cultural imperialism over the world.
The invention of the Internet in 1970s appears to be closely related to the emergence of cultural imperialism on the World Wide Web. Initially, the Internet was created by American scientists mainly to ease the United States military communication system before eventually the Internet spread from government usage to public access (Flew, 2004, p.12). Currently, through cyberspace, people all over the world can do anything through the Net from business to sharing their personal files or downloading news or music.
This power of the Internet to be accessed by audiences worldwide, thus, enables and opens the door to cultural imperialism. Therefore, Tomlinson’s (quoted by Poux, 2001) definition, ‘the use of political and economic power to exalt and spread the values and habits …,’ can be applied similarly to the Internet context. In other words, as Irvine puts it:
Based on the history of cultural imperialism that happened due to Western capitalism domination and the fact that the Internet was invented in America by Americans, it is undeniable that for some people, the Internet is seen as another way for Western countries to impose their cultural imperialism.
Nevertheless, other people present a different view regarding this topic. With a vast number of Internet users, especially in the twenty first century, cultural imperialism on the Net is actually seen as a challenge. The Internet has enabled anyone to create a website and promote their culture easily and much cheaper than other media. Stratton (2000, p.726) claims that ‘as more non Americans and non-English speaker come online, the American hegemony over the use of [the] Internet will become harder to sustain.’ This different view proposes that cultural imperialism on the Internet can and should be overcome to prevent cultural homogenisation in the world.
Hence, there are two opposite views: on the Internet, cultural imperialism is slowly diminished and can people experience the era of cultural globalisation or American content dominates even more than before. These arguments may be the main issues that emerge throughout this century. However, there are also two other important issues related to this topic:
Every year, the number of Internet users has increased rapidly (in 2001, it reached 1600 per cent more than Internet users in 1991 (NUA quoted by Flew, 2004, p.15)). Additionally, the amount of non-Western content or non-English websites has also increased and thus, it questions the existence of cultural imperialism on the Internet in the future. (See examples of Arabic, Chinese and Japanese sites)
Meanwhile, with many foreign cultures on the Internet, some governments seem to have started online regulation or online censorship to ban undesirable web content such as pornography. It is believed that this action will be followed by other countries, especially Asian countries, to maintain their traditional values and culture (Kim, 1998). Hence, their culture will not be negatively effected or replaced by the foreign culture.
However, no one knows what will happen to the world’s culture as the Internet keeps on mixing culture and introducing new culture and technology. The world’s culture is now a hybrid, but its future remains a mystery.
In summary, based on the history of cultural imperialism and America’s invention of the Internet, the Internet is seen by some people as another tool of Western cultural imperialism. However, for others, this is seen as a challenge to maintain and promote non-English culture to the world through cyberspace. Issues such as cultural globalisation, American domination on the World Wide Web, and the Internet gatekeepers and advertisers are currently being debated regarding their roles to influence on the world’s culture. The future of cultural imperialism itself is being questioned due to the emergence of non-English websites and restriction to undesirable internet content.
See also:
Collings, A. (2001) Words of Fire: Independent Journalists Who Challenge Dictators, Druglords, and Other Enemies of a Free Press, New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-1605-9
Flew, T. (2004) New Media: An Introduction, Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195508599
Irvine, M. (1998) “Global Cyberculture Reconsidered: Cyberspace, Identity and the Global Informational City�, retrieved August 29, 2004, from http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/articles/globalculture.html
Kim, S. (1998) “Cultural Imperialism on the Internet,� The Edge: E-Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 1(4), retrieved August 7, 2004, from http://interculturalrelations.com/v1i4Fall1998/f98kim.htm
NUA Internet Survey (2002) "How Many Online?", retrieved March 27, 2003, from http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online
Poux, C. (2001) “Cultural Imperialism,� retrieved August 28, 2004, from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/Poux/Cultural%20Imperialism.html
Rifkin, J. (2001) The Age of Access: How the Shift from Ownerships to Access is Transforming Modern Life, London: Penguin Books. ISBN 014029547X (pbk.)
Stratton, J (2000) “Cyberspace and the Globalisation of Culture�, in D. Bell and B. M. Kennedy (eds.) The Cybercultures Reader, London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18378-2 (HB)
Tomlinson, J. (2000) “From Imperialism to Globalization�, in J. Beynon and D. Dunkerley (eds.) Globalization: The Reader, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92922-9 (pbk.).
University of Southern Mississippi (no year) “Cultural Imperialism,� retrieved, August 28, 2004, from http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~ychoi/culturalimp.html
Tifani Wiyanto 13:36, 8 Oct 2004 (EST)
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