Digital Media and Globalisation

• Globalisation

  The compression of time and distance, leading to increased interdependence of societies.
• Digital communication 


  electronic equipment passes on information
• Social media


  develops social networks with global reach
• global village 


  time and distance decreased, increases social relationships
• virtual communities 


  online communities where similar people can connect
• digital revolution

  advances in technology, changes in the way information is is stored and communicated
• networked global society 


  social interconnection via new media
• state regulation 


  global response from governments about the control of media
• Glocalisation 


  something that combines both local and global processes
• Economic globalisation 


  cheaper prices so more money can be spent elsewhere, competition between companies
• Cultural globalisation 


  increase in similarities causes a loss of cultural variety
• Wiseman’s factors affecting the definition of globalisation 


  • assumes it is a stable and positive process

  • assumes it leads to individualism

  •social division causes a loss of local culture
• Thomson - economic globalisation 


  rapid intensification of international trade, distinct economies have dissolved into a global economy
• issues with TNCs - economic globalisation 


  • destabilisation of currencies

  • abuse of power
• evaluation of economic globalisation 


  PROS -

  • cheaper prices for services

  • better access to commodities

  CONS -

  • some struggle to compete

  •opportunity for smuggling
• Political globalisation 


  • access to international aid

  • working together
• New media

  trends that have emerged over the past 30 years:

  • the evolution of existing media, analog to digital

  •the emergence of new technologies, cheap ways to communicate (eg. texting)
• Digital media features 


  • based on digital technology

  • varied media types in one system

  • demand led, no confinement of TV schedules
• the role of media - shape vs reflect 


  shape - the media set the news issues for public attention

  reflect - more sympathetic, attitude changed after harmful images were displayed on the front cover of news
• influences of media contents 


  • owners control companies

  • media institutions to maintain public image

  • laws

  • social factors/inequalities
• Boyle (2007) - media influences

  media companies create personalised media experience, interactive (can select what they want to watch)
• Robertson (1995)


  refers to ‘glocalisation’ as the intertwining of global and local networks.
• Media categories

  1. extension of existing forms of media
  2. new media through new platforms
• The global village

  • lacks the need for face to face communication
  • increases people’s ability to maintain social relationships
• Virtual communities 


  online groups of people who share interests
• Carter (2005) - Cybercity

  • study over 3 years in a virtual community
  • use of participant observation, questionnaires, and semi structured interviews
  • found that people who form online relationships continue them offline
• Boellstroff (2008)- Second Life

  virtual world, eg. build homes

  • found that crimes occur in the game, eg. sexual assault
  • moral regulation questioned
  • hard to police
• Media convergence 


  the way different information can be delivered in one format, eg. all apps in one iPhone

  • access information about facebook friend from instagram

  Boyle - digitalisation allows media convergence, can be individualistic.
• Big data 


  Large data sets analysed digitally and non-digitally to reveal pattern.

  • In past, information stored on paper.
  • Now, information is able to be collected in large amounts.
• Features of big data

  • volume
  • velocity
  • variety
  • variability
  • complexity
• Collins (2005) - chains of interaction


  to understand society the chains of interaction between people must be understood by looking closely at how individuals construct their identity, you can learn how people see the world around them
• Hart (2011) 


  individuals today are re-writing their autobiographies daily
• Macro conflict

  large scale, eg. war
• Micro conflict

  small scale personal differences in values and expectations, eg. workplace strikes
• Huntington (1998)

  globalisation has led to more conflict due to the visible power divide, growing hatred towards the West due to global dominance
• Wiseman (1998)

  the term globalisation can be misused and misunderstood ands needs careful consideration
• Cornford and Robins (1999)

  capitalism uses digital media to profit and control the masses
• Case (2007)

  technology is so embedded in everyday life that we are all becoming cyborgs

  • cons - all published information remains forever
• Cochrane and Pain (2000)

  Globalisation defined as "the emergence of a global and economic cultural system which is incorporating the people of the world into a single global society"
• Castells (2000) - The Network Society

  impact of digital communications, we are moving from an industrial age into an age defined by information

  • due to technological evolution
  • important for economic productivity
  • allows for the decentralisation of control, increasing the effectiveness of technology