Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't see how it could affect things like accents. It's not like watching YouTube is going to change the way you talk, unless you're absolutely obsessed with it. I think the Internet has been Americanizing the spelling of other English-speaking countries due to spell check, but that's not really relevant within the United States. Any decline of accents I think has more to do with cultural cringe and a desire to sound "neutral" or Californian than to the Internet, which is still mostly text based.
Aside from the fact you can learn about new fads faster and buy just about anything online, I don't see how it's contributing to a homogenous culture. I think TV and radio were a bit better at that since during their heyday they made it so everyone in the country was watching the same shows, listening to the same songs, etc. Nowadays there is more choice and I think this might actually boost regional preferences.
Taking music as an example I'd actually argue this country has become more Balkanized over the past 25 years. In the 80s there wasn't a huge difference between "Black" and "white" or "urban" and "country" music and people generally listened to similar music regardless of their ethnic heritage or how urban their environment was. Heartland rock was a lot more subtly different from glam metal than today's country music is from indie rock, and today's rap and R&B music is much more specifically catered to the black community than black artists in the 80s like Prince, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.
It seems like if anything that digital capitalism has become more adept at catering to regional niches.
Different styles such as clothes, slang words, music, dances, ect that start off as a local thing quickly gets stolen by other regions because of the internet.
I don't see how it could affect things like accents. It's not like watching YouTube is going to change the way you talk, unless you're absolutely obsessed with it. I think the Internet has been Americanizing the spelling of other English-speaking countries due to spell check, but that's not really relevant within the United States. Any decline of accents I think has more to do with cultural cringe and a desire to sound "neutral" or Californian than to the Internet, which is still mostly text based.
Aside from the fact you can learn about new fads faster and buy just about anything online, I don't see how it's contributing to a homogenous culture. I think TV and radio were a bit better at that since during their heyday they made it so everyone in the country was watching the same shows, listening to the same songs, etc. Nowadays there is more choice and I think this might actually boost regional preferences.
Taking music as an example I'd actually argue this country has become more Balkanized over the past 25 years. In the 80s there wasn't a huge difference between "Black" and "white" or "urban" and "country" music and people generally listened to similar music regardless of their ethnic heritage or how urban their environment was. Heartland rock was a lot more subtly different from glam metal than today's country music is from indie rock, and today's rap and R&B music is much more specifically catered to the black community than black artists in the 80s like Prince, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.
It seems like if anything that digital capitalism has become more adept at catering to regional niches.
I would agree with this.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
