The Web and the death of cultural imperialism

Abstract

Examines the nature of the Web and its development pace. Against a background of some consumer uncertainty, the Web is growing according to predictions, but is still not a consumer media format, and will not be until greater reliability, speed of access and ease of use arrive. Until then an elite of professional wired users is monopolising the Web, and they are likely to continue to do so, leaving others behind, until interactive digital television takes it into the living room and makes it a true consumer medium. It's difficult to predict what the rate of growth and final impact will be, as this is the first time a new mass medium has been introduced against the background of an old one: all previous ones were introduced into a vacuum of ignorance, whereas this one is heavily signposted long before most will use it. When it does arrive, however, advertisers will learn to exploit the global/local aspect of it to create a new layer of cultural diversity and individual, one‐to‐one consumerism.

Citation

Withey, R. (1998), "The Web and the death of cultural imperialism", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 50 No. 8, pp. 203-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb051497