Sociocultural Identities in the Digital Age
A global look at how digital technologies are changing our sociocultural systems and what this means for humanity.
In a recent article I looked at the idea of personal identity in the Digital Age as an initial exploration of what this might mean. A comment from a reader inspired me to think further on sociocultural identity at a global, sociocultural level. So this is a bit of a wandering look at an extremely complex topic and trying to be concise on a topic that could certainly span a book!
Identity, like cultures and societies, are always in flux, ever mutable. Before the arrival of the internet and today’s global communications technologies, such changes and the evolution of sociocultural systems globally, took a lot longer. New ICT (information and communication technologies), compress both time and space.
The result is that in compressing time and space, we can see one another in ways we couldn’t before. Through videos, texts and images. This is both wonderful and challenging. The broader benefit is our ability to better understand one another. The challenges come where ICTs are excellent, but can lack the nuances of physical contact and discovery.
We may watch a video of a wedding in another culture on the other side of the world and see what look to be delicious foods, celebratory dances and intriguing rituals. But we experience them at a distance. Unless one is there, to experience the flavours, scents and energy, certain nuances are missed.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR, AR) help, but again, still limit what is essential to human understanding of one another. Being there in physical reality. Part of the reason we discovered what came to be known as zoom fatigue during the pandemic was because we could not experience all the nonverbal cues we use to understand one another in a real-world meeting. Shifts in body movements, nuanced facial expressions and so on.
Information technologies also enabled much of global society to function during the pandemic lockdowns. Working from anywhere has become possible. As a result, we are having broader social discussions on the nature and place of work.
Today, we live our lives in two worlds; physical and digital. We’ve never done this before. It applies new pressures to how we organise and function as a society, a renewed look at economic systems, social justice and how we manage information.
Yet ICTs do offer us a window to understanding and this is important for how our sociocultural identities will evolve in the coming decades. Much will depend on how these digital technologies, from social media and VR to genetic engineering are designed, developed and deployed. Additionally, it will depend on how these technologies are perceived, adopted and used by both individuals and societies.
Each society and culture perceives, adopts and uses technologies in different ways. Much of the digital technologies, for example, like social media and dominant Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude etc.) come out of Silicon Valley and the American sociocultural approach to technologies. There is nothing wrong with that, but when they meet other cultures that view these technologies very differently, challenges can arise.
What was quickly found with regard to AI tools such as Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) was that because most of these tools were developed by white males, racial and gender biases crept into their algorithms. In part because of the data used to train them. The approach was to solve a problem, but a sociocultural lens was not applied. This is an example of why human-sciences need to be engaged with computer sciences.
Considerations for Sociocultural Identities in the Digital Age
While we can’t say conclusively, we can hypothesize that ICTs have had a significant influence on sociocultural changes around the world. Because we can learn about one another at an individual and societal level, much faster and easier, it makes sense that over time, we begin to look at our own identities and that of the sociocultural systems within which we have lived our lives.
Human societies evolve from ideas. They have been evolving for many thousands of years. For the past few hundred, a rather short period of human sociocultural evolution, the dominant influence on global sociocultural systems has been Western European through colonialism. That influence and thinking is, thankfully, waning. A singular way of thinking no longer works in an interconnected world where so many sociocultural systems operate.
Humans have been wandering around the planet ever since we climbed down out of the trees. It’s why we all share a common ancestor. In this process, we’ve been exploring each others societies and cultural elements. Sometimes appropriating them through conflict, at other times melding them mutually. It’s why culture, identity and societies are so mutable.
Now, because of ICTs, we can see everyone, everywhere all at once. And we are in the very early days of having this capability. We are only just starting to learn more about one another and how we want to use these technologies.
It’s part of the reason, I believe, that we are having debates, arguments and discussions about our sociocultural systems. At times this has proven to be good, at other times, not so much. It’s why we see clashes of ideologies, norms, customs and traditions.
When we are confronted abruptly with a multitude of different norms, values, traditions, political and economic systems so quickly, it can be jarring to our sense of identity both personally and societally. We should not be surprised that these interactions through digital communications technologies has lead to the frictions we are experiencing today.
While it may seem dark and ominous today, history suggests the future is likely to be a lot brighter. It won’t be utopian, but it will get better. It always has.
As we become better at understanding how and why digital communications tools, ICTs, impact and influence us socioculturally, we will then and already are, begin to shape them. We are making huge leaps with regard some AI tools to deal with race and gender biases and to improve language translation.
Societies around the world are setting guidelines and regulations around privacy, data rights and governance of social media platforms. They will be as various as our cultures, but there are commonalities. Humans have more in common with one another than differences.
The political and economic systems of the pre-digital world are struggling to cope with the new realities of being globally hyperconnected. They are already undergoing a time of change. We see this most visibly in the EU bringing in sweeping regulations on the use of Artificial Intelligence, along with use of data and privacy laws.
Eventually, citizens in the United States will demand better privacy laws beyond just health data. Other countries are deepening privacy laws as well. Businesses that have exploited personal data for over two decades now are trying to stop privacy and data laws. They will not succeed against the will of the people in democracies. Corporations never have. In the end, they will innovate and develop new business models. This too, will shift economics.
As with all significant changes in sociocultural systems, it will be messy, at times painful, but we will figure it out.