Tifani Wiyanto
29 October 2004
Student number: 4846567
Email to: t.wiyanto@student.qut.edu.au
Probably, it is now difficult for people to measure the authenticity of most of the countries’ cultures throughout the world. Beynon and Dunkerley (2000, p.23) argue that “no culture anywhere exists in a ‘pure’, pristine state: all cultures have changed over time and continue to change.� An example is youth culture which illustrates how various foreign cultures or information appear to have influenced their identities to some extent.
== Globalisation ==
This buzzword seems to have been analysed and debated by many scholars for many years. [See anti-globalisation movement]. Globalisation is well-described as ‘increased possibilities for action between and among people in situations where latitudinal and longitudinal location seems immaterial to the social activity in hand’ (Scheuerman, 2002).
Beside print and broadcast media [See digital TV and digital radio], a tool which perhaps has a significant role to facilitate globalisation is the Internet – the world of unlimited information technology. Cairncross (quoted by Flew, 2004, p. 27) states, “The development of the Internet has particularly promoted globalisation and the ‘death of distance’.� Without time and distance barriers, the rise of Information Communication Technology (ICT) enables offline activities to be done in cyberspace, such as electronic commerce, electronic business [See eBay and Amazon], and also electronic political activities [See online voting].
== Cultural Globalisation and the Internet ==
Drawing from the notion of globalisation, it is believed that the Internet has mostly affected the cultural element of globalisation. John Hartley describes global culture that is included in cultural globalisation as
On the internet, the increasing movement of cultural traffic virtually [See virtual communities] demonstrates how cultural globalisation has been facilitated. However, for some people, the Internet promotes the globalisation of particular cultures, particularly American (Stratton, 2001, p. 726). For others, with no one having absolute power to regulate the Internet this tool has become a symbol of democracy and freedom of speech (McMahon, no year).
Top Five Internet Users in the World
| | Country | | | Population | | | Internet Users | | | % World users | | | |
| | America | | | 293,271,500 | | | 202,452,190 | | | 25.3% | | | |
| | China | | | 1,288,307,100 | | | 87,000,000 | | | 10.9% | | | |
| | Japan | | | 127,307,100 | | | 66,548,060 | | | 8.3% | | | |
| | Germany | | | 82,633,200 | | | 47,182,668 | | | 5.9% | | | |
| | United Kingdom | | | 59,595,900 | | | 34,874,492 | | | 4.4% | | |
(Source: Internet World Stats, 2004)
Most popular search
| | No. | | | Australia | | | Japan | | | China | | | |
| | 1 | | | Australian Idol | | | map | | | (A student from Zhejiang) | | | |
| | 2 | | | Jennifer Hawkins | | | Weather | | | (National Teacher’s day) | | | |
| | 3 | | | Virgin Blue | | | Typhoon information | | | (Popular local game) | | | |
| | 4 | | | The OC | | | Mayumi Ono | | | (Popular Chinese TV series) | | | |
| | 5 | | | AFL | | | Yuko Ogara | | | (China’s first male Olympic track and field gold medallist) | | |
(Source: Google, 2004)
From these two figures, it can be seen that although the United States and English language are dominating the Internet, Asian countries such as China and Japan are not too far behind. With the increasing growth of the number of internet users, China’s online population is estimated to outnumber America’s within 15 years (Cullen and Choy, 1999).
Another fact is shown in second figure which indicates that local people are still more interested in local products or local content than foreign products [See Google 2004 most popular queries]. In addition, “25% of Internet users in 2003 were conducting local searches [and]…Local search spending is estimated to grow to $824 million in 2008 (annual growth rate: 15%)� (Jupiter Research, quoted by Krol, 2004). To summary, these data demonstrate that although the Internet is still dominated by American people, the number of Asian online users may keep on increasing and in fact, local search seems to be more popular than “American products� which may challenge American domination to diminish in the future.
== References ==
Beynon, J. and Dunkerley, D. (eds.) (2000) Globalization: The Reader, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92922-9
Cairncross, F. (1998) The Death of Distance, London: Orion Business Book.
Flew, T. (2004) New Media: An Introduction, Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-550859-9
Google (2004) “Google Zeitgeist - Search patterns, trends, and surprises according to Google,� retrieved October 29, 2004, from www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
Hartley, J. (2001) Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: the Key Concepts, London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26889-3
Internet World Stats (2004) "Top Ten Internet User," retrieved October 15, 2004, from www.internetworldstats.com
Krol, C. (2004) "Is Local Search Really the 'Next Big Thing'?," B to B, vol. 89, no. 4, retrieved October 16, 2004, from Proquest Online Database
McMahon, M. (no year) "China's Internet: A Technology of Freedom?," retrieved October 15, 2004, from www.users.bigpond.com/matt_mcmahon/china.htm
Scheuerman, W. (2002) “Globalization,� retrieved October 11, 2004, from www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/globalization/
Stratton, J. (2000) "Cyberspace and the Globalization of Culture", in D. Bell and B. M. Kennedy (eds.) The Cyberculture Reader, London: Routledge, pp. 721-731. ISBN 0-415-18378-2
Cullen, R. and Choy, P. D. W (1999) "The Internet in China," retrieved October 28, 2004, from www2.austlii.edu.au
== Other Topics on Cultural Imperialism and the Internet ==
The Internet Gatekeepers
The Internet Gatekeepers - China
American Domination on the Internet
Online Advertising
== Related Links ==
Tifani Wiyanto 08:15, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)
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