From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline
In this article we trace the development of two narratives describing social media that informed much of internet scholarship. One draws from McLuhan’s axiom positing that communication networks would bring forth a ‘global village,’ a deliberate contradiction in terms to foreground the seamless inte...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Media and Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3930 |
| _version_ | 1818001088741113856 |
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| author | Marco Bastos |
| author_facet | Marco Bastos |
| author_sort | Marco Bastos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article we trace the development of two narratives describing social media that informed much of internet scholarship. One draws from McLuhan’s axiom positing that communication networks would bring forth a ‘global village,’ a deliberate contradiction in terms to foreground the seamless integration of villages into a global community. Social media would 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 communities, thereby integrating geographic and cultural areas into a village stretching across the globe. The second narrative comprises a set of metaphors equally inspired by geography but emphasizing instead identity and tribalism as opposed to integration and cooperation. Both narratives are spatially inspired and foreground real-world consequences, either by supporting cooperation or by ripping apart the fabric of society. They nonetheless offer opposing accounts of communication networks: the first is centered on communication and collaboration, and the second highlights polarization and division. The article traces the theoretical and technological developments driving these competing narratives and argues that a digitally enabled global society may in fact reinforce intergroup boundaries and outgroup stereotyping typical of geographically situated communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:30:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85d63bf466c94eafaa91e0f5c9b55c46 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:30:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-85d63bf466c94eafaa91e0f5c9b55c462022-12-22T02:15:00ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392021-07-0193162410.17645/mac.v9i3.39302044From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest TimelineMarco Bastos0School of Information and Communication Studies, University College Dublin, IrelandIn this article we trace the development of two narratives describing social media that informed much of internet scholarship. One draws from McLuhan’s axiom positing that communication networks would bring forth a ‘global village,’ a deliberate contradiction in terms to foreground the seamless integration of villages into a global community. Social media would 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 communities, thereby integrating geographic and cultural areas into a village stretching across the globe. The second narrative comprises a set of metaphors equally inspired by geography but emphasizing instead identity and tribalism as opposed to integration and cooperation. Both narratives are spatially inspired and foreground real-world consequences, either by supporting cooperation or by ripping apart the fabric of society. They nonetheless offer opposing accounts of communication networks: the first is centered on communication and collaboration, and the second highlights polarization and division. The article traces the theoretical and technological developments driving these competing narratives and argues that a digitally enabled global society may in fact reinforce intergroup boundaries and outgroup stereotyping typical of geographically situated communities.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3930context collapsedisinformationgeographyglobal villageinternet studiespolarization |
| spellingShingle | Marco Bastos From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline Media and Communication context collapse disinformation geography global village internet studies polarization |
| title | From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline |
| title_full | From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline |
| title_fullStr | From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline |
| title_short | From Global Village to Identity Tribes: Context Collapse and the Darkest Timeline |
| title_sort | from global village to identity tribes context collapse and the darkest timeline |
| topic | context collapse disinformation geography global village internet studies polarization |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3930 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcobastos fromglobalvillagetoidentitytribescontextcollapseandthedarkesttimeline |