ISSN: 1550-7521
ISSN: 1550-7521
Alishahi A1*, Refiei M2 and Souchelmaei HS3
1Department of Political Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
2International Relations, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran
3Public Administration, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran
Received date: Feb 12, 2019 Accepted date: Mar 19, 2019 Published date: Mar 27, 2019
Citation: Alishahi A, Refiei M, Souchelmaei HS. The Prospect of Identity Crisis in the Age of Globalization. Global Media Journal 2019, 17:32.
Copyright: © 2019 Alishahi A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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The globalization of communications is the product of communications industry at the same time that it is possible to simultaneously provide the absent present relationship. This new phenomenon is pervasive influence in all spheres of human life, so in the last three decades literature on the globalization of production over 200 years of modern literature is being produced. Most of the time when the word "Globalization" is considered by some to globalization and the globalization of translation in English and Persian, but both terms has no real sense of the word. The fact that suggests of this issue of globalization we have two kinds of globalization one another in physical space and cyberspace globalization. In physical space transportation industry is a global industry. The transport industry in the physical world smaller, faster communication global reference in the second space, the cyberspace. In this context the distance and the speed of change in physical space because there the distance and speed you have a distance over, but are removed when the nature of the movement and speed or less defined meaning. In this article, the third dimension of globalization, the globalization of virtual communities to explain and examine and question how identity crisis caused by globalization, virtual communities responded and coped with the author.
Globalization; Communication; Identity crisis; Global village
In modern world called era of communication and media has captured everything on the function and its importance of the media is understood by everyone. One particular feature of media and social networks is news coverage and information. This collection is created with full news coverage in various fields ranging from social, political, economic, etc., trying to direct the public towards their own goals. Hence, understanding how social networking information deemed to be necessary in relation to events of global developments. Due to widespread field dominance of social networks in modern societies and also have the phenomenon of the characteristics of fluidity and dynamic movement, it is necessary to keep pace with the evolving technological content and social networks in many aspects, performance, especially their role in social change and crisis as a crisis of identity in the era of globalization needs further study [1]. In fact, a historical change has occurred in the cultural sphere. Mechanical pattern was drawn the determinism pattern in human behavior, and instead passed to the communication pattern. In mechanical pattern, the behavior is dictated by the internal structures and natural rules. Culture is seen as a structure or structures that change in its nature and is independent from human will. In terms of communications pattern, it is not considered as the evolution of an algebraic process, but it is also the process by which the human is the designer, builder and promoter, the theory of communication puts every element in the context of its environmental field, thereby the changes create new reality. Environment that the elements are associated with it is a totally global environment. In fact, in the era of communication revolution, it is seen as a potential center of a communications system, so it can take affect and effect [2]. Reduced government control on information and culture on the one hand and identity crisis by feeding each other on the other hand are in a dialectical relationship and can cause changes and instability. The communications revolution of modernity destroys the pattern. Further, the communications revolution results in that communication does not take place on the basis of family ties, tradition or social ties but takes place in terms of interests, needs and common interests. At the same time, an identity crisis is created. People are living at the same time in different places. Separation of time and space from each other, with multiple identities leads to the formation of avulsion here. In fact, there will be certainty and relative value and individual or collective moral cannot be others’ ethical standard or criterion or values [3].
The purpose of phenomenon of globalization is the formation of the World Wide Web for the exchange of information. According to some thinkers, this prediction was fulfilled with global networks that are connected to the four corners of the world. This process is called globalization. The era of information and communication caught the tools to achieve this relationship, and most importantly, the importance of borders is reduced. As a result of the information revolution, the world has become really a sphere, namely the global village. Given the different approaches in this way is referred to several comments. Helten considered the globalization as independent global change that affects the dependent variable, such as the nation-states. In other words, changes in the framework of the national state is a function of the quality of the globalization process [4]. According to McGraw, globalization is the rise of motto links and interoperability that extend beyond governments and New World Order makes or refers to a process of globalization that through which events, decisions and activities can be a part of the world important consequences for individuals and communities in many parts of the planet or globalization is a transformation of social geography characterized by growing extra-territorial areas. In other words, globalization is a multifaceted dynamic is achieved along with the main drivers of the realistic knowledge, production of capital, technology innovation and regeneration. Danish about the process of globalization believes that now we live in a period of transition that politics and economics that the next century will be formulated in such a way where the national production and technology, national companies and national industry would not exist. In other words, the multi-dimensional process that in those countries, cities and people flow through growing, people, goods, capital, services and ideas are closer to each other. Globalization is not the best policy, but is an inescapable fact [5]. Awesome progress of media during present century has turned the world into a small village that enable people for informationseeking of the entire world's events in a fast and comprehensive manner. Although there are no incidents in communication era which are limited to a particular geographical area and therefore, there are three characteristics for mass media: timeless, roaming and super speed. Today, all aspects of individual and social life of human beings spread in the media and most private human behavior to the biggest changes in social institutions, cultural and political structures offered by the media. Information is the science fit (collection, storage, processing information) and accessibility of information (retrieval and transmission of information) [6].
Certainly, one of the major issues that have been raised by scholars in recent years, communication, politics, culture and society the issue of identity crisis. When an individual or community is not aware of identity elements of their religion, language, race, ethnicity and culture or identity loses its importance with its position as indicators of understanding a society and the other elements, they are not known to be individual or society is facing an identity crisis. However, one to be free from of this crisis should find positive values and be stable in culture, religion or ideology look up the clutter and disorder of identity that constantly delivered torments, and regain his essential identity. Increasing the importance of the crisis in societies like Iran, is due to the factors causing the crisis communication processes. In the last three decades, a set of concepts of identity crisis have been developed at the micro level to national and global level. This discussion is now integrated as an identity crisis [7]. Therefore, on the basis of subjective, identity crisis refers, but not always felt to be a member of a political community. The most basic factors are resulted from the tension between the concepts of cultural and psychological crisis of identity, personal identity, group, political definition, attitudes and values that govern values and conflicts and contradictions resulting from subjective identity and other identities. The problem of identity occurs in different societies with different ways and today it has become a serious concern in the political arena. According to Binder, the identity crisis is essentially a crisis of a country, but our century. However, modern societies in their transition process pass from many crises, including participation, legitimacy, distribution, diffusion and identity. Importantly, the complexity of the crisis should be considered in the post-industrial era. This era has its own characteristics as a result of new communication processes, the communities are faced with a new kind of identity crisis. Identity crisis occurs when a society understands what has to be chartered and peremptory have been as his physical and psychological collective definitions, it is not acceptable with new historical conditions. On the other hand, the progressive and boring forces, such as the spread of global communications, can be used to destabilize the identity an isolated society through the awareness of its people from a whole new world in terms of political action. Today, in the field of sociology, social identity crisis is considered to be an issue. Sociologists, like Castells have examined the issue in the light of the phenomenon of globalization as the result of human communication. Although many social scientists call this phenomenon the globalization, it is clear that the consequences of this phenomenon is different in different countries [8].
Cyberspace and identity
As the magnitude of the differences because of the growth of public use of the Internet, people's worldviews are more divergent. The Internet is like a market communication, as well as it helps to the plurality of identity and the growth of individuality and forms of self-expression, self-diverse, but at the same time, this problem can be ignored, which means gradually growing role in undermining the social real cohesion and a bit out human societies. Internet growth is also the result of a personal culture and imagination and individual beliefs. This causes the reduction totality of political influence on individual numerical identity and can lead to the formation of new sources of identity [9]. In addition to the Internet, social networks such as Facebook, are seeking to create virtual communities. These virtual communities and their definitions are based on the nature of different cultural, political and social values. So that these virtual communities have concepts such as love, relationships, family, identity and redefine even minor issues such as how to greet. However, users play a significant role in shaping these societies but the laws governing their virtual communities and discussion on the impact and its members play an important role in shaping identity. The earliest online social networks impact on users is that challenge the current personal identity; first, empties the user of actual identity then give him a chance to select his ideal identity, while unconsciously, this new discourse is constructed in social networking space. Social networks provide a stage where users can be from each gender, age, social class, race and ethnicity, and play their own role. At this level, virtual social networks lead user to the individualoriented identity with a unique profile. In fact, social networking is the ability to personalize and redefine any who wants to get beyond his true identity in the physical world. So, if we accept the premise that online social networks are created within the consumer society, they will repeat reproduction of the origin of such a society [10]. Richard Bartel argues that virtual worlds provide a mirror to people that whatever their real or ideal image, and communicate with it. In fact, the secret of success and attracting the user to the web sites is that the user sees him in the mirror in front of the virtual world. Thus, on identity in the virtual world, the problem is that the reflection in the mirror is what its user likes. There was a time when the notion that identity in cyberspace is an unknown identity and diversity, but now the users follow to define their identity in cyberspace after they are offline or define their own name in offline activities in many cases and have high identification with it. Thus, the identity of the former equation has changed. Thus, the redefinition of personal and social identity in cyberspace can be studied in various aspects. In this space, the convergence of consumer society and the professional expertise has led the producers and traders to reproduce human concepts such as maturity, age and different life stages. Perhaps it is surprising that the concepts of human biological aspects such as maturity in the virtual world to find new interpretations, but the root of the transformation of the notions of cyberspace has strong influence on the thinking of users [11]. As Bartel notes identity is the result of thinking that emerges in many formats (in action or in words) and with the development of virtual arena of human life, the inescapable fact is that this virtual space has two-way communication with the user, and affects how he is thinking and instead develops the range that its user’s identity is expressed and manifested based on his own preferences [12].
Cyberspace identity crisis in social networks
Globalization and cyberspace constantly and extensively have been changing the practices and various data to a constantly beliefs, ideas, values, expectations and requirements [13]. Identity in a virtual environment is significantly different wit identity in real environment, because there is a difference between the environments. Person is free to use his true identity in the virtual environment or not. In virtual environments, static identity is shaped in a way that he wants to demonstrate it in front of others. In other words, he imposes his identity to others. Basically, three features of the Internet and social networks can be concluded. We should consider the compression of space-time, a sense of failure location and boundaries disappear and congregation changed that it is necessary that every human being is placed in a particular space or time. Identity plays a key role in virtual communities. Some claim that the ability to deploy an identity without a body independent of the most valuable aspects of online culture that allow people to have different roles and relationships, but others claim that it encourages the anonymity, irresponsible and hostile. Virtual reality provides the possibility of subjective experiences that modern forms of domination could be interrupted or stopped. Virtual reality lies in its ability to process and people can take part in a special computer-mediated environment, and rebuild the world [14]. The nature of place and space is changing in the digital world. Today, the real world with the virtual world is mired in such a way that it is very difficult to separate the two. Time does not have its last spatial concept. Cultures are highly integrated and have lost their past spatial and temporal purity. Therefore, it is natural that the identity is in crisis in the new space considering spatial and temporal situation and culture. Perhaps the crisis arising from obscurity can be divided into two categories: general crisis of human exposure to the virtual space since anxiety and digital learning, second, the crisis caused by the virtual identity. Given that the crisis caused by the person's false identity due to person can have another identity, which will have usually better or more special effects, it comes into existence. In this case, the use of virtual communication facilities, is involved in its true identity across real life, dispenses and faced with a new identity. In this way, new meanings are created in the mind and a new identity stands against the true and his old identity that a person's mind engaged in a crisis, because the two entities fall in a synchronized state and one cannot implement easily concepts and features of the old and new identity with his usual identity or fundamentally conflict may arise between them. The crisis is likely to individuals in a new form that bring themselves fatigue, tension, stress and frustration. As well as those who do not have, in the real world, the possibility of some abnormal social behaviors, or communications especially, in this space makes it possible to obtain and may be in a position that their actions are inconsistent in the form of virtual identity with social norms real life strongly, as such, it will be a bigger crisis [15].
Developments in information technology has changed human way in recorded history, this change also influenced how people interact with each other. One of the important events at the end of the second millennium is the advent of communication technology that the Internet and social networks are the most prominent ones. Internet and social networks are known as the main constituent elements of cyberspace. Social networks as one of the most important tools have profound effects on capabilities and facilities on social aspects users in different communities. Using the social networks is growing among Iranian youth and inevitably, young people are the most populous and most numerous group of Iranian generation in the face of the Internet and are affected by cyberspace. The interdependence between the virtual and the real world causes the individual and social interactions in many areas. As mentioned earlier, identity and solidarity within each society is a factor of stability and identity with various aspects of personal, social, national and religious have a great impact on the sustainability and survival and perpetuation of society. Results of this study show that social networking cyberspace has created a kind of identity crisis among a wide range of youth. Identity crisis has caused heterogeneities in the areas of personal identity and the social balance is affected in some way. About how identity crisis takes shape at the individual level of virtual space according to the theory of globalization in the true identity of two people, about the virtual identities can be said that any person can have it that is associated with social and virtual environments. Although virtual identities are considered as fake identities, sometimes it may also be true identity or like it. Virtual identity crisis occurs when it is due to change in a person's true identity in cyberspace with new meanings and identities that at the same time is placed next to his own true identity and if the two identities are far away from each other, especially due to virtual identity that one can do some acts contrary to the social norm, virtual identity crisis takes shape.
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