Social Media & Globalization

Through William Mazzarella’s article “Culture, Globalization, Mediation,” he demonstrates a particular interest in the media of radio, video, and the Internet. These forms of media intrigue him because they are “social technologies” (2007:353) and can be influenced by individuals rather than originating from one source. Of radio, he says it is “intimate and amenable to disguise,” (Mazzarella 2007:359), which allows it to be used anonymously. The Internet allows the use of usernames and thus is a domain in which the same anonymity is possible. Even when formal media content is posted on online newspapers’ websites, it is often possible for anonymous commentators to contribute their thoughts and reactions. Video is also mentioned because like the others, it “offers opportunities to address very specialized audiences,” (Mazzarella 2007:358) and it plays a significant role in contemporary interactive media. Not everyone can sit down and watch the evening news, but many still find the time to browse YouTube. Because media can be social, individuals can respond to one another’s ideas and create a discussion forum in which people can reflect on their own cultures as well as those of others.

            Globalization impacts our understanding of other cultures (and of our own) in that it significantly reduces the idea of the foreign. Rather than mystifying people of other cultures, media involves what Mazzarella (2007:357) refers to as a dual relation – mediation includes both “self-distancing” and “self-recognition”. Media seem to reduce the ever-troubling concept of the “other” and instead show us what is happening in other parts of the world and make similarities between cultures clearer. Mazzarella (2007:354) calls this “cultural proximity” and discusses how mediation increases our self-awareness in addition to our awareness of other cultures. The author notes that we understand media through “notions such as harmonization and the resolution of differences, often through the intervention of an apparently neutral third term,” (Mazzarella 2007:356), which is important in that it means media ideally cannot be swayed in one direction or another by a certain bias. Also, because media such as the Internet allow for feedback, mass media is more easily held to these standards of neutrality.

            One example of globalization’s effects on processes of mediation is in the massive popularity of anime and manga in North America. This is similar to the example Mazzarella (2007:354) uses, “the Japanese TV series Oshin does well in Iran, of all places,” because of the similarities in the cultural codes of the two countries in that both value perseverance and long suffering. Even though, on the surface, one might not find much in common between the two countries and cultures, media has allowed their similarities to show. One cannot walk into a Chapters bookstore or turn on the television without being confronted by some sort of animated comic or show imported from Japan. These television shows are dubbed into English and become just as relatable for a child (or adult, for that matter, particularly in the case of certain printed manga) as a locally or nationally produced show.