Globalization 2.0: Social-Networking and the Transmission of Culture

Social Networking sites have become one of the most prolific forms of communication in the past few years. Billions of people across the globe are logging onto their Facebook accounts, checking the latest tweets, and staying in touch with the most recent RSS feeds. But what does all this mean in an anthropological sense? With information being shared to millions of people, the power of a tweet has never been more apparent or applicable to modern day society. And make no mistake, these sites and the internet as a whole have created a plethora of new cultural, sub-cultural, and in some cases “Second Lives” for people. This study focuses on the three most prolific sites, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Second Life, and their effects in terms of globalization and the ramifications of an increasingly web-based world.

Any account of social-networking sites would be incomplete without including Facebook, the one that, as most would agree, pushed social-networking onto the global stage. With over 350M registered members across the globe, Facebook is the most popular and prolific social -networking site, so prolific even that, as of recent developments, Facebook is now worth more than Microsoft (about $20 billion more)#. Facebook’s users span across the globe, from Albania to Tanzania; anybody who’s anybody is checking their status updates. Facebook has created its own culture in a sense, featuring a hierarchy (those with the most friends considered the highest in status), reciprocity and gift-giving (in the form of poking, “throwing sheep”# at one another, etc.), as well as entertainment (Mafiawars, Farmville, etc.)#. Nearly all aspects of ones life can be represented on Facebook, with dozens of categories, likes and dislikes, religious preferences, gender preferences, marital status, family connections, educational and professional backgrounds, and geographical proximity all being displayed for others to see. Those without Facebook are shown to be less socially “in the loop”#, and consequently miss out on events, messages, statuses, notes, and requests from other friends. In this sense, Facebook acts as a tool for social cohesion, allowing one to rekindle “dormant relationships”, and engage with current friendships at the click of a button. The internet itself is becoming more Facebook-centric as well, with hundreds of sites now offering users to “Log in with your Facebook account”, or “share this with your friends on Facebook.” In terms of globalization, Facebook is radically changing the way people see their world. Religious parties and dissenters set up forums and groups that challenge other cultural views.# Cultural taboos are examined and challenged (one poignant example being the “Draw Muhammed Day" as a prolific event that many users attended),# political debate and discussion is common as well. What all this means in a global sense is the practical trial-by-fire of one’s own beliefs and cultural values as they are mashed and mixed with the views of millions of others on Facebook. Facebook has a variety of sub-cultures as well, each with their own values and statuses associated with it, Farmville is intensely collective, with friends and family working on each others virtual farms and giving gifts of virtual houses and livestock to other players.# Reciprocity is central to Farmville, with web-based gifts and even labor being given in the hopes that others will do the same when one logs off. I myself have experienced a cultural backlash from failing to reciprocate in this sense, one disappointed message from my mother questioning my devotion to the virtual farm bringing the seemingly-trivial game to new cultural heights in terms of familial relationships. Farmville, more popular among older females in American society, is a way of catering to the cultural need for reciprocity in an extremely acquisitive and competitive society in which altruism and generosity are seldom found. Facebook, it seems, carries with it a variety of social obligations that are expected of one another through its universal application to physical reality. Mobile-networking leaves very few people finding themselves without access to their Facebook account and, as such, people expect that once something is on Facebook (events, private messages, chat, etc.) that everyone not only can, but indeed is obligated to respond and, at times reprimanded for failing to notice. In terms of globalization, Facebook has become a mecca for the general population, a stage for everyone to promote and share their ideas with millions of people across the globe. Social-networking is no longer a Western machination, but rather a universal tool (and at times, an obligation)# for diversification and cultural sharing.

LinkedIn, as some would call it, is “Facebook all-grown up”#, with the site catering to the professional and business world. Like Facebook, LinkedIn establishes “connections” with colleagues and former employers and is used to create references and referrals between business professionals.# LinkedIn now has over 100M users, with 56%# located outside the United States. There is no doubt that Western business practices have been the primary mitigating force in globalization, starting with colonization and exploitation of other cultures for the betterment of Western society, and now with the integration of hundreds of countries into the World Market. LinkedIn is the foremost social-networking tool for business, and as such, the primary player of globalization. With referrals and connections able to span throughout the globe, along with recent business practices of outsourcing and foreign labor, it is no question that LinkedIn will create a plethora of international associates seeking to further a formerly Western agenda. Users are encouraged to create a multi-lingual page#, in order to expand business horizons to the world market. As many businessmen will tell you, trust is the most important factor in a deal, and the factor that is often least-assured. With LinkedIn however, your network is all done through those that you know and know you, or referrals from those you trust. In this sense, LinkedIn spreads business-culture to all parts of the world, leading Westernized nations to a more interconnected and far-reaching web of business associates and opportunities. LinkedIn, perhaps, best represents social-networking as a tool for globalization in that the site is based upon that sole principle, the proliferation of Western capitalist culture and its goal of creating a unified global business market through international associations and references.

Perhaps the most poignant example of Internet sub-culture can be found in the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Second Life, the dynamics of which are as complex and interesting as any other physical-based culture. Second Life is the pinnacle in online escapism, with 21.3M#users deeply ingrained in the niche cultures and sub-cultures present only in a virtual world they call (with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the film-classic Tron) “the grid.”# With an emphasis on user-created content, Second life has its own economy, real-estate structure, social classes, currency, religions, marriage practices, gender-identities and systems of governance (i.e. the GM’s or game masters). Second Life serves as an outlet for those that wish to escape from the physical reality and, instead, construct a more desirable, customizable, and controllable virtual environment. Using the tools provided, users have created complex thematic worlds to role-play in, ranging anywhere from 18th century Victorian fantasy worlds, to futuristic, science-fiction-esque sky-scraper cities. User created real-estate can be bought and sold via the currency system in game (known as Linden Dollars#) and these dollars can translate into real world profit (current exchange rate is 1USD/L$270#). The virtual market, is run similar to the western market, with profitable business owners turning a profit for every Linden dollar they spend, as well as investors gaining a share of the profits in return. The currency system in Second Life is a very real tool for globalization, proliferating Western economic ideas of profitability and acquisitiveness throughout the world. Second Life imposes no limits on avatar customization, with some users choosing to forgo their biological limitations and creating characters that are of different genders, races, or even species as seen in the anthropomorphic creations made by users describing themselves as “Furries”#. Players can also engage in in-game marriages, with lavish ceremonies themed to the various “worlds” that make up Second Life. These marriages, although separate from real-world marriages, possess a very real commitment within the game, with in-game adultery carrying with it the same stigma as real-world adultery#. With such a diverse user-base present in Second Life society, very few taboos are seen in terms of sexuality, with homosexuality, prostitution, erotic dancing, and even pedophilia, bdsm, and bestiality all catered to and used by thousands of users.# The anonymity of users allows individuals of Second Life culture to move away from real-world laws and stigmas regarding such actions and play to their darker fantasies. Worldly religions also play a part in Second Life, with most of the major denominations# (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism) holding weekly services and even broadcasts to its virtual members. Second Life shows itself to be the most ambitious of the social-networking sites, creating within itself an entire cultural identity that users defend and proudly proclaim themselves as members of. A global platform for cultural diversity has never been more present than it has been in Second Life all the while adhering to generally accepted Western ideals of economy and profitability, making Second Life the most apparent and engaging tool of globalization in terms of social-networking sites.