Internet and democracy

This week’s readings are interesting. Barger & Barney (2013) described in an ideal way how media and citizens can make contributions to creating a democratic society. The point that I take issue with is that “…, the world can be divided into two very different types of cultural systems” (p, 191). Cultures are dynamic. There are, I believe, more than just two very different types of cultural systems in the world today. There are also subsystems under main systems. Cultural systems complex. Some cultures are big while others are not.  And cultures keep changing all the time. China is a telling example. Thanks to the policy of reforming and opening-up, I feel that a lot of ideas have been changed. Now Chinese culture has been infused with western ideas and opinions that would be seen as inappropriate several decades ago. Older generations in China felt that things changed now. Young people like me sometimes can feel that we are not able to keep up with the pace. If we are taking the cultural system identified in this article, China would fall into neither of the type. It is based on this personal understanding that I doubt this article. Types of cultural system are more complex than what has been described in this article, which I think can complicate the roles and responsibilities media and citizens play and have to building a democratic society. Mats Ekström (2008) wrote about a research conducted in Sweden on media and democracy. Surprisingly, main conclusions he had from the research also reflected what perceptions about media in China.  Sweden and China are so different in almost every aspect of society. Sweden are more developed than China. Cultures in these two countries are so different. You can refer to article “Cultural Gap between China and Sweden” to see the cultural differences in business context. And I resonated when Mats Ekström wrote about Internet as a contested terrain for political activities. I have the feeling that Internet and social media have become an important agent for people to spread information and gather support today, especially people rising from grassroots. Internet and social media involve more people. President Barack Obama also took advantage of social media in his elections. (Please refer to article “How Obama won social media battle in 2012 presidential campaign” to get more detailed information). I believe this is gonna to be a trend in politics. An increasing number of politicians may follow him, and more citizens would feel engaged.