Is Digital Culture A Threat to Indigenous Commuincation? : A Critical Look at Emerging Trends in the Global Platforms

Abstract

The ubiquitous digital media technologies in this information age has entrenched a digital culture in our world today. Indeed, digital media have become increasingly more affordable and accessible to users all over the world that the global culture has become more homogeneous than McLuhan ever envisioned in his global village postulation. The obvious implication of this development is a palpable threat to intercultural communication and the indigenous communication patterns of the developing countries of the world, like Nigeria, whose cultures are obviously at the receiving end of the emerging trends in globalization. This paper interrogates the threat of digital culture on indigenous communication with a critical appraisal of emerging trends in the global platforms. Anchored on Technological Determinism and Cultural Imperialism theories, the paper adopted Critical Qualitative Research method to analyze the major benefits and challenges that digital culture throws at indigenous communication in Nigeria. The paper found that much as the digital media have changed global communication pattern with a lot of opportunities for nations of the world to interact more freely; digital culture is striking a heavy blow on the indigenous cultures of indigenous communities in developing countries who are not only caught up in the challenge of digital divide, slow adaptation of technology and other factors that are still keeping their indigenous communication channels at the periphery. The paper recommends that since indigenous communication channels cannot develop at the same rate with the Western media, indigenous communities in the developing nations should preserve and promote their indigenous communication so as to maintain their cultural identity in the face of the globalizing trend of the digital culture.