week 1 - Global Media Platforms
15:16
Sunday 6th October
Media acts as the largest podium for
cultural, social and marketing platforms within civilisation and has increasingly
changed over the past decades; with greater and faster developments changing
the way in which we, as a multination, come together. It should be highlighted that
with the medias technological advances, it has brought about this conception of
globalisation, a relatively new term. The media has allowed us to interconnect and
communicate with anyone from across the globe with it being the social norm. The
coupling together of media and globalisation generate this ongoing progression that
has, and will continue, to span worldwide – so this week I wanted to consider a
few of the contextual explanations behind global media, such as
the mix of multiculturalism and the rise in digital media platforms.
For me, the upswing in multiculturalism
(a range of ethnic, religious and cultural groups within one society) is one of
the key beneficial factors towards globalisation and global media. The immigration
of various cultures had previously brought about many questions and curiosities,
all of which now can be answered as well as understood because of global media.
An indication that global media is causing multiculturalism to change into a
solitary, unified identity was brought about by media scholars Machin and
Leeuwen within ‘Theories of Globalisation’. They use the expression ‘homogeneity’
to describe the foreseeable idea that quite rapidly, we will not be culturally
diverse but instead, share and distribute pieces of traditional cultures into everyday
living. With the instant broadcastings of any genre of news report (general,
fashion, entertainment, politics) being accessed within a matter of seconds,
their concept is quite evident. It did however bring about the discussion of a loss of national identity - is this a positive or a negative aspect to Globalisation? By growing up in this 'digital, multicultural age' I believe it to be the beginning of something positive, which older generations may dispute, due to their most likely selective traditional upbringing.
It is apparent that with the heightening of global media, it not only westernises other cultures (wide scale showcasing of American sitcoms across the world, as well as Hollywood celebrity culture and film being a worldwide phenomenon) but also brings other cultures customs into a western society. I for example noticed the media coverage of the controversial issue faced upon Marc Jacobs during New York Fashion Week, where he used dreadlocks, a hairstyle associated with black culture, on white models. Social media platforms such as Snapchat give us access into the lives of not only celebrities, but more likely the ‘everyday person’, with Snapchat celebrating diversity with its highlighted ‘Stories’ that focus on a specific anniversary or holiday not only from your region, but from the worldwide demographic.
This brings me onto the rise of the 'digital age'; with the advancement in technological growth helping Globalisation to advance even further. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as previously stated, allow anyone to access any part of the digital world, and because of live video streaming and mobile apps such as ‘Facetime’, a conversation between two people across the world is now instantaneous and easily achieved. Smart phones have become the social norm which allow access to the internet, Google (the world’s largest search engine) and all the social media appliances, meaning that accessibility to the world sits simply in anyone's pocket.
It is apparent that with the heightening of global media, it not only westernises other cultures (wide scale showcasing of American sitcoms across the world, as well as Hollywood celebrity culture and film being a worldwide phenomenon) but also brings other cultures customs into a western society. I for example noticed the media coverage of the controversial issue faced upon Marc Jacobs during New York Fashion Week, where he used dreadlocks, a hairstyle associated with black culture, on white models. Social media platforms such as Snapchat give us access into the lives of not only celebrities, but more likely the ‘everyday person’, with Snapchat celebrating diversity with its highlighted ‘Stories’ that focus on a specific anniversary or holiday not only from your region, but from the worldwide demographic.
This brings me onto the rise of the 'digital age'; with the advancement in technological growth helping Globalisation to advance even further. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as previously stated, allow anyone to access any part of the digital world, and because of live video streaming and mobile apps such as ‘Facetime’, a conversation between two people across the world is now instantaneous and easily achieved. Smart phones have become the social norm which allow access to the internet, Google (the world’s largest search engine) and all the social media appliances, meaning that accessibility to the world sits simply in anyone's pocket.
Being able to connect from all over
the world has also brought about the idea of cross-media, which within social
media aims to connect everyone and ultimately achieve the same result through
interconnection. Media firms such as ‘Netflix’ use the same ‘shell’ (to stream
TV shows, movies and documentaries to their audience) but what changes is the
content, depending on what country it is being streamed in. For example,
Netflix there would be a huge difference between the British and Indian Netflix
in terms its TV programmes. It is evident that globalisation is a more than positive aspect within a growing technological age, with many benefits to societies and the globe as a whole.
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