From Globalization To Glocalization-Macro Environment Analysis Of Internet As An Intercultural Communication Platform

As the hallmark of globalization, Internet has at early stage been hailed as a utopianfor effortless intercultural communication where national borders are no longerrelevant. However, judging from personal experience and observations on onlinecommunication activities, the author felt the need to examine the credibility of thisstatement. To what extent do we live in a globalized world in the sense of onlinecommunication? What is the status quo of Internet as an intercultural communicationplatform in China? To address these question, this thesis sets out explore the dynamicsof the Internet in contemporary Chinese society. To achieve this, the framework ofcultural form and four modalities of Internet regulation developed by LawrenceLessig are applied to analyze the way in which Internet and its related technologiesare socially shaped and culturally informed. The methodology applied is acombination of case study and survey. By applying the theory of cultural form, thehistorical development of Internet in China is reviewed, the social dynamics in theshaping process are analysis and the status quo of participation in online interculturalcommunication is identified through a survey conducted among the post-1980generation Internet users in China. Combining the aforementioned analyses, thefinding is that: As an intercultural communication platform, the Internet is regulated,bordered, and somehow isolated from the global Internet community, this is what theInternet in China looks like today. Glocalization, instead of globalization, is a betterword to describe Internet development in China.