Reading Response 3/22- Media in a Changing Global Culture

Although I do agree with the notion that the progression of media and technology has played a significant part in uniting various cultures, I don’t foresee the world becoming one homogeneous culture because of it. Media largely contributes in providing more open lines of communication to be able to exchange different thoughts, ideas and products worldwide, but it is presumptuous to think that this will result in complete cultural unification. The article Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World by Elizabeth Thoman and Jessa Tolls raises a good point that media has evolved so rapidly that it is no longer just a facet of our culture, but it actually IS our culture, however, although media has become ubiquitous in various cultures, not everyone has the same relationship with it. The article Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape by Henry Jenkins expands upon this observation; “as the rate of technological and cultural change accelerated, young people adopted cultural styles and values radically different and often fundamentally at odds with their parent’s generation. Recent research suggests that young people and adults live in fundamentally different media environments, using communications technologies in different ways and forming contradictory interpretations of their experience”.  As technology advances, there will at least always be a generational difference between the uses and relationships people have with technology and media. It is unlikely that all people stemming from different generations, cultures, and economic backgrounds will keep up with changing media platforms at the same rate and understanding. I believe that cultural diversity will still be very much alive in years to come, but different cultures will just have more in common with each other due to the advancement of media.