Social Media and the Creation of Cyber Ghettoes
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At this point in time…
 Only a few media scholars argue that the world
is becoming culturally homogenous
- sense of pride in one's culture,
nationality and common
background with fellow citizens
 Internet and social media are proving that the
globalization of culture and ideas can move in
different directions, transcending prerogatives
 While Western culture remains powerful and
media production is still controlled by powerful
Western corporations,
The internet, particularly social media, is
challenging previous ideas about media and
globalization.
Social Media
Effects
 Enabled users to be consumers and producers of
information simultaneously.
Examples:
 The democratic potential of social media was most
evident in 2011 during the Arab Spring - a wave of
protests, uprisings, and unrest that spread across
Arabic-speaking countries in North Africa and the
Middle East.
 The women’s march against newly installed US
President Donald Trump began with a tweet from a
Hawaiian lawyer which sparked a global movement.
These movements were largely enabled by social
media. Digital citizens can be easily coerced by
numerous demands or petitions coming from other
people of manipulative intent.
 Commentators began referring to the emergence of
what is known as “splinternet” (a pun coined to
describe the Internet as it exists in each separate
nation providing its own separate version for users
of its country) and “cyberbalkanization” (describes
the process by which the censorship and the
application of filters on Internet content causes
fragmentation or subdivisions within).
Example:
 In the United States, voters of the Democratic Party
largely read liberal websites, and voters of the
Republican Party largely read conservative
websites. This segmentation has been exacerbated
by the nature of social media feeds, leading users to
minded friends.
As such, being on Facebook can resemble living in an
echo chamber, which reinforces one’s existing beliefs
and opinions, eventually making users more partisan
and close-minded.
On Information and Fake News
 The resulting herd mentality can be exploited by
politicians, as in the case of Russian dictator
Vladimir Putin where he hired armies of social
media “trolls” to manipulate public opinion through
intimidation and dissemination of fake news.
 Most recently, American intelligence agencies
established that Putin used trolls and online
misinformation to help Donald Trump win the
presidency—a tactic the Russian autocrat is likely to
repeat in Europe elections he seeks to influence.
 Critics of the increasingly dictatorial regime of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are
threatened by online mobs of pro-government
trolls, who hack accounts and threaten violence.
Some of their responses have included threats of
sexual violence against women.
As the preceding cases show, fake information can
spread easily on social media since they have few
content filters. News articles, even fake ones, can
spread easily like a wildfire from one side of the globe
to the other.
The dark side of social media shows that even a
seemingly open and democratic media may be co-
opted towards undemocratic means. Global online
propaganda will be the biggest threat to face as the
globalization of media deepens.
Point to Remember:
As consumers of media, users must remain vigilant and
learn how to distinguish fact from falsehood. Though
people must remain critical of mainstream media and
traditional media that may also operate based on
vested interest, we must also insist that some sources
are more credible than others. People must be able to
tell the difference.
Conclusion:
Different media have diverse effects on globalization
processes, as societies can never be completely
prepared for the rapid changes in the systems of
communication. Every technological change, after all,
creates multiple unintended consequences. Instead of
fearing these changes or entering a state of moral
panic, everyone must collectively discover ways of
dealing with them responsibly and ethically.

References:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/re
ference/arab-spring-cause/

https://whatisavpnconnection.blogspot.com/2013/12/s
plinternet-and-cyberbalkanisation-two.html