Telecommunications Cultural Change and Telecommunications:

Telecommunications

Cultural Change and Telecommunications: The World Wide Impact

Cultural changes affect world wide telecommunications in a variety of ways, primarily by changing the manner in which people communicate, spread, disseminate or share information. By the very nature of business one must consider culture when considering any form of communication, this is particularly the case when considering telecommunication (Landow, 1992). Most technological advances have occurred within the framework of Western concepts and Western democracy; the methods of communication adopted by many in the field of telecommunications often involve interpersonal communication that is Western oriented (Thurber, Pope & Stratton, n.d.). However telecommunications now involves international networks, and in order to conduct business in an efficient and effective manner organizations need to address communications and provide technology and access to technology in forms that are culturally familiar (Thurber, Pope & Stratton, n.d.).

Cultural changes have resulted in a change in the way that people do business from a telecommunications perspective; many telecommunications professionals have realized it is necessary to adapt telecommunications and the technology used into a form that can be integrated into nonwestern culture, as opposed to requiring other cultures to adopt and integrate more Western practices (Thurber, Pope & Stratton, n.d.).

Digital communications in particular have made communication more interactive and participatory, less centralized and more hierarchical; as such social relations and communities "built on modern media must share these characteristics" (Gaffin, 1993; Thurber, Pope and Stratton, n.d.).

The internet in and of itself has become a form of culture, as has telecommunications, where individuals of various backgrounds and cultures have come together to communicate. A new type of language has been developed that can be perceived as more universal in nature. It is a technology-based form of communication rather than a culturally-based form of communication.

Cultural shifts and changes will always affect World-Wide communications because as culture changes so too does the manner in which people do business. World-Wide telecommunications are constantly adapting to meet the needs of modern man as man progresses into the next century. Cultural shifts and changes occur as a result in part of technological changes that allow men to communicate in more efficient and productive ways. As technology continues to improve so too will the manner in which men communicate, and cultural changes will continue to spread.