ipl-logo

The Influence Of Social Media On Culture

1140 Words5 Pages

Relatively speaking, social media is a fairly young invention. Facebook has only been around for thirteen years, and twitter for only eleven. When these sites first came about, I don’t think anyone could have imagined the kind of impact they would have on society. What started as way to share thoughts and pictures with friends and family, turned into something much greater. Facebook, twitter and other social media sites have opened up the doors to a new kind of culture, the participatory culture. Now more than ever, within a matter of seconds, people are able to share their thoughts with not only people they know, but people all across the globe. With social media, it has become easier to find and share information, and the “public sphere” …show more content…

He explains while free speech is a priority for Americans, it’s not a worldwide priority. The U.S does need to tread lightly though, when it comes to this area. We don’t want to make the citizens in these countries even worse off than they were before. I believe that social media has the power to make participatory culture the norm and more widely accepted, but that it will be a very slow process in nondemocratic countries. Democratic countries and countries with authoritarian regimes are fundamentally different, not only their government but the ideals and goals of its citizens. I think Westerners, specifically Americans, sometimes overlook this and believe that what is best for Americans is what is best for everyone. Social media clearly empowers many Americans, and it has enhanced our already strong democracy by allowing us to keep an ever closer watch on our government and discuss our grievances with our fellow Americans more easily. A great deal of information is right at our fingertips, and we don’t have to worry about being persecuted by the government for the opinions we decide to share. It is extremely important to remember that this is not a universal fact. The opportunity is there for participatory cultures to flourish in nondemocratic countries, but they need to want it badly enough that their government has no real option other than to allow it. I believe too much outside pressure will frighten and anger the regimes, and result in more oppressive outlooks on social media and other new communication tools. Hopefully, one day, these countries are able to use social media to build a participatory culture, because it is a great and useful

Open Document