From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline

Media and Communication

article

Marco Bastos¹ 

[1] School of Information and Communication Studies, University College Dublin

关键词: context collapse;    disinformation;    geography;    global village;    internet studies;    polarization;   

DOI  :  10.17645/mac.v9i3.3930

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Cogitatio Press

【 摘 要 】

In this article we trace the development of two narratives describing social media that informed much of internet schol‐arship. One draws from McLuhan’s axiom positing that communication networks would bring forth a ‘global village,’ adeliberate contradiction in terms to foreground the seamless integration of villages into a global community. Social mediawould shrink the world and reshape it into a village by moving information instantaneously from any location at any time.By leveraging network technology, it would further increase the density of connections within and across social commu‐nities, thereby integrating geographic and cultural areas into a village stretching across the globe. The second narrativecomprises a set of metaphors equally inspired by geography but emphasizing instead identity and tribalism as opposedto integration and cooperation. Both narratives are spatially inspired and foreground real‐world consequences, either bysupporting cooperation or by ripping apart the fabric of society. They nonetheless offer opposing accounts of commu‐nication networks: the first is centered on communication and collaboration, and the second highlights polarization anddivision. The article traces the theoretical and technological developments driving these competing narratives and arguesthat a digitally enabled global society may in fact reinforce intergroup boundaries and outgroup stereotyping typical ofgeographically situated communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY