Culture erosion is all about a people’s culture getting washed away and forgotten while a new culture is being picked up and practiced by that group of people (Glassner 2005). To a large extent through time, the world realizes that some practices that are distinct to a group of people are dropped as time goes by and it is realized that, that same group of people gets to practice activities that they get exposed to.
To a large extent it can be said that the media has got a very big role that it plays in culture erosion, as a people get more exposed to the media, they get exposed to new lifestyles that are practiced elsewhere, they then get influenced by these new practices and in no time, a new culture will have been picked up and life will continue. This will result to the dropping of one’s culture and a new culture will have taken over.
Globalization is the main offspring of culture change and this is usually seen in the adoption of new cultures that are taken up the world over, the life styles of people through out the world have changed drastically due to adoption of new cultures. The ideas of acculturation are driving the world today because nothing in this evolving world will not stand and avoid change.
Media, has got a great role that it has played in this, it is seen as a means of bringing the wide world together and therefore contributing to propelling new ideas and advancements the world over, for instance through media, a common music is propelled through out the world, hip hop music for example is attributed to some form of lifestyle, this as has basically played a role in the lives of young people who listen to this form of music. Transformation then will be seen taking place through this music and this brings in a culture that can be taken up around the world.
Globalization through the media can be seen as a great influence on the psychological functioning of different individuals, this is solely seen through the issues of identity that engulf different individuals (Glassner 2005).
The degree of a peoples open mindedness determines their psychological potentiality to change, this can practically be seen in the adolescents who are open to adventure and exploration and thus, their position guarantees that once exposed to other lifestyles and ideas outside their cultures then they easily take up what they come across.
They have a strong attachment to the media and therefore whatever the media feeds them, and if they appear to agree to it, then, that will have been a lifestyle picked and embedded into their lives and this will automatically influence their lives in the years they will live. Thus their role in globalization is evidently significant.
The global culture among the youth is increasingly on the rise (Ott 1989). Most of the blame is directed to the west where most of the influence comes from, the dwindling cultures of other places of the world, especially in the Muslim world is attribute to western cultures where the youth are seen to be copying what they re seeing happen in the west.
Most youths the world over have got access to the internet and modern technologies which aid exchange of material in the shortest time, especially with the internet. Moral decadence is seen to have been greatly propelled by the media and internet whereby for instance sexually provoking material is available and can be reached in microseconds (Ott 1989).
Premarital sex and early pregnancies are on an alarming increase as traditional set ups as sexual education is seen to be out dated, more especially in Africa where sex education was given during initiation. Unlike in the past young women are getting career oriented ignoring the traditional position spelled out for them as house keepers and thus gender roles are seen to be changing on an alarming rate whereby everyone is seeking to be economically independent.
There then arises the war of supremacy as both genders who seek to be independent (Kramsch 2008), this in conservative cultures is seen to be breaking family set ups especially in Africa and Asia. families are also broken as family members especially from rural areas move to urban areas to seek for employment, these kind of lifestyles can be greatly attributed to the west and they are getting adopted by the rest of the world more especially the third world regions.
Identity confusion creeps in when adapting to changes becomes difficult, when the new cultures seem to be too much to take in and adapt, and their own cultures seem to be foreign to their current positions thus not fitting anywhere (Kramsch 2008). This eventually leads to denial of an individual or a society and eventually leading to long term psychological problems that will finally affect their off springs leading to a society being left behind culturally
Foreign cultural influences and the media in the long run dictate the society’s life styles (Kramsch 2008), these are the determinants of globalization and there after making the world a common global village where its inhabitants have a common culture and way of living.
Of course there will be loss of identity, but the media propels an identity that can be taken up by the current generation and the generations to come. In as much there are the negative effects of media in terms of cultural transformations, if focus is put on its benefit to the generations to come, then loss of cultures will not be an issue to be given much attention (Ott 1989).
Therefore a culture, be it western or even indigenous African, Asian etc cultures, if looked at in a positive way, then there will be no problem as to which culture is superior than the other, and that change is inevitable, they are subject to change and acceptance by the peoples of the world. The media is therefore considered to be having a great influence on culture transformation (Glassner 2005).
References
Glassner, B. 2005. The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things: Crime, Drugs, Minorities, Teen Moms, Killer Kids, Mutant Microbes, Plane Crashes, Road Rage, & So Much More. New York. Basic Books
Kramsch, C. 2008. Language and Culture. Oxford. Oxford University Press
Ott, S. 1989. The Organizational Culture Perspective. Pacific Grove, CA, Cole Publishing Company