So… what in the world is digital culture exactly?
I’ll repeat the question for emphasis, “what in the world is digital culture exactly?” To ones surprise, the answer to this may not be such a slam dunk. We should start by identifying what culture is. While there are a great deal of definitions for this word, the one we’ll be using found on merriam-webster.com is, “the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic.” More simply put culture is a learned pattern of values shared by a group of people that are dynamic. If we look at our world today, we see many different cultures and we can see just how dynamic and unique each culture is when comparing them to one another. Just take a look at the culture of sports versus the culture of politics. Both are covered constantly, but provide a different feel to viewers. They’re both considered entertainment, but each has their own set values that’s unique it.
When we bring the digital world into the picture, this becomes far more complicated. One of the reasons this becomes so much more complex is because technology is an ever expanding sea that is becoming more and more difficult to navigate. From smart phones to social media, technology has created another world in a sense. Despite this, it has not stopped a certain culture from being developed, and much like in the many different areas of entertainment, there are a number of areas in the digital world where the culture is different.
If we don’t delve into the interests of social media users and just look at the different platforms, you can see differences in culture. Some are even built in! Instagram users will post a number of different pictures of themselves or others as is the purpose of the app. Compare that to Twitter, who’s main goal is to have users write out messages for all to see. In that regard alone, you have examples of two different cultures all under that tech umbrella. Being able to use these platforms to express oneself has become ingrained into our digital culture and it’s used all around the world. In his article, “Choose Your Own Ethnography: In Search of (Un)Mediated Life, ”Danah Boyd states, “It’s not about the technology or the artifact, but about the culture in which those technologies and
artifacts are embedded.” If we look back at the previous examples of sports and politics, we see his statement proves true. Both use much of the same equipment for different reasons reflecting their respective cultures. This enables people to understand an aspect of digital culture as they need, in an ever expanding sea of technology.
