Globalisation and Facebook
To what extent does Martell’s concept of globalisation apply to Facebook?
Facebook has undergone through multiple globalisation processes that have been particular identifiable over the recent decades. Facebook has reached over 800 million users worldwide since 2004 (Fowler 2010), and since then, many forms of corporate investment, multinational advertisement companies, and the endorsement of international political deregulation has shaped and expanded what was first a national based phenomenon to an international/global trend (Sassen 2007). The internet and particularly Facebook contribute to the way users interact with distant relatives and close friends; everyone knows what each other is doing across the world with a click of a button. With global trends shaping how we interlink with the structures of society, Facebook has been seen to have embedded its self within those structures as a consumerist hotspot. Its functions not only serve for a social purpose, but the social openness of its users, allows for global advertisement companies to pervade our computer screens which are regulated in the interest of the political economy, global market enterprise, and multinational capital (Cohen 2008). Facebook has therefore, had an influence on how we interact, behave and view the world; increasing diversities in our concept of national identity -realising a more homogenised sense of identity through global trends such as inter-national relations, technology and consumerist culture. Looking at how much Facebook has converged in its entirety through the processes of global distance, mass inclusive, interdependence, global inclusive-in inputs as well as reach; it also has to be regular and stable for it also to be truly globalised (Martell 2010). However, here we will argue that Facebook is not global in all its processes and discuss to what extent. Not all countries are equal in its distribution. Developing countries are still at the periphery (Sassen 2007), and lack
Facebook has undergone through multiple globalisation processes that have been particular identifiable over the recent decades. Facebook has reached over 800 million users worldwide since 2004 (Fowler 2010), and since then, many forms of corporate investment, multinational advertisement companies, and the endorsement of international political deregulation has shaped and expanded what was first a national based phenomenon to an international/global trend (Sassen 2007). The internet and particularly Facebook contribute to the way users interact with distant relatives and close friends; everyone knows what each other is doing across the world with a click of a button. With global trends shaping how we interlink with the structures of society, Facebook has been seen to have embedded its self within those structures as a consumerist hotspot. Its functions not only serve for a social purpose, but the social openness of its users, allows for global advertisement companies to pervade our computer screens which are regulated in the interest of the political economy, global market enterprise, and multinational capital (Cohen 2008). Facebook has therefore, had an influence on how we interact, behave and view the world; increasing diversities in our concept of national identity -realising a more homogenised sense of identity through global trends such as inter-national relations, technology and consumerist culture. Looking at how much Facebook has converged in its entirety through the processes of global distance, mass inclusive, interdependence, global inclusive-in inputs as well as reach; it also has to be regular and stable for it also to be truly globalised (Martell 2010). However, here we will argue that Facebook is not global in all its processes and discuss to what extent. Not all countries are equal in its distribution. Developing countries are still at the periphery (Sassen 2007), and lack
Cited: BBC News Technology. (2012) Facebook invests in Asia Pacific Gateway underwater internet cable. [Online] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18725728. [Accessed 05/04/2013] Cohen, N.S Fowler, G.A. (2012) The wall street journal E.U,(ed). Facebook: One Billion and Counting. [Online] Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443635404578036164027386112.html. [Accessed: 01/04/2013] Johnson, B Lee, D (2012) BBC News Technology: Facebook surpasses 1 billion users as it attempts new markets [Online] Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19816709. [Accessed 01/04/2013] Martell, L Moth, D. (2012) E-consultancy: What does Facebook global pages means for brand content strategies? [Online] Available: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/10930-what-do-facebook-global-pages-mean-for-brand-content-strategies. [Accessed 03/04/2013] Sassen, S