The Nature of Equality as it Relates to the New Internet Culture
Human equality in the context of social and political institutions inhuman society is characterized to be more conservative and rigid whencompared in the context of Internet culture and society. This claim is anillustration of how Internet as a new communication medium becomes aninfluential and pervasive tool wherein globalization is developed not onlyin Internet communities, but in human societies as well. The concept of globalization in the Internet culture is an adaptationof Marshall McLuhan's famous "global village," a concept he formed when heobserved that the development of new media innovations such as thetelevision, radio, telephone, and computers show an increase in the
This becomes possible through theInternet, where information and simultaneous interaction with other people(through Internet Relay Chat or e-mail correspondence) becomes possible. information and interaction among people in variouslocations in the world. Bringing equality into the social and political institutions of thehuman society will become possible after an individual has become"globalized" and at the same time "localized," meaning, educated throughinformation obtained in the Internet. However, a more recent version of McLuhan's "global village" conceptis the emergence of two important movements in the Internet culture: theemergence of both the globalization and localization processes amongvarious people in the world, specifically the Internet users. Becoming aware of other cultures and societieshelp people becomes understanding and more receptive to differences inrace, religion, nationality, or social and political beliefs. The end result of pluralism is that it helps people to become 'one' withthe world, where differences is no longer considered a barrier, but abridge to reconcile each person's differences from the other. One example is when an American, whose orientation is influenced byWestern ideas, may have a changing perspective about the Eastern societies,for example, in Asia, after being acquainted with the beliefs and culturessurrounding these Eastern societies. How do globalization and localization of societies and culturescontribute to the development of equality in human society via the Internetculture' These concepts show how the Internet further intensifies equalityby breaking the barriers that demarcate those peoples that have differentnationalities and cultures. Inglobalization, people from all over the globe become acquainted with thecultures of different societies, while localization gave way to theemergence of local cultures to become known not only to outsiders of thatsociety, but to members of that society as well. As institutions in the society,social and political groups must also welcome the people's sentiments aboutequality through pluralism, where the society understands, although doesnot assimilate or involve itself, with another society different from it. These two movements showhow Internet culture educates people about the cultures and kind ofsocieties existing and available all over the world. Awareness of other cultures and societies are reinforced throughInternet access to information about local and foreign cultures of theworld.
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