IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON CULTURE

(Intercultural Communication)

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr. Narsingh Majhi

THE DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, SRI SRI

UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED BY:

PRIYANKA DAS,

FMS/MJC/2018-20/005

SECOND YEAR STUDENT, SRI SRI UNIVERSITY

Introduction
The Internet boom created a revolution, it brought the world in ones hands, super
brands became global and that meant more cultural exchange. In India, people
started flocking to Zaras and H&M’s and the Americans rushed to Italian and French
designer boutiques and Paris Fashion Week became the most talked about fashion
extravaganza by ever suspicious tabloids worldwide. It caused a global cultural
phenomenon and information was never so easy to access.

A lot was documented by earlier scholars about the impact of globalization on the
Indian society and culture. There is no doubt that youth and adult are the main
carrier of this process but children-as a passive agent has also been affected by this
Globalization has changed their lifestyle, food habits, dressing sense, recreation
medium, and consumer approach. This scenario is very common in urban and
suburban India.

The internet has been instrumental in bringing the world to ones fingertips. Greta
Thunberg, who became the most cheered for environmental activist became so
popular because of the amount of shares her video received on social media.
Famous movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio lauded her efforts and had even shared
her post on his social media feed.

Big brands and companies are leveraging this boom to further enhance their
marketing efforts, brand communication is stronger and more creative than it has
ever been with all brands creating customized branding content which specifically
reaches their target audience .Brands like Netflix, McDonalds, Burger King ,Spotify ,
Zara etc have been using social media to create a global framework of dedicated and
loyal customers. It starts from the west and slowly spreads to the east.

The world is one big playing field for big brands and the best efforts are made to
interlink culture and create one big “global Citizen” framework. Several brands have
tried and have succeeded in this conquest.

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Case
AN OVERVIEW ON NETFLIX’S INLUENCE ON GLOBAL CULTURE

Netflix appears to be on a mission to bring back the cultural conversation. However,

this time around our daily narrative will be determined by data. For example over
the holiday season of 2018, Bird Box became the movie that everyone was talking
about. But, if we take a look under the hood, are consumers being played, rather
than the film itself?

Everybody knows a Netflix user that is overwhelmed by choice and unable to choose
what to watch after 30 minutes of scrolling. The streaming platform tries to make it
easier for everyone by using their viewing data to suggest other titles of interest. The
result is that Netflix can now recommend something suitable to watch quicker than
we can ourselves with alarming accuracy.

However, let’s dig a little deeper. A closer look at the entire viewing data across the
platform will quickly reveal the most viewed actors, directors, and genres. Could
data be used to determine the next Netflix Original movie or show rather than
traditional content creation methods?

The battle to steal the cultural conversation and daily narrative that dominates our
social media newsfeeds and timelines is undoubtedly underway. As users and
members of the global online community, one should learn to question content and
the daily narrative that has been designed to manipulate ones thinking before
people hit the share button.

Netflix is currently present in 130 countries which is practically every country barring
a few like China where American organizations find it hard to enter amidst stringent
censorship laws. The growth has been exponential and to drive this growth forward

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Netflix has been investing billions of dollars in creating original content for regional
viewers and international audience alike.

With such an incredible reach Netflix has been able to reach out to global masses
with unique narratives. On August, 2015 Netflix released Narcos, a show depicting
the life and times of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, 80% of the dialogues
were in Spanish but that did not stop the show from becoming a global phenomenon
with conversations being raised on social media feeds around the world with people
praising the show and lauding the lead actors for their stellar performances. The
world engaged in a conversation about Pablo Escobar and his antics like “burning
cash in the chimney for his daughter when she felt cold” became famous worldwide.
Articles and newsletters were published in regional languages and podcasts
discussed theories and the plot in detail. Thrift shops around the world sold T-shirts
with famous quotes like “PLATA O PLOMO?” which translates to “Silver or lead?”
This was not the only such instance where a show blew up so much that it stirred
global conversation. The teenage phenomenon “Stranger Things” became the
favorite of children, teenagers and young adults alike with Season 4 of the show
being viewed by 64 million households in a year with 70% completing the show
within just a week. The Spanish show “Money Heist” also managed to beat
boundaries with it being the third most view show on Netflix globally. According to
Netflix, Spanish shows and teenage dramas are the most popular segments.

Netflix has even begun dubbing their shows in multiple languages to cater to an
audience in any geographical location. There has been a phenomenal cultural
exchange between countries and cultures with a lot of viewers trying to imitate the
lifestyle of their favorite western characters. These characters are often idolized and
are seen as inspirational for the audience consuming the content.

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Netflix has played an instrumental part in revolutionizing the way in which the
millennial and Gen z populations perceive common human traits like romance and
love.

Since teenagers are hooked to popular high school teenage dramas like “13 Reasons
Why” their perception towards school life changes to a noticeable extent says Shristi
Raghunath, a psychologist based in Bangalore, India.

“Aham Bhramasmi” became the most popular in India recently , how did this ancient
Hindu saying become the most used word within the youth became the big question ,
this phrase became the most popular and demanded in tattoo parlors around the
country. This phrase was made popular courtesy to the second season of the famous
Indian show “Sacred Games” where the antagonist uses this for not so holy reasons.
This sparked outrage within “conservative religious outfits” which offered the
narrative that “these western backed forces are keen in spoiling our youth”. Cases
were filed against Netlix and its creators and other shows like Ghoul, Leila faced

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similar outrage. A political debate on censorship and right-wing political agendas
sparked on social media and news outlets around the country.

But this did not stop Netflix from continuing their expansion into India, college
students in India quote their favorite Western shows lines and go to the extent of
organizing quizzes based on a global phenomenon like “Friends” to express their
admiration and loyalty towards these fictional characters and shows. It has stirred a
conversation on cultural stigma and integration of cultures with their western
counterparts.

Netflix has created global conversation and has expanded rapidly with a truly global
viewership. They possess the ability and power to influence culture across countries
and varied demographics. This power should be used responsibly while not limiting
the unlimited possibilities of artistic expression. One can look at the entire scenario
in two ways: Imposition of culture or integration of culture.

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Conclusion
Big brands like Netflix have changed the way that people consume content, people
are no more inclined to their television sets at prime time slots to watch their
favorite shows with tons of ads, and people can consume content at any point of
time as per their liking without interruptions and having to wait for the next episode.
But binge-watching can potentially cause numerous health hazards.

Big brands influence culture in numerous ways and world is becoming truly global.
For example, a brand like McDonalds has made Indians go beyond the traditional
aloo tikki by integrating it to their burgers.

Social media and the internet are globalization enablers and have managed to “give
the world” to potential consumers with the click of a button. This is the era of data
and information, an era where an initiative like ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was taken
up as a global cause and where Coldplay’s new album is streamed in 79 countries
simultaneously with the advent of services like Spotify.

As these big brands have the ability to influence culture at a large scale, they should
do it responsibly, but the big question lies here,

Should cultural exchange be IMPOSING OR INTEGRATING?

Should cultural integration be called Globalization?

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