computer mediated communication

Almost on a daily basis we come across issues related to Internet addiction. Majority of the teenagers and adults are addicted to the usage of Internet for one or the other purposes served by it. This new psychological disorder of Internet addiction is fast accruing both popular and professional recognition. Loneliness, shyness, anxiety, depression, and self consciousness are generally associated as the factors responsible for this kind of addiction. Research indicates " that the higher the tendency of one being addicted to the Internet, the shyer the person is, the less faith the person has, the firmer belief the person holds in the irresistible power of others, and the higher trust the person places on chance in determining his or her own course of life." Hence, connection has been found between shyness, Internet use and personality traits.People who are addicted to the Internet make very intense and frequent use of it. They use Internet even as a medium of communication via e-mail, ICQ, chat rooms, newsgroups and online games. This extensive use of Internet is mainly due to the advantages of unlimited access and flexible time schedules it offers. Thus, with Internet addiction, human communication has taken another form referred to as COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION i.e. CMC.

CMC refers to the use of computer and related technology to communicate. It includes the electronic mails and messages, long distance blackboards, computer bulletin board, instantaneously transferable data bank, and computer conferences.

I strongly believe that CMC is more appealing than any other traditional form of communication to certain individuals. This is because every individuals mindset, upbringing, attitude and personality are different and our interpersonal communication is largely affected by such factors. For instance, a person who is an extrovert is likely to have a more open face to face conversation as compared to one who is relatively reserved and introvert. However, computer mediated communication enables such people to express their true selves or disclose themselves better as it offers it's users a "reduced cues environment, a chosen degree of identifiability to others and a forum to express facets of one self."

Thus, Computer and the Internet provide another forum for social communication. This forum offers few advantages over traditional means of social interaction i.e face to face interaction, as a result it is increasingly being chosen to form interpersonal relationships.

Impact of western culture

Culture is the set of patterns of human activity within a society or social group and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Customs, traditions, laws, social standards and popular styles mainly constitute the cultural elements. There are many cultures currently existent in today's modern world. Some cultures originated about a hundred of years back and are still surviving, whereas a few have evolved by absorbing the exciting and major elements of these already existent cultures. In this article, i am mainly going to focus on the two most talked about cultures of the world, the western culture and the Indian culture. The strength that this topic has been holding and the endless number of debates held over it has attracted me to express my opinion on it too.

Undoubtedly, western culture and Indian culture are poles apart. There is a significant difference between the two in all aspect. Amongst all others the most noticeable difference between the two is that India has been a family oriented society, whereas America has been an individual oriented society. Openness and self dependency are a few words that define western culture, but Indian culture is the complete opposite of this. Globalisation and mass media has laid the basis of the merger of western culture with Indian culture and this collision can better be termed as westernisation.

In my personal opinion, there has been a negative as well as positive impact of westernization on Indian youth, and i strongly believe that listing only either of the pros or cons would be ridiculously naive. Emphasis on development, attention to improve the infrastructure, improved efficiency, management, lifestyle, educational system and decline in the rate of corruption are just a few positive consequences of westernization. On the other hand, decrease in moral values, openness to immoral sexuality, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, and over indulgence in alcohol and activities which do not fit with ones age are it's negative consequences.

The damage that Indian culture has experienced can be broken down into three parts which are, pursuit of wealth, complex of the west and the most essential of all the power of western media. Cinema is the most powerful media, hence it is not only an entertainment industry, but is also seen as a role model. According to me, majority of the western ideas such as cohabitation, etc, have travelled through this medium. In other words, Hollywood has definitely influenced Bollywood and is responsible to a large extent for this clashing of culture.

I do not dis agree with the fact that western culture because of its overbearing influence is establishing a strong base world wide, and is slowly and gradually deteriorating the Indian culture, but at the same time it is the responsibility of the youth to figure out the difference between good and bad; because restricting ourselves to our culture is not an effective solution. Thus, we must adopt the good things but not misrepresent our identity and pretend that we dislike our own culture.