Global culture is changing drastically, and with the help of media, the pace will forever increase. In today’s day in age, you can find a McDonald’s and Starbucks around the corner regardless to where you live. In the BBC article Does globalization mean we will become one culture? Mark Pagel mentions  ” Select any global brand from Coca Cola to Facebook and the chances are you will see or feel their presence in most countries around the world.” Before, people would simply start businesses in their hometowns and never really hear about anything else unless they decided to travel. Today, we can’t watch a video without seeing an advertisement for the latest breakfast special in a Mcdonald’s or hearing about a new pair of sneakers available in five different countries.

As you scroll through your Facebook page, you’ll come across friend request from people whom you’ve never met before that live in another country. You’ll also meet young adults and children who will never remember life prior to the internet. Many people today have grown up with the technology we have now and actually make many friends over the internet. It has brought many people together electronically but it has made them alone in person. They don’t want to communicate in person because they can text and message their friends. We can even learn about other places directly from people who live there. Henry Jenkins in his article Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape wrote “Media content flows fluidly across national borders; people deploy the new communication networks to interact with others around the world. The global scale of this new media landscape changes the way we think about ourselves and our place in the world.” You’ll also meet young adults and children who will never remember life prior to the internet.

In Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World, Elizabeth Thoman and Tessa Jolls explained “Most of all, bringing media culture into the learning environment — from kindergarten to graduate school — guarantees a high level of engagement by students. And engagement, as every teacher knows, is the key to learning success.— To ignore the media-rich environment they bring with them to school is to shortchange them for life.” Basically, they are saying that this exchange of information is beneficial for students because it strengthens their ability to learn about many different topics in a short amount of time.

Media has become more inclusive (and arguably more intrusive) than ever before. People everywhere are fed hundreds of thousands of messages and information on a daily basis due to our ever expanding world wide web. We can’t seem to get away from the information stream. In Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World the communication theorist David Berlo is quoted saying “For the first time in human history, two related propositions are true. One, it no longer is possible to store within the human brain all of the information that a human needs; we can no longer rely on ourselves as a memory bank. Second, it no longer is necessary to store within the human brain all of the information that humans need; we are obsolete as a memory bank…Education needs to be geared toward the handling of data rather than the accumulation of data.” In other words, our current media driven culture has led the human memory to appear insufficient for living standards today. We have become reliant on technology to capture all of our valuable information in a more effective way than our brains ever could. People no longer need to remember phone numbers, addresses, travel routes, or when their next meeting is; this can all be controlled with technology and in today’s culture, it is expected.

In the article Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape, the author discusses how media has effected our culture even further. Large companies feel the need to control the stream of content being presented to technology users at a global scale in an effort to optimize their financial gain. The author stated “As Henry Jenkins (2006) argues in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, convergence is being shaped top-down by the decisions being made by massive media conglomerates who have controlling interest across all possible media systems and who enjoy the power to insure that their content circulates globally. It is in their economic interest to move any successful media content from one delivery system to another in order to maximize profit and broaden market potential.” The things we see online are not accidents, they are deliberate attempts to get us to spend our hard earned money and business owners are aware of this. They wish to take advantage of the audience the internet provides.

Lastly, the BBC has an article titled Does globalization mean we will become one culture? where they discuss the premise of how we as individual cultures will adapt to an increasingly collective world. In other words, online media is bringing cultures together from across oceans. It is technically possible for all of our cultures converge to a point of singularity. The author discusses our “capacity for culture” and concludes that if any creatures on this planet can come together in a singular culture at some point, it would be us, human beings.

We, the people, learned about the media industry today that now it has spread globalization around the world because of the knowledge we are sharing and it’s never been so easier to give others information. But what does this mean for the world of technology? Well, if we want to know how does globalization became an important part of the media world then I suggest we should start discussing the future of it.

Globalization in media is the icing on the cake because of human communication when people get involved in making their knowledge more efficient and accurate, providing them with information to collect so they could create a piece of mind for themselves. In the article entitled, Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World, Elizabeth Thoman stated that “Today, information about the world around us comes to us not only by words on a piece of paper but more and more through the powerful images and sounds of our multi-media culture.” This quote makes a very convincing point that humans could use communication through different types of sources including social media to interact with each other to create adequate conversions to ensure their communication skills are more informative.

But how can globalization be the main reason why the media is changing the way we know about the real world? I could give you one reason why it is changing and it is because of Henry Jenkins who stated in his article, Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape about being innovative that “We are the midst of a period of prolonged and profound technological change. New media are created, dispersed, adopted, adapted, and absorbed into the culture at dramatic rates. It is certainly possible to identify previous “revolutions” in communication.” This quote proved that we should give in the new media so we could test our knowledge of the world around us.

Not only we were given the knowledge of our society but it gives us our opinion about the events that happen throughout the world just to share more information with other people. For example, recently, in Christchurch, New Zealand, 50 Muslims were killed and dozens were injured during two mass shootings in two mosques, the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre by an Australian and a White Supremacist who believed that Muslims should not be in the world. This broke my heart to see the hatred they have because of where they lived and their race, but the media gives us our thoughts about the events that happen whether they’re good or bad.

In the closing statement, we now know that globalization in media is a very important step to spread information across the world and sharing it with others because we could learn these things so we could create an innovative and accurate society where communication and knowledge are a mix for the benefit of the real world today.

Media has allowed people all around the world to come together like we’ve never seen before. Starting with Sex and the City, the world saw something that we didn’t know would become the future. People in Asia were trying to act like the stars from Sex and the City because they thought that’s what Americans did. Media has a lot of positives, but with positives comes some negatives. Although it can bring people together and share cultures without ever having to visit another country, it brings up a valid question: how is this shaping the world for the future? To have a melting pot of the thousands of cultures there are in the world and boil it down to one culture, is that beneficial in anyway? How does this impact learning in several different cultures?  Elizabeth Thoman and Tessa Jolls bring up the point that literacy isn’t what it used to be- now one must have literacy in media. They note that those who grew up with screens think of media as a part of daily life, not just something beyond them. They see it as a way of connecting with the rest of the world. With media globalization, what you see in one country is what another person in a country all the way across the globe from you is seeing too. Educating everyone on media is important because it’s where our world is headed. I remember growing up with toys, and at an early age learning to type in middle school so I could be fluent in keyboard. We would be timed, and we would have to make different sentences given to us. It helped my writing a lot, now I can type quickly without having to look at the keyboard and others can say the same thing for themselves. It’s easier when children learn from an early age how to use technology because that means they’ll have little difficulty in the future- which in turn means making media globalization easier.

Media has made globalization easier than ever. People are able to interact with people from all over the world . Whether it is sharing memes or replying to comments under a viral post or just to talk, media makes it possible. With the click of a button, a person could be connected to a person from across the world. Media allows everyone to understand another culture. For example, if there is a comment under a famous person’s post in a foreign language, a person is able to copy and paste the comment and get a translation for it instantly. In this day and age it is almost impossible to escape media. Growing up, I transitioned from knowing toys to knowing electronics and many kids today consider their game consoles and devices as their toys. I strongly agree with media education. Media is more than just Instagram or Twitter. There is so much more media can do for children. Media can connect them to online tutors to help them with a homework question using live chats, there are people around the world who answer homework question like yahoo answers, there are quizlets that they can create or use someone else’s study guide to help them prepare for exams. The Media helps the youth of today and will continue to benefit society. The article “Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World” states  “Today, information about the world around us comes to us not only by words on a piece of paper but more and more through the powerful images and sounds of our multi-media culture.” Media makes it possible to see and hear other cultures. Youtube or Facebook could show videos of a sacred ritual from a specific culture or show a music video from their type of music. I have seen viral dance videos of children in Ghana dancing their culture’s dance known as the Azonto dance that many Americans have learned and also dance. It is a great way to expose and educate people on cultures and remove stereotypes labeled on a specific culture. I do not believe that globalization will turn us into one giant, homogeneous world culture because every culture has traditions that get passed down for ages. I do believe that some cultures will create new traditions based off of the influence of other cultures as it has been happening.

Media plays an ever present role in the everyday lives of modern people. While in the past it may have been possible to avoid some of media’s influence, that is simply not an option in the world we live in. Even people who do not have direct access to a wide range of the advanced technology that is used to spread media are still indirectly affected by media’s use.

One of the most notable ways that media is having an affect on our lives was illustrated in the article” Media Literacy: A national priority in a changing world” The article emphasizes the need for educators to expose their students to a variety of media. What I found most interesting was the idea that education is starting (or atleast should) start to become more focused on how to process, analyze and evaluate data, as opposed to previous goals of mostly retaining data. I think this is important to stress in academic settings and will only increase in importance in the coming years. Mostly all students have access to things like google, youtube, calculators,.. etc. The students that will have a competitive edge will be those who can derive information from those sources and use them efficiently for problem solving and innovative pursuits. In my opinion,  we would be wise to recognize the value in teaching students to seek out and engage with information rather than just to know it. One of the best parts of modern media is that it can be used to encourage creativity, intellectual curiosity, and critical thinking.

The downside to an increased importance of media was expressed in the Jenkins article in his discussion of the inequities that arise through lack of access to certain technology. Suppose you had no smartphone or regular access to a computer or laptop. Tasks that are designed for people to use the internet with would now become a burden to you. It is easy to take for granted how much is afforded to us because we live in a first world country and in a city where we can just go to a library and use a computer for free, however that is not a reality for everyone.

Another major downside of media platforms is the ability to spread hatred, criminality, and even terrorism with relative ease. We enjoy uploading images and videos to sites instantly. The tragedy that just occurred at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand is an instance where the shooter livestreams his act of terrorism and this video has circulated  causing more fear and devastation.

In my opinion, globalization in media is something that constantly adapts and shapes us into having full knowledge worldwide. Because of this going on, the media being made can be universal as places all around the world can share a bunch of knowledge. Many people may ask,  “will globalization just turn us into just one culture” and i don’t think that is the case. Even though we are innovative, the new technology brings different uses. We slowly get taken to see its own in a surprise to increase harmony. “So, to my mind, there is little doubt that the next century is going to be a time of great uncertainty and upheaval as resources, money and space become ever more scarce.  It is going to be a bumpy road with many setbacks and conflicts. But if there was ever a species that could tackle these challenges it is our own. It might be surprising, but our genes, in the form of our capacity for culture, have created in us a machine capable of greater cooperation, inventiveness and common good than any other on Earth. And of course it means you can always find a cappuccino just the way you like it no matter where we wake up.” (article 2).In today’s time, the media now is used for experimentation which broadens the diversity of aesthetic responses. As said in article 1, “At the same time, we can now take our media with us wherever we go. We are still coming to grips with the full implications of this latest shift in media access. Once again, this technology can be used to cut us off from our environment and isolate us from people around us — the iPod is advertised as allowing us to create a soundtrack for our lives. In heighten our awareness of the world around us. As Mizuko Ito has described, we can use these technologies to maintain ongoing contact with the people in our lives who matter to us the most. And as Howard Rheingold has suggested, we can use these technologies to mobilize quickly in response to urgent demands on our attention.”some cases, the availability of these media adds a sense of tentativeness to our real world interactions which can now be interrupted at any time by demands from elsewhere”. In conclusion, media literacy is something evolving everyday with new information being shared globally, and to take the right steps, it needs to be maintained prioritized.

“Information about the world around us comes to us not only by words on a piece of paper but more and more through the powerful images and sounds of our multi-media culture,” states the article “Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World. This is true because in today’s society, we always know what’s happening across the globe as  a result of being able to see the world through our televisions, phones, or laptop screens. We are given endless knowledge about the policies, tragedies, and almost every other aspect that relates to the numerous cultures across the world while we sit and watch behind a screen. It is even stated in “Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape.” that as a result of globalization, the expanded communication will bring about greater understanding. This is powerful because we have access to connecting with anyone from around the world to come together and possibly create change in a mutual struggle. We are able to talk to people from other countries and relate our problems with theirs to better understand why their country or culture is the way that it is. This spreads open communication, but can also cause ignorance because some people only see and hear what they want. Also, we should not rely solely on media to control our viewpoints on specific cultures because obviously the media isn’t going to paint all cultures in a positive light. For example, in recent times, Muslims as a whole are being labeled as terrorists because of the numerous tragedies involving terrorism across the world. The media and especially Donald Trump are painting Muslims out to be dangerous people who shouldn’t be trusted to even travel on planes without people fearing that they are terrorists and will possibly blow up something or participate in a mass shooting. Using media to learn about the rest of the world is vita;, but we should never allow it to take over our minds and determine for us what we ultimately think about a culture or a country as a whole, we should make those judgements on our own terms. However this is difficult to achieve because as the article “Media Literacy: A National Priority for a Changing World” states, media no longer just shape our culture…they ARE our culture. Media creates the culture because we are constantly flooded by messages from different sources that not only broadcasts products, but moods and attitudes, and what they view as being important versus what is not important. Most of the time we find ourselves saying something along the lines of “Oh, I believe this is correct because I saw it on the news or social media” or using a specific example and returning to the discussion of Muslims, “All Muslims have to be terrorists because whenever I watch the news, they are the main ones blowing up places and killing people.” Those are just simple examples of the ridiculous things we say and believe in because the media brainwashes us to do so.

The issue of the smart home technology marketing and convincing consumers into integrating these services into their daily lives; as the newest convenience that they should or must have as a way to lock in the huge target market by tech companies, creating more of a problem upon them versus a new level of comfort which they may have believed would lighten some of the burdens of their everyday tasks. In many instances, it manifests into confusion and danger zones they are not prepared for, leading to several levels of dysfunction they did not sign up for intentionally now becomes an invasion.

These unwanted invasions have also been put forth for Law enforcement and  other agencies as an obstacle as well; they are faced with a new battle on top of commonly dealt with issues and now must remedy the abuses, with limited options of trying to control some people use as a act of domination their victims.

Erica Olsen, the Director of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to end domestic violence, claims “people have started to raise their hands in training’s and ask what to do about this, Olsen says: she was wary of discussing the misuse of emerging technologies because,”we don’t want to introduce the idea to the world, but now that it’s become so prevalent, the cat’s out of the bag”. This now forces people in similar or same positions like Erica Olsen to adventure a different path, they normally wouldn’t yet journey at that stage. Taking firm grasp of the matter may not be easy to confront based on some underlying issues. Some of the biggest tech companies and device makers are in denial over reports from users experiencing any abusive situations arising from usages of services or products. The tech companies simplified solutions suggest pressing reset buttons, which is no solution to problems for victims or the extensions of others helping them deal with matters arising from usages in technology and devices controlled by others toward their victims. Emotional damages are left unresolved.

Victims calling into Domestic Abuse Hotlines elaborate concerns over being monitored and controlled, they have no answers over remedy in taking back leverage on their own lives. Legal resources are in debate over what is legally or really considered an invasion of the terms of ; No-Contact-Orders, and harassment’s by others using technology against their victims, Some opinions suggest that the act by another of simply turning on lights or a T.V by technology from another location to the victim either may or may not be considered a true or serious enough act to be taken into judicial consideration to resolve problems. the system is reluctant to write the technology terms of abuse into existing legal documents which are served to protect such victims and make the language clear to perpetrators. Where or when does the insanity  end or will it get much worst?.

“Media no longer just shape our culture…they ARE our culture.” Media changed how we communicate, market, and grow. We grow up attached to technology. The media has created so many careers to maintain it all around the world. Due to the fact that we are all connected or have a relationship with the media of some sort, we are the ones changing our own culture. Our generation is very innovative and quick to adopt new innovations.

While my brother and I grew up in the same household but he had and still has a different childhood from what I had. I grew up asking for toys, he grew up asking for consoles and games. I didn’t know our lives would be so different growing up a few years apart. While there are beneficial things to having new innovations in media, there are also disadvantages.

Culture is what we grow up on so sharing ideas on the internet and growing up on it can possibly change it. Depending on the parents one grows up with we are capable of becoming one culture. Kids are all growing up with the same technology and ways of thinking. Change is happening so often, we tend to lose track of what is coming next. Different forms of media are being discovered each day so we can only imagine what is to come in the next few years. We make it easier each day to produce new content and new ways to share them.