When considering the statistics of things like 1 trillion unique URL’s, and YouTube reporting 13 hours of new video footage is being uploaded to their website every minute is rather astonishing, almost incomprehensible. Our digital spectrum is in a world of its own and as Lev Manovich states “[it makes it] very difficult, if not impossible, to understand global cultural developments and dynamics using 20th century theoretical tools and methods”, to which I agree with this statement. It’s such as dynamic and sophisticated world, showing no sign of slowing down, and we just can’t keep up.

In addition, 70% of the digital universe is being driven by user-generated content which adds to the complexity of monitoring and tracking global digital cultures. You may find a solution for one which could create a problem for another, or by the time you've found a solution, that global culture has advanced so quickly your solution is no longer applicable.

These global cultures are also advancing in their following, and as the digital universe is constantly growing, sometimes they can even advance to cults or sub-cultures which can be a detriment to our society. What I’m referring to in particular is the terrorist group ISIS, which has been found using online propaganda in order to recruit potential foreign fighters, which has been effective even in a country like Australia. These online cultures are almost impossible to stop, particularly when considering its country of origin and their creators.

A solution to this digital cultural phenomenon is more complex than we ever expected and too rapid for any one solution to be universal.

References:
Lev Manovich, 2009, “How to follow global digital cultures, or cultural analytics for beginners”