Now we can start to see that there’s this universal shift in perspective that is caused by the easy access to information, knowledge, social values from other cultures, etc. While the example I give above will probably have polarized views in countries like Indonesia, in which people can get a rock thrown at them for either saying it a good or a bad change, there’s definitely a good change due to technology development such as social media. Let's take a look at exhibit B, the Black Lives Matter campaign has been one of the main focus of social issues in the United States for a while, and for a good reason. That country has a dark history with racism and slavery. What makes it worse is the fact that it’s still happening to this day and age. The African-American community in the US has been facing injustice and unfairness for decades just because of their skin color. They’ve been lynched, violently arrested, brutally beaten, and shot to death for something so trivial. Technology can now bring these dark aspects of their society to light. People around the world can see how terrible and wrong it is, show their support, and force a change for the better.
There will probably come a time where all of us have to make a choice between being a part of the Global Homogeneity, or to stick to our local culture values. Or, maybe it’s already happening without us even realizing.
From my experience, human in general has an innate desire for a connection. This connection doesn’t have to come in the form of real social contact. It can be as simple as having the same taste in food, fashion, music, movie, comedy, sports, etc. with another person online. It’s simple, yet at the same time can be profound. This is probably why there are many successful “Reaction Channels” on YouTube, even though when you think about it, their content is “only” about them reacting to something. So, why do a lot of people watch them? Why do I watch them? I can’t speak for everyone else, so I’m just going to say this based on my experience, but watching someone else watch what I like, and seeing them liking or enjoying it can be somewhat relieving. It’s nice to know that someone else likes something that I like. It’s reaffirming that we’re not alone in this world. However, there’s the other side of the coin. When someone, they could be a friend, a spouse, a celebrity, anyone, that we think we have a connection to makes a dramatic change in their life or the ideology that they believed in, it could also in turn affect us. Again, we desire a connection, and when we don’t want to lose that connection, sometimes we’ll make the same change in order to preserve that connection. That’s why it’s also important to have a strong sense of self, because not every change is good, and with the vast array of choices of social media and a wide range of “characters” that occupy them, we can easily get lost, quickly.
LIFESTYLE SHIFT
When it comes to the impact of technological advancements, this is probably the one aspect that’s been affected the most. Technology affects the way we communicate, learn, and think. Some of us could probably still probably remember how college students would occasionally write a letter to their parents to let them know how they’re doing in college, or to ask more money. I personally still remember how in my first year of middle school I used to write letters to my crush, along the embarrassment that comes with it. I also remember how since my third year, I’ve never written a single letter to anyone on a piece of paper anymore (except for school work) because I’ve got a mobile phone. However, one big change that I noticed as people shift towards mobile communication is that we socialize less and less by the day. Some studies have even shown that we’re negatively affected by mobile communication when it comes to being sociable and making face-to-face contact.
As technology keeps bringing more and more conveniences, we can see that we as a living being are moving less and less. In today’s world, some of us could live most of their live never having to go outside of the house. We can get almost anything online, from food, daily necessities, clothing, to electronics, etc. with a tap of our finger. This wouldn’t have been possible without the advancement of digital technology, especially the internet and its accompanying smartphone.
Another area is learning. It’s been forever since I hold and read a real physical book. I’m sure a lot of people are still reading conventional books, and those books do hold a certain value to them that can’t be found on e-books. However, as our technology is rapidly growing, so does our knowledge, and therefore the need to find, learn, and do things quickly. There’s simply an undeniable benefit to having the ability to learn things in the digital format, such as lookup. We don’t have to manually open a book and turn a page by page looking for something when we can simply type a keyword and let the computer does the turning and finding in a fraction of a second. We can quickly find a tutorial on YouTube on how to edit a photo without having to try and learn the function of every single button and menu on Adobe Photoshop.
That being said, there’s also the danger of people taking things that they learn, read, hear, or watch from the internet, out of context. Whether it’s intentional or not, it’s bound to happen. Some people are too lazy to read the whole article and instead they only read the headline. Some people don’t have the necessary knowledge to understand the information given to them, so they draw the wrong conclusion. Some people are too smart for their own good that they bend (read: manipulate) the information to fit their personal agenda. It’s part of the bargain, I guess.
Mobile technology can decrease direct communication and relations between people. We’ll often find that we don’t having enough time for ourselves because we feel like we’re always in contact with someone. There is also the risk of losing our privacy, because anyone can find us anywhere, at any time of the day. All of these things impact how humans act today. Without technological advancements, our way of life would not be as complex. Technological influences shape the way humans act today.
CULTURE CHANGE
Technology is a byproduct of culture, hence when there’s a dramatic change in technology, it could be used as an indicator that the culture is also in the process of changing, or vice versa. Perspective and lifestyle shift give way to a cultural change because culture is the way of life (lifestyle), general customs, social values, norms and beliefs (perspective) of a particular group of people at a particular time.
