Can the internet t be considered a cultural tool?

INTRODUCTION:

If all French language dictionaries agree in defining culture as the set of acquired forms of behavior in human societies or as the set of received knowledge that allows the development of critical thinking, taste, and judgment, and it was agreed for years that human behavior is conditioned by multiple factors, especially education, tradition, and environment, it is certain that with the development of communication means, many variables have been disrupted.

Certainly, since the advent of the Internet, the issue of communication technology has become crucial. Its stakes and repercussions are so numerous that, if one focuses on them, one is led to reconsider all the principles and values that for a long time constituted the foundation of the organization of societies.

Knowing that an information society is emerging everywhere in the world, bringing with it new stakes and challenges, it is now permissible to question whether the Internet can be considered a cultural tool?

Although it presents negative aspects such as the standardization of culture and disparity between peoples, the Internet nonetheless remains a privileged tool for disseminating information and, most importantly, positively modifies the relationship between individuals and cultural goods.

Examining the social risks of the Internet first, highlighting its contribution as a tool for dissemination next, and finally addressing its relationship with culture will provide clarity.

I - Social Risks of the Internet

The Internet risks creating disparities between countries and social groups, and it also poses threats of dehumanization and cultural domination.

1. Disparities between countries and social groups

On one hand, culture, which has long been a factor of openness and bringing together ideas and people, can now become the cause of nationalist withdrawal, social group distortion, and the erasure of territorial spaces.

The Internet can thus become a source of antagonism, even hatred, because, in a world where everything circulates, it further highlights cultural differences. Tolerating others is much harder when they are close and visible than when they are distant and barely visible. To preserve communication as a value of emancipation, we must reflect on the right distances to maintain. This will compel the West to better respect other identities and hierarchies of values, or risk being rejected along with its information systems, identified as cultural imperialism. Thus, cultural dominance could be at the root of nationalist withdrawal.

Another controversy concerns the huge disparities that the Information Highways will create between the North and the South and the risk of this divide appearing even within industrialized countries, where these technologies are adopted by technicians, engineers, and educated individuals, while others are excluded. In 1998, industrialized countries, which house less than 15% of the world's population, accounted for 85% of Internet users. More than 50% of these users were concentrated in North America, which holds less than 5% of the world's population. In this region, the United States had more computers and networks than all other countries combined. In contrast, South Asia, which represents 23% of the world's population, had less than 1% of Internet users. Furthermore, access to the Internet creates a divide between the literate and the illiterate, men and women, the rich and the poor. In China, 60% of Internet users have a university degree. In Brazil, 75% are male, and nearly 80% of websites are in English, while fewer than one in ten people worldwide speak the language. A computer costs more than eight years of salary for a Bangladeshi worker, compared to just one month for an American.

These disparities are exacerbated by the lack of telecommunications infrastructure in poor countries. In fact, the Internet remains a privilege, benefiting relatively wealthy and educated individuals, the majority of whom are in the North.

As for space and territory, they tend to disappear: globalization brought by the information highways erases our spatial markers. The lived space — the street, the city, the countryside — disappears. However, territory is the privileged link for social construction, the major link between the social and the economic. It is also where otherness is observed and confrontation with others occurs.

2. Dehumanization

On the other hand, the Internet reduces personal effort to a simple aptitude for "surfing" and remains a tool for indoctrination, leading to the weakening of social bonds.

And while its proponents praise the merits of a rich and cosmopolitan new culture, we must remain cautious about potential abuses such as indoctrination, misinformation, and individual isolation.

Today, networks are flooded by the language of the dominant, poorly understood by users and unknown to the excluded. Are we truly ready to conform to a "world culture," unique and fabricated by new technologies of the mind? A ready-made culture that simplifies messages and replaces deep reflection with rapid consumption? We are promised a global culture, yet it will no longer reside in experience and knowledge but in the mere ability to surf for information. While connected to the entire planet, the individual remains isolated.

To adhere to the new cultural model, the journalist must transform into a "mutant," incorporating the immediacy of the Internet, in a sad inability to conduct any in-depth investigation. Will they still be able to meet ethical standards? Journalism becomes all-purpose, sensationalist, manipulating images, with photojournalism crushed by "celebrity news," false archival documents, and trivial fake debates on the Internet.

We must make a serious effort to critically analyze the deceptions of these machines that indoctrinate us, manufactured by societies where liberalism is no longer a choice but a near-divine law. A law that contaminates the world of ideas and communication tools.

Thus, we must protect communication and not fall prey to the current stereotype: "It's true because it's on the Internet." As if the system automatically made the information it contains true. As if both suppliers and users became suddenly honest, concerned about the truth, the well-being of others, and enemies of lies and gossip. This is pure ideology.

The issue is not so much individual freedom, which remains fragile but enshrined as a democratic value, but rather the preservation of the conditions for collective identity, an eminent role of the Nation-State. Yet the Nation-State is often criticized for its "openness," without concern for the disintegration of social bonds it causes. Globalization and liberalization via the Internet encourage fragmentation into as many communities as there are identity markers and potential markets. Tomorrow, the main issue will not be expression but the ability to step out of mediated communication to experience direct, human, and social communication.

3. Standardization and Domination

Furthermore, this technology of the mind risks causing an identity regression through the standardization and domination of powers.

Things can be put into perspective. If the United States dominates, it is not only because they own large corporations or Hollywood, but the real domination is that of Americanism, which tends to influence all of our behaviors, ways of thinking, leading, and dreaming, which are inherently American. In the end, America dominates through thought, at least as much as it does through the economy. Economic domination could not occur without cultural domination. This proves that the technologies of the mind are political technologies.

The global culture (McWorld) aims for a universal consumer society that is neither composed of tribes nor citizens, both of which are poor potential clients, but rather this new breed of men and women who are consumers.

The colonized and local cultures — because they seek to minimize the degree of their servitude — as well as the colonizers and global markets — because they seek to relativize the degree of their hegemony — conspire in the illusion of reciprocity. But in this reciprocity, the real power lies on one side, just as the python swallows the hare; like the python, McWorld adorns itself with the colors of the cultures it ingests: pop music enhanced with Latino rhythms, Mickey speaking French at Disneyland Paris. But ultimately, McDonald's and Disneyland are above all icons of American culture, Trojan horses that infiltrate the cultures of other nations.

McWorld is an America that projects itself into a future shaped by technological forces demanding integration and standardization. A future bringing all countries together into a vast global theme park, entirely interconnected by information technologies and the entertainment industry. Even in places where the forces of religion and tribalism oppose McWorld, it performs better than its adversaries. Iranian fundamentalists may have one ear tuned to the mullahs urging them toward holy war, but the other is listening to websites.

The universal American culture of McWorld is almost irreversible. In Japan, teenagers are fighting with English expressions, of which they barely understand the meaning, just to appear "cool."

We are thus heading towards a world of networks composed of electronic cultural communities, a world that paradoxically will strengthen the position of the United States as a nation among nations, even as it dismantles the nation-state system.

The principle of the free flow of information, vital for exporting American cultural products, was invented to grant industrial demands the status of universal virtue. This principle is based on the neoliberal axiom: "Let people watch what they want, let them be free to enjoy, and trust their common sense. The only sanction applied to their cultural product should be its failure or success in the marketplace."

The tension between cultural plurality and the centrifugal forces of commercial cosmopolitanism has revealed the complexity of reactions to the emergence of a single global market. Conceptual boundaries have begun to blur between the singular and the universal.

Thus, the Internet carries within it the seeds of social disparities. And alongside the risk of fostering dehumanization, a cultural domination by powers also threatens to erase cultural identities. But beyond these negative aspects, the Internet remains a cultural tool par excellence.

II - Internet: As a Tool for Dissemination

The Internet primarily presents itself as a new tool for the dissemination of cultural goods, competing with but mostly complementing traditional distribution channels.

1. A Competitive Tool

The creation of websites dedicated to cultural goods initially competes with traditional distribution channels.

Indeed, the online distribution of cultural goods appears to be a factor in competing with traditional distribution channels. New players on the web are leveraging activities that often already exist in the "real" world, thereby attracting potential clients from traditional channels.

However, this oversimplification fails to account for the possibility of creating new demand (specific to the Internet) or addressing existing demand that has not yet been exploited by traditional players. This demand could be from someone living far from Paris, wanting to see the Mona Lisa or purchase a book only published by a Parisian publisher. Geographical distance is no longer an obstacle with the Internet.

There are several types of demand. Aside from the demand connected to traditional channels or those not connected to the Internet, competition also arises concerning existing demand that is poorly or not exploited today by traditional players, as well as the demand created by the Internet.

The advent of the Internet has thus led to fierce competition between new and old players in the cultural goods domain. This competition can be illustrated by websites offering books for sale online.

The emergence of specialized book-selling sites, such as Amazon, has pushed traditional competitors to create their own websites. This is the case with Barnes and Noble, a well-known retailer operating over a thousand stores, which felt threatened by sites offering the same business model, providing not only the option for customers to purchase without leaving home but also services such as information on books, which further promotes purchasing.

The explanation for this competition lies in the advantages the Internet offers, such as not bearing the same installation and equipment costs as traditional players. They do not own commercial property, eliminating the cost of rent for stores, setup, and arrangement fees; they have minimal inventory management expenses, and they reduce personnel-related costs. Consequently, they have fewer fixed costs, allowing them to reduce expenses on their balance sheets. Furthermore, the Internet allows them to be located in countries with more lenient tax regulations than, for example, France, while still addressing French users. Geographical proximity is no longer a necessity with the Internet.

This competition is also explained by the many advantages the Internet presents, primarily in terms of geographical distance and time. For instance, someone who does not have time to attend an auction or visit an exhibition before it ends can do so online.

Secondly, it is primarily in terms of services that the Internet offers advantages, the first being information about cultural goods. During an art auction, a book or CD purchase, or access to a cultural presentation or exhibition, websites often provide rich and detailed information.

Moreover, Internet sites manage to personalize their offering of cultural goods through identification systems or cookies that help analyze users' preferences and tastes.

Finally, the advantage can also be financial. Beyond the cost of transportation, some websites offer free access to cultural goods, including certain literary and musical works that can be downloaded.

2. A Complementary Tool

The online distribution of cultural goods should be viewed as a complement, driven primarily by commercial logic.

Traditional players are increasingly developing their websites, showing that the new distribution channel that is the web complements and even reinforces traditional channels. This fulfills an image-related problem and a marketing interest.

As mentioned earlier, internet users are better informed, and sometimes even identified, allowing for a more targeted cultural goods offer, which encourages "consumption" in a broader sense. An example is FNAC, whose website features the same products as those sold in stores.

This complementarity also benefits Internet users. They have easier access and better information on cultural goods and can "consume" them online. Online art auctions illustrate perfectly that the Internet is primarily a complementary distribution channel. For example, the same type of people buys both in the auction room and on the website, with prices being the same for all.

Lastly, the Internet allows certain websites related to cultural goods to exist. Firstly, little-known artists can present and offer their works for free without going through market intermediaries, avoiding the costs of renting an exhibition space while reaching a larger audience than a physical gallery could contain.

Secondly, new economic models enable the creation of websites centered on cultural goods, such as information sites. In the real-world economy, this would not have been possible due to the demand for immediate profitability, or at least the ability to cover fixed costs. The possibility of financing through on-site advertising or affiliate systems makes these sites possible.

Dematerialization of Cultural Media

The dematerialization of cultural goods and their dissemination primarily concerns books, musical, and cinematographic works.

The digitization or dematerialization of books has sparked fears of the "death of the book" in its paper format, showing a strong attachment to the tangible, paper-based medium. However, this hasn't stopped progress beyond the digitization of certain cultural goods. In fact, it has been enhanced by the emergence of websites offering "webzines" and "e-books."

CD-ROMs represent an intermediate form of virtual books, as they contain text along with images and sounds, but they have already enabled the rise of artists who use hypertext as a means of expression. Some novelists have launched writing competitions, inviting internet users to write a continuation of a chapter.

These are online publishing houses that publish their authors digitally and sell e-books. Created in 1998, "00h00" initially published novels but now focuses on more challenging works such as poetry and essays. It is a "pure player" and also sells e-books on its site. Virtual publishers rely heavily on event-based promotions, such as the online, exclusive publication of Stephen King's latest novel on an American website.

The e-book is not an absolute threat to the printed book, whose decline began long before the advent of the internet, and it's uncertain if e-books will ever dethrone paper books. Immediately, there is the issue of battery autonomy for e-readers, not to mention that larger batteries are heavier. Maneuverability is a critical factor: readers, who are getting older and of whom only a minority are connected to the internet, are attached to the sensations of traditional books and will be difficult to convince, likely preferring their good old books over the coldness of virtual ones.

Moreover, conquering a significant market is a challenge for e-book designers: e-books may not reach the general public for another 15 years. Manufacturers like Softbook are initially targeting institutional clients, such as businesses, libraries, schools, and universities. In these places, the virtual book would be a favorable alternative to illegal photocopies.

Thus, while the internet is considered a new tool for the dissemination of cultures, it remains a medium that positively transforms the relationships between individuals and cultural goods.

III - Positive Changes in Our Relationship with Culture

The internet is positively altering our relationship with culture by both democratizing and expanding access to cultural goods and by modifying the nature of these goods.

1. Democratization of Access to the Internet

First, the democratization of internet access allows for better access to information about cultural goods.

Indeed, websites providing information about cultural goods are multiplying rapidly. There is not a cultural magazine or museum that hasn't created a website. Some offer services aimed at facilitating access to cultural goods, such as the Louvre Museum's website. This opportunity is unprecedented in France. The site offers the possibility of freely exploring all the halls of the Louvre, appreciating paintings and sculptures in three dimensions. Moreover, it is possible to walk around the Louvre's pyramid, and the notion of cultural heritage takes on a new depth. There seems to be no longer a hierarchy between pure artistic goods and cultural goods as a whole. The Venus de Milo and the Louvre Pyramid are approached in the same way.

What the internet currently offers to everyone, without question, is comprehensive information about the cultural goods presented online. For example, all museums have created their own websites. They function as catalogs that anyone can consult for free, providing invaluable support in preparing to appreciate cultural goods. The Rodin Museum website is an excellent example.

It provides visitors with necessary knowledge to appreciate the artist's works. This is particularly valuable when it comes to contemporary art, which is more challenging to access and requires a substantial interpretive framework. The website for the George Pompidou Center is an example of this.

Moreover, all these websites are interconnected, allowing easy navigation through French and global cultural heritage.

In France, this development has been facilitated by the Ministry of Culture's efforts to subsidize and catalog these sites.

As a result, knowledge is becoming more democratized, and it is easier, thanks to the internet, to access cultural goods. For example, to access literary works, it is easy to consult a specialized library like Anima.

2. Expanded Access to Cultural Goods

Similarly, expanded access to cultural goods promotes the development of an interactive and enriched culture.

Interactivity plays a significant role in the evolution of cultural goods, particularly artistic ones. Contemporary art has already enabled us to break away from a rigid view of art defined by genres. The blending of media began long ago. Naturally, this process is most apparent in visual arts and is closely tied to technological advances. New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) accelerate this movement and reveal its progression. Thus, new forms of creation are emerging. The Ars Multimedia site is one that catalogs these creations in a vast "library," called Anima. An interesting example of this new type of cultural good is digital poetry, where text and image become one and are sometimes even complemented by music.

Again, it's important to remember that this process began long before the advent of the internet, as many artists have been exploring these ideas for a long time. However, the internet undeniably accelerates this process of interactivity and mutual enrichment of genres.

Additionally, there is interactivity between creators, and we find works on the internet ready to be recreated and modified.

3. Positive Modification of the Nature of Cultural Goods

Finally, the interactivity between genres and creators plays a key role in the evolution of the nature of cultural goods, particularly artistic ones.

It also allows for the creation of cultural goods specific to the internet, "virtual" ones, leading to the emergence of new art forms, enriching cultural goods.

Today, it is common to think of culture as a continuous construction, the result of interaction. However, this concept contrasts with the traditional view of cultural goods, which has often been fixed and irreversibly linked to the idea of heritage. The internet is undeniably altering this discrepancy by positively transforming the concept of cultural goods.

These goods can become a shared possession, which we like to imagine on a global scale. This involves, of course, a legal-philosophical reversal of a long tradition that placed cultural goods in an original, sacred, untouchable status.

The internet also fosters an interactive relationship with cultural goods. For instance, reading a book, thanks to branching techniques, becomes multidimensional and personalized.

This access benefits artists, who now have a way to become known, earn a living from their work, and continue creating. Hence, cultural goods are enriched by greater opportunities for creation.

Thus, by expanding and democratizing access to cultural goods, the internet positively transforms the relationships between individuals and culture.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, despite its negative aspects, particularly the tendency to homogenize culture and increase disparities between peoples, the internet remains an unparalleled tool for decentralizing information, while also bringing about positive changes in the relationship between individuals and cultural goods.

It remains to be seen how the internet will be used, as SOPHOCLES’ prophecy highlights:

"Thus, master of knowledge whose resources exceed all hope, man can then choose the path of good or evil."