My culture is not something that can easily be defined, because, like most people, I belong to many cultural groups. Some people call me a self-indulgent and materialistic American, where as some call me a caring and environmentally friendly hippie. Some people view me as a lazy, indecisive college student, where as some view me as a fun, laid-back, open minded person. I have difficulty identifying myself with a certain culture, because I have so many different views of myself, the world, and the definition of the word culture. One of the many cultures I belong to, is digital culture, which I would like to share about.
Growing up in the era of computers, cell phones, and other digital gadgets has shaped me into a technologically inclined person. Most people within about 20 years of my age who have grown up with availability to these digital gadgets, are also part of this culture. My definition of digital culture is: the people who use digital gadgets on a daily basis, and whose lives would be radically different if they did not have access to these gadgets. This year, about twenty five percent of the world population uses the internet, this is approximately a 362 percent increase from the year 2000 (2009. Miniwatts Marketing Group). The digital culture has expanded extremely fast, and is now one of the largest cultures in the world. These days it’s not just the people we know as ‘computer nerds’ that are of this culture. Now most normal middle class and upper class people from many different countries and backgrounds are apart of this culture.
Every single one of my friends has a computer and a phone at home and the large majority of people here in Oregon access to computers and phones. Having digital gadgets so accessible has made a huge impact on peoples lifestyles. People of the digital culture have near instant access to information that previously would be difficult to obtain. People of Digital culture also can entertain them selfs with digital games and music, and can easily communicate with people that are very far away.
In the United States, Universities, high schools, and even middle schools, expect their students to be capable of typing and using computers proficiently. The digital culture contains people in a wide variety races, professions, and life styles, all who are dependent upon their digital gadgets. Many people not only rely their gadgets for school or work, but also for recreation. Television and computer games are very commonly used, many researchers believe that they are used too much. There are even some cults associated with certain digital games and television series, such as the game World of War Craft, and the television series Lost. People who do not go along with digital culture trends, such as joining the online social networking group Facebook, often feel ostracized from their social groups.
The average American adult spends 8.5 hours in front of a screen and spend over an hour watching television advertisements and promotions every day (2009. Settler). It is astounding how much technology we have accessible to us! I personally can’t imagine life without it, because I have not gone a day without using some form of technology sense I can remember. It is almost impossible to escape technology in any town or city, or even in the wilderness of an industrialized nation. People can do so many great things with modern day technology, but technology has it’s down sides as well. Millions of people in my culture have experienced health problems because of excessive use of digital gadgets.
It has been proven by a large number of scientific studies that staring at a screen for too long can cause health problems. Watching a screens for long amounts of time has been proven to cause increased blood pressure in children and in adults, worsened eye sight, depression, and many other issues. Too much technology is without a doubt is bad for human health. (2009. Science Daily., 2009. Kioskea)
There are many good things and bad things about being apart of the digital culture, but most people seem to think that the good outweigh the bad, because more and more people are becoming apart of it. Through out the years, it has become expected a huge number of people to become apart of digital culture. Digital culture is changing environments all over the globe and in not too long will make an impact on almost every life on our planet.
Miniwatts Marketing Group. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
2009. Setlter, B. The Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/media/27adco.html
2009. Kioskea. http://en.kioskea.net/actualites/tv-and-video-games-increase-teen-depression-risk-study-11942-actualite.php3
2009. Science Daily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090803173127.htm
