When technology and culture clash
Technology has increased the success of international business ventures and educational opportunities with the widespread use of video conferencing, e-mail and instant messaging. Professors can chat online with their students about an assignment from 8,000 miles away and hold video conference lectures with students from around the world. Although technology has created new methods for communication, the introduction of social networks and online opportunities has clashed with various cultures.
Expanding technology globally
International corporations offering products or services understand that their marketing strategy has to change from country to country. Not every country legally allows free speech, public displays of affection or organized protests. Historians likely recall the peaceful 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing, China, that resulted in thousands of deaths at the hands of the Chinese military.
Although some countries would rather avoid an influx of new technology or products that could threaten their culture, other countries are even more liberal than the United States. For example, the Netherlands is very liberal on controversial issues such as euthanasia, abortion, drug use and gay marriage, yet you still cannot use nudity in advertising.
In terms of adopting technology, according to Andy Hines (2008), Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland are rapidly expanding their Internet broadband penetration and Singapore has become a global trading and communications hub.
With the worldwide sales of cell phones, laptops and tablet devices, people around the globe are exposed to a continuous flow of free information. In response, religious and government leaders have begun blocking Internet-based content deemed threatening to their culture.
Stretching First Amendment rights
As an American-based company, Facebook™ offers a social network for members to exercise their First Amendment rights and post opinions about politics, work environments and world issues. The company does not allow hate groups or pornography, but with thousands of new groups and member pages created daily, monitoring activity can be a challenge. When controversial material is created and posted on Facebook, a person, group of people or even a country might become offended.
For example, Indianexpress.com reported in February 2010 that Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras, the former head of the fatwa commission at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University in Egypt, issued a fatwa (religion-based opinion) against Facebook. His reasoning was based on opinion that Facebook breaks Islamic Sharia law because spouses could make friends with others on Facebook. In his fatwa he insinuated that the introduction of Facebook could be related to an increase in marital fidelity and divorce rates.
Two years before this fatwa, Syria and Iran banned Facebook and Syria also banned Blogger™. Due to Facebook groups encouraging independence and democracy, China banned the site, along with other social networking sites such as Twitter® and YouTube℠. Recently, due to groups and Facebook pages viewed as anti-Muslim, Pakistan and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh banned the website.
As Facebook, Twitter and blogging members continue exercising their rights for free speech, other countries may continue to place temporary or permanent bans on social networking websites or pages within the sites that threaten their cultural beliefs. However, researchers like Andy Hines have conducted studies that conclude most cultures will remain virtually unchanged with increased technology. According to Hines (2008), “People are quite capable of taking the aspects of global culture they like, ignoring the rest, and holding tight to what they love about their native cultures.”
Ultimately, anyone can locate a blogging subject, Facebook page or Twitter post they find personally offensive. Social networking can be compared to the millions of pages of literature found in libraries. Some books and journals are viewed educational by some, and risqué and controversial by people from religious groups or other cultures. For now, Facebook, Twitter and blogging sites originated in America continue exercising their First Amendment rights and leave the choice of reading and participating in questionable groups up to their member base.
References
Hines, A. (2008, September/October). Global trends in culture, infrastructure and values. The Futurist, 42(5), 18+.
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