Academic English Essay: Media Technology and the Global Village

This essay analyzes the role of media technology in shaping the "global village," evaluating its benefits and drawbacks for individuals and society. It defines media technology as encompassing technologies and methods that facilitate long-distance communication in real-time. The essay explores the concept of the global village, introduced by Marshall McLuhan, and examines how media technology has transformed communication, learning, and thinking, fostering interaction and cultural exchange. Benefits discussed include increased global literacy, improved healthcare, enhanced learning opportunities, and efficient routine management. However, the essay also addresses drawbacks such as social disconnection, increased costs, job losses, and the concentration of power in advanced nations. The conclusion emphasizes the double-edged nature of media technology, which connects people globally but also introduces vulnerabilities and challenges, with some nations struggling to fully adapt to these changes.

Academic English Skills Coursework 1: Source Report
Planning document * This document should be completed and brought to your tutorial
Name:
Alanoud Al-kubaisi
Class:
Group 12
Date:
17-4-2020
Essay title or question:
Title:
Analyse the role media technology has played in the shaping of the so-called “global village”.
Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of this phenomenon to individuals and society.
Topic
Media Technology
Focus
Role of media technology in shaping the global village, Benefits and
drawbacks
Instruction
Analyse, evaluate benefits and drawbacks of media technology to
individuals and society
Restriction
Individuals and society
Issues to be considered:

What is Media Technology?
Media technology alludes to technologies as well as methods as well
as methods that help humankind communicate over long distances
in instant time and space. Media technology has become all-
pervasive covering almost all aspects of our lives, whenever we are
in the world in an instant (Schroeder,2018). The media technology
has enable people to share “same media programs, desire for same
commodities and even interact with each other” lives shown via
media
while living over long distances apart and even in a different
continent. This has resulted in a village becoming global and global
becoming a village (Schroeder,2018).
In the early 1960s, the word "global village" was invented by
Canadian psychologist Marshall McLuhan, a public intellectual. He
saw technology that reduces the world's size to that of a village, with
knowledge flowing from one end to the other simultaneously.
McLuhan thought that interconnections at this stage were capable of
increasing human consciousness and of integrating both political
and social obligations (Golovine, 2014).
Role of Media Technology
The roles of information technology in moulding the globe into a
virtual village include communication, learning, and thinking.
Media technology has greatly influenced how individuals interact
and communicate with each other regularly, Media technology has
offer innovations to shape the globe.
Some claim the 21st century's global village encourages diversity,
which helps people to interact and exchange experiences around the
world. This is thought to promote imagination and innovation.
However, some also consider negative factors. This doesn't mean

that people want to have the ability to communicate. The internet
also offers a catalyst for tribalism or allegiance towards your own
social groups as it allows anonymous communication. Therefore,
someone manipulating the media and their advertisements would
profoundly impact on the global village's consequences.
In 1964, the media and communications theorist, Late Marshall
McLuhan coined the term "global village" to describe the global
culture trend, which is dwindling and emerging at the same time, as
a result of technical advancements that permit instant cultural
sharing. Nevertheless, it is controversial that all communities
worldwide should become one global village. On one side, people
assume that if cultural globalization persists, it would be a thriving
economy, serving countries with every economic opportunity and
supporting less fortunate countries in their humanitarian efforts. On
the other hand, the evolution of a global society is scared to create
conflicts among cultures, to fracture culture and to lead more
developing countries to cultural supremacy and to possibly hybrid
culture (Tremblay, 2012). A variety of settings may include the
notion of the Global Village: this expansion of knowledge is evident
through networking and interactions in every workplace, culture or
family. Across the world, there are many diverse cultures and forms
of life in a famous global centre (Golovine, 2014).
As a result of technological advancements, this planet is turned into
a global village. Several governments have developed the free-
market system and attracted foreign companies to invest in their
economies in the last three decades. Further globalization results in
these economies are still possible. All governments around the
world are making several attempts to lift business and trade
restrictions. Most have made waste options available to their
citizens across continents in goods, services and other sectors
(Levinson, 1999).
The global village is such a community where telecommunications
links the inhabitants to a common Society. In other words, Global

village offering contact and services to each other by use of
information and communication technologies, is a concept in which
all the world's people live as a single community. In other words,
the environment centered on IT is called the Global village. Efforts
have been made over the past century to put together various
nations. All of these attempts have been made to encourage people
on the Planet to unite in every area of their lives. The social,
political and economic facets of human life are included. The drive
for incorporation has proven fruitful. The planet has now been
regarded as a global village, where people's interactions in the planet
correlate to interaction in one village or place. Internet libraries,
social media, etc. are some classic examples of global village
concept (McLuhan, 1967).
Examples of Media Technology
The biggest predictions of McLuhan was a global village which,
through technology, would connect all people everywhere.
McLuhan's conception was based on the belief that after leaving
early ages of civilization, society should shift towards greater
personal experiences with the spoken and written language.
McLuhan believed that the world was entering the modern age,
where people could find the same knowledge and experience it
through technology. His work on technology developments and the
impact of human contact has helped him develop his theories about
the future and how technologies like the Internet to come.
Electronic mail, social media platform like Twitter and Facebook,
video con conferencing between others are technologies that have
continued to shape the global village. For example, in the healthcare
sector, media technology has helped to keep people safe and healthy
all over the world (Kumar,2017).
Benefits

Technology brings the world more and more together. The
students need global literacy to grow to live and work in a global
village. Global literacy has numerous conceptual overlaps,
including activism, global responsibility for citizenship and
cultural and language understanding. Furthermore, global
literacy encompasses a multiplicity of literacies and is focused
on the nature and event of community, culture, politics and
history. Through a global village, educators will use
technological power to engage students in authentic literacy
events and activities designed to encourage the awareness, skills
and provisions needed by students in the 21st century to
improve global literacy. Throughout the areas such as linking
the reader's and writers' culture, creating cultural
understanding through literature and folklore, communication
across time and space, and collaboration with partners around
the world to build global literacy are identified (Dwyer, 2016).
Such emerging technologies are speeding growth and also rising
education rates in many countries. McLuhan's global village
theory encourages people to understand different cultures and
foreign languages. Learning foreign languages helps a person
learn the basics. For instance, a machine that is manufactured
in America can be put to use in China, if people could only get
the knowledge of operating the same. It could help countries
advance and grow immensely. Moreover, learning from one
another could prove fulfilling for both the teacher and the
learner. McLuhan's world philosophy is a world-wide
community, and people have seen it develop through cultural
exchange.
People have also studied various cultures on the Internet and
since the world is McLuhan global village, businesses have
expanded and gained income.
Improvement of Healthcare
Through many applications on the phones and computer tablets,
individuals and the society can be able to keep watch on their

weight, heart rates, and other health-related issues with come having
doctors living in other continents but offering their services through
the media technology (Jin,2017).
Learning
Another important role of technology is learning. It has been made
people all over the world engage each other with learning materials
and discussions hence make learning more interactive. Individuals
can access online information and resources instantly. It has stepped
to expand class limit where classes sessions can be carried online at
easy. The society can also get learning information from other social
media platforms like international radios, televisions, YouTube and
Facebook (Westera,2015).
Routine Management
The media technology is beneficial to individuals on how they store
and manage their routine schedules using media gadgets like mobile
phones (Drahošová & Balco, 2018). Individuals are allow to use
media technology to do their banking online, buy good services
online and sell their goods and services online.
Communications and sharing of information
Through society connections, individuals can be in contact with
their loved ones around the globe daily helping to foster their
relationship even more. Using Electronic email, social platforms and
mobile phones, people are interconnected worldwide (Drahošová &
Balco, 2018). This helps save money and time to travel to see each
other. Advice sessions and other social media functions can be
carried online using the media technology at easy too.
The sharing information of information is also a great benefit of
media technology to individuals and society. Information is readily
available anywhere and anytime all over the world. News, views,
favourite programs, information, and education an be carried out
using media technology. It helps foster awareness and understanding

of different cultures, religions, lifestyle, economies, and ideologies
of different societies in the world. Another benefit it helps
individuals to be self employ. Individuals can create their visual
shop, do marketing of their products and services online and make
sales online. This can lead to increased profit and innovations in the
market.
Drawbacks
The digital revolution has not demolished urban spaces, but still
hasn't left them without any impact. Due to internet
implementation, the flow space and the connective tissue that
theorists from Cairncross to Negroponte were supposed to
destroy physical proximity has affected the cities. They are now
a hybrid space at the junction. All this has implications in the
digital environment: almost all modern behavior and
interactions produce data. Broadband optical and wireless
telecommunications networks enable increasingly affordable cell
phones, laptops and tablets. At the same time, open databases—
informal public-government cooperation—aggregate and reveal
all kinds of information. The resulting explosion of large-scale
urban data opens the doors for science, theory and action. In the
analog period, what can only be deduced from simple studies or
costly observational studies can be sensed now (Ratti & Claudel,
2016). This was not generally considered optimistic by
McLuhan. He knew that this partnership would exist, whether
or not we like it. So, while some people think it would be a
positive idea to learn more about each other, McLuhan
answered that there is no proof that people like each other the
closer they get.
Social Disconnections
Media technology has resulted in individuals becoming introverts
and emotional distancing. They become too busy with the virtual
world forgetting to create family and society bonds leading to

relationships breakdown (Drahošová & Balco, 2018).
Increased costs and Job loss
Moat of the media technology gadgets are expensive to purchase
and maintain especially to poor families. Finally, media and
technology has replaced the physical labour workface with
technology innovations like robots (Nwachukwn,2019).
Power in the hands of the Rich
Due to globalization of media technologies, the rich and advanced
countries have taken the hold of world politics and economy. The
core nations i.e. the countries that have the latest and well-
developed technologies are dominating whereas the countries in
transitional or peripheral (under-developed state) are struggling
barely to keep up the pace (Ashraf, 2011).Even if the remote
communities may theoretically gain access to the Internet, local
economy and infrastructure still impede the delivery of equipment,
power and internet services, which are equally dependent on digital
communication.
Conclusion
The technology has also encouraged McLuhan to call the digital
world a "global village" by its ability to automatically connect
people all over the globe, breaking down the physical constraints of
time and place. There have been positive as well as negative reviews
about the same. People think differently on this element. In one way
it has given immense power to the nations. They are now able to
develop and connect at a faster pace but at the same time, it has
made them vulnerable. In addition, some countries are not in a
position to fully adapt to these changes. However, the achievements
cannot be denied that are a result of the interaction with global
village.
With pros comes the cons, kids cannot safely roam the internet
without supervision; adults cannot browse the web without taking
the risk of identifying information, or are overwhelmed by texts,

advertisements and news items Some responded by restricting their
activity to web-based circles or by fully removing themselves from
the digital world. Therefore, it can be inferred that global village
like any other advancement has impacted people and the society
both negatively and positively. It is up to the individual to make use
of it in a way that is best suited.
List of sources:
References
Ashraf, A. (2011). Challenges of Media Globalization for developing Countries. Retrieved
19 April 2020, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259756853_CHALLENGES_OF_MEDI
A_GLOBALIZATION_FOR_DEVELOPING_COUNTRIES
Dwyer, B. (2016). Teaching and Learning in the Global Village: Connect, Create,
Collaborate, and Communicate. The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 131-136. doi:
10.1002/trtr.1500
Golovine, M. (2014). HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media. Retrieved 19 April 2020,
from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/global-village-where-cult_b_5035779
Levinson, P. (1999). Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium. Retrieved
19 April 2020, from
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/circuits/articles/
01libe-mclu.html
McLuhan, M., National Broadcasting Company., & McGraw-Hill Book Company. (1967).
This is Marshall McLuhan: The medium is the message. New York: NBC.
Ratti, C., & Claudel, M. (2016). Mass Media and the Global Village. Retrieved 19 April
2020, from http://blog.yalebooks.com/2016/11/17/mass-media-global-village/

Tremblay, G. (2012). From Marshall McLuhan to Harold Innis, or From the Global Village
to the World Empire. Canadian Journal Of Communication, 37(4). doi:
10.22230/cjc.2012v37n4a2662