Communication Issues Facing a Global Identity

2.1 Globalization, Technology, and Mass Media

2.2 Effects of the Internet on Communication
2.3The Transformation of Local and Global
Identities
2.4 Communication Pattern Changes
• Globalization is running wild today via the channel of
mass media; the mass media have greatly accelerated
the pace of globalization. The inventions of
information and communication technologies (ICTs)
have greatly accelerated the process of globalization in
recent decades; which are latest for the promotion of
socio-cultural, political and economic globalization
(Haruna, 2014).
 The Concept of Globalization
• The word ‘globalization’ derives from the term ‘globe’ which
according to the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged
Dictionary of the English Language (1996), means “anything
more or less spherical”, but “used specifically for ‘the planet
Earth’.
• Thus, to globalize is to form into a globe or unify into a single
spherical mass. In that wise, the concept of the global village or
globalization implies that the whole world should see itself as a
single society with a common destiny (Abioje, 2010).
• It can also be defined as “the network of connections of organizations and people
across national, geographic and cultural borders and boundaries” (Pearson, 2002).

• Anthony (1990) defines globalization as “the intensification of world-wide social

relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are
shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa”.

• Means the growing increase in interconnectedness and interdependences among

the world’s regions, nations, governments, business and institutions a process
which engenders free flow of ideas, people, goods, services and capital thereby
fostering integration of economies and societies.
Theories of Globalization

• 1. Global Society Approach

• Proponents of the Global Society Approach emphasize the extent to
which we all as citizens of the planet inhabit one society that has
common concerns and possibilities. The Global Society position
points to the increasing consciousness of the global that is said to exist
in everyday life. People's local lives are becoming more and more
affected by global phenomena (Sliverstone, 2000).
• According to this perspective the global media
industries play a key role in raising global awareness
and in the extent to which global phenomena are said
to impinge on everyday consciousness via media
products. Environmental issues such as global
warming might be an example of where the mass
media have raised public awareness of the local
implications of a global problem.
2. Global Culture Approach

• Those who take a Global Culture standpoint see an increasing

level of cultural homogenization taking place at a global
level. Members of culturally and politically diverse societies
participate in a global cultural experience never before
witnessed in human history.

• According to this perspective, an increasing amount of

homogenization or `sameness' in the cultural practices
evident in the early twenty-first century.
3. The World System Approach

• The World System position is not expressly

concerned with explaining globalization, it has
provided us with a model that divides the world
into core, semi-peripheral and peripheral
societies and economies that are exploited by the
capitalist system.
4. The Global Capitalism Approach

• The Global Capitalism approach argues that the

globalization of capitalism is at the heart of the
globalization process. Its key actors are
transnational corporations which in many
instances are more powerful in economic and
political terms than many of the countries they
exploit, in terms of labor, raw materials or
markets.
•Production takes place on the
global stage.
• Corporation can produce goods in a variety of places
around the world. For example, a car manufacturer
might make windshields in China and engine parts in
India, then assemble the finished item in the United
States. Companies can choose locations that hold
cheap resources and minimize the impact of import
and export tariffs.
 THE CONCEPT OF MASS MEDIA
• Media is the plural form of medium (a means or agency or instrument
through which communication or contact is made). According to
Kirby (1997), medium refers to a single source of information or
technique of passing information while media refers to more than one
source of information designated to reach out to many people- (a mass
audience).
• Nwoke (1997) viewed media, as channels through which messages,
information, ideas and knowledge are conveyed to people or
inculcated into learners. In a related note, Giddens (2004) defined
media as a wide variety of forms, including; television, newspapers,
films, magazines, advertisements, video games, CDs, satellite cables
and web or internet facilities that reach mass audience.
• Media can be define as the various means of mass
communication, including television, radio, film,
magazines and newspapers, together with the people
involved in their production. The role of the media is
to provide factual and reliable information including
the expression of ideas and opinions. But the
information so provided may also educates, entertains
or plays advocacy roles.
• It is very difficult to imagine the globalization process
without the existence of mass media. Media contribute
strongly to the globalization of society (art, culture, news,
commercials, consumer culture, tourism and so on).
Globalization and mass media are deeply intertwined.

• Many scholars have studied the link between

globalization and media and “most theorists agree that
there is practically no globalization without media and
communications” (Rantanen, 2005).
Terry Flew (2007) argues that media have a central place in
globalization due to three reasons:

• 1. media corporations have increasingly globalized their operations.

• 2. the global communication infrastructure facilitates global information flows.

• 3. global media play a key role in how we view events across the world in

developing shared systems of meaning. This aspect of global media culture has

been the main focus of media theorists.

 The Roar of the Internet
• Take a moment and think about how technology influences
your communication with your friends, loved ones, and
acquaintances.
• How much of your interaction time is face to face?
• How much of your interaction time is via a gadget?
• Could you go a week without technology?
• How has your use of the Internet shaped you, your
communication styles, and your identity?
 A. The Lens of Television: Identity
Imitation
• 1.The Lens of Television: Identity Imitation
• Television is an identity supplier, provided escape from
traditional-based cultural values, and forgets sense of
communal belonging.
• Children across the globe watch international programs
based on the United States and values of pop culture and
consumerism.
• B. Global Television Impact
• Shapes the way we see our world, influences how we
form our stereotypes of people in different
cultures/ethnic groups.
• C. Be Hip, Be Hot, and Pop Culture
Impact
• Pop culture supporters see the world as constantly
changing, interdependent.
• Opponents view pop culture as negative because it can
damage culture boundaries.
• D. Outsourced Beats: You Are What You Can Dance
To
• Through music, common identity expression and
connection with others.

• E. You Are What You Wear: Pop Culture as Fashion

 Communication Pattern Changes
• A. Gadget Communication Patterns: Fast and Furious

• Gadgets have transformed the way we communicate with each other.

• Mobile phone was game-changer, main distracter from face-to-face
conversation; average users spend 209, minutes/day on phone.
• Mobile phones change conversation in public areas: we stay on our
phones.
• B. Sharing Intimate Partners with a Gadget
• Our relationship may be affected.
• Japanese males find it difficult to have face-to-face
communication.
• C. Language Styles: Text, Tweet, Talk
• We use truncated language and emoticons to replace long
sentences.
• For example, on a chat site: SITCOM (Single Income, Two
Children, Oppressive Mortgage)
• D. Communicating to be Social Change Agents
• Social networking allows for active engagement and involvement.
• Social networking expands our intercultural relationships.

• E. Present but Virtual

• One of fastest growing trends in business is virtual teams and
meetings.
Parting Thoughts…
• Make technology work for you, not the other
way around.

• --Leeva Chung