The spread of global communications technology, such as the Internet, Essay

The spread of global communications technology, such as the Internet, has lead to a worrying trend of Westernization in countri - Essay Example The countries, which this growth of the internet has largely influenced, have also experienced an immense degree of westernization in several aspects, especially in culture, politics, and business. These influences however, have been stealthy in their arrival. The people of the countries influenced need to compare their lives with how they were in the past to realize how much of western culture has now become a part of their lives. The most dominant influence is perhaps the influence that has set in on the daily lives and culture of these countries. This includes several aspects of the culture, such as the food, fashion, language and ethics of these countries, each of which now have a ‘modern’ western touch to them, no matter which country the culture belongs to (Abdullah, pp. 22, 2007). While countries and regions are usually famous for their traditional dishes, which people have passed down from generation to generation over decades, some of the most popular foods in t hese countries happen to be fast food, which is prepared in western style. In other words, the food items, which are most common in the west, such as burgers and fried chicken, are now famous throughout the world, both under multinational brand names and local brands. To pin this effect down to the internet entirely may be unfair, as some of these multinational brands were able to penetrate the borders to these countries before the internet was developed to such an extent (Munck and Fagan, pp. 20, 2009). It is however, due to the internet, plus other forms of global communication like internationally televised media, that this sort of food is now amongst the most popular food items across the country. The advertisement that these brands receive through the internet is an effective source of popularity for these multinationals who sell western food to several countries around the globe. Examples of such multinationals, like McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken, both of which are bran ds who have seen immense growth in their international sales ever since this advertisement picked up speed. Not only does this advertisement make consumers in each country eager to try this food, but it also encourages the local suppliers in these countries to produce the same food as competition for these multinationals. These local brands are often a success because they are able to produce food of similar quality but at cheaper prices. This leads to additional promotion of these western foods due to the internet. The media also helps promote these foods as it not only shows commercials for these products, but shows characters on different television shows consuming these foods as a part of their daily lives. This is a significant reason why these western foods gain popularity so fast and become part of the pop culture in several different countries (Mooij and Mooij, pp. 12, 2010). In a similar manner, other aspects of culture like clothing, language, and music have also leaked fr om the US to other countries. They receive promotion on the internet as well as through popular American television shows, which the US televises internationally. In addition, experts have proven a link in between watching satellite television and developing a materialistic mind (Abdullah, pp. 22, 2007). There is a lot of implicit advertisement of brands through these shows. Other than this advertisement that different brands do, there also the simple effect of young impressionable people seeing certain clothes or hearing a