Media Use And The Young Students World-wide Tendency

The phenomenal growth of the Internet, together with the development of many digital communication innovations, leads to the formation of a global communication system in which messages and images are instantly transmitted from one corner of the world to another. Some people argue that the globalization of communication technologies causes identity crises among national citizens by forcing people to acknowledge the presence of very different "others." This notion of identity crisis has also been used to depict the teenage experience. Faced by the external influences of economic and technological globalization, as well as by the internal developmental challenges, today's global adolescents have to continuously adapt and renegotiate their identity.Cultural imperialism theorists hold that the one-sided information flows have jeopardized the autonomous cultural space of non-Western nations. Others, however, celebrate the democratic potential of the global communication network. However, both perspectives assume the belief, which still needs to be proved, that there is a direct relationship between global media use and audience orientation toward the outside world.This project helps our understanding of these issues by investigating how the media use among Shanghai young students is related to their orientation toward the outside world, or their "cosmopolitan orientation." In relating the cognitive distinction, values and behaviors of Shanghai youth to their media use, this study questions the concept that constant exposure to media inevitably fuels global culture. It also contributes to our understanding of how global communication technologies might be used to cultivate cosmopolitanism.