Technology Must Support the Requirements of Diverse Cultures

Global technology advancements create societal expectations that mass media tools must support the blended perspectives, but unique requirements, of as diverse cultures are brought together through their use of technology.  In his 2012 TED video How Culture and Technology Create Each Other,  Associate Professor Ramesh Srinivasan (2012), explained that “with more than 5 billion people in the world and us really starting to be concerned about the voices of these diverse people, it’s not just technology creating and shaping culture, it’s also culture creating and shaping technology” (2012).  The importance of his messages is the validation that advancements in technology are allowing diverse perspectives to engage and that neither technology nor culture evolves independently.  

This creates expectations that technology will support where the blended perspectives of diverse cultures have the potential to meet.  Srinivasan explains the power of these expectations on diverse cultures as they mobilize through their unique uses of technology.  "The experiences of diverse cultures can be shared through technological tools that other cultures have access to.  This results in the mobilization of communities formed from members of these diverse cultures and leads to collective actions that drive change" (Srinivasan, 2012).  Mass media alone will not solve the world’s issues, but it carries the voices of the world that want and need to be heard. 

More than 2 billion people around the world use mass media tools of communication including Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook (Kemp, 2015).  Expectations of mass media have been set to support individuals coming together to engage and pressure change.  Perhaps it is to share the activities of uprisings with the world and engage support like exiled Tunisian businessman, politician and Internet activist Tarak Mekki (2012) did when he leveraged YouTube to bring awareness of the atrocities of the regime of then President Zine Alabidine Ben Ali.  Mekki explained “It's amazing that we participated via the internet in ousting him. … Via uploading videos. What we did on the internet had credibility and that's why it was successful.” (as cited in Beaumont, 2011, para. 14).  

Perhaps it is the expectations consumers have of brands to be present, transparent, and engaging on social media around the clock and around the world so they can communicate with brands when they need to, not when brands think it is convenient.  With 95% of Millennials expecting brands to have a presence on Facebook (Delzio, 2014), consumers want to engage with brands to improve their experience with the brand and improve the brand value to them, all while sharing their value from the brand with the rest of the world.  According to customer experience company Parature, "This is the Age of the Customer, where each interaction can make or break a brand" (2014).  Highlighting the results of their 2014 State of Multichannel Customer Service Survey relevant to customer expectations of brands to be present, transparent, and engaging on social media around the clock:

When consumers were asked if they had ever asked a customer service question on social media, 35% said yes. 51% percent of those polled said a brand answering them on social media gave them either a somewhat more or much more favorable view of the company, and 65% said they had stopped using a brand when they had a poor customer experience.(Parature, 2014)

No matter what the tool is, no matter where or how it is used in the world, individuals expect technology to support their needs.  Collectively this support drives changes in mass media, technology, and culture. 

2014 LoudDoor Top 20 Brands With the
Most Loyal Followers on Facebook

2014 Parature State of Multichannel

Customer Service Survey

References

Beaumont, P. (2011, February 25). The truth about twitter, facebook and the uprisings in the arab world. Retrieved August 28, 2015, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/25/twitter-facebook-uprisings-arab-libya

Delzio, S. (2014, December 30). New social media research shows what people expect from brands. Retrieved August 28, 2015, from Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-research-shows-what-people-expect-from-brands/

Kemp, S. (2015, January 21). Digital social & mobile worldwide 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015, from We are Social: http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/

Parature, Inc. (2014). 2014 State of multichannel customer service survey. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from Parature: http://paratureprod.blob.core.windows.net/wp-uploads/2015/01/StateofCustomerServiceReport_2014.pdf

  
Srinivasan, R. (2015). About. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from Ramesh Srinivasan: http://rameshsrinivasan.org/pages/about/

  
Srinivasan, R. (2012, December 13). How culture and technology create each other. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo8iNn2CCE4