In his book Watching YouTube, Dr. Strangelove addresses a number of effects of new media on society. In the chapter The YouTube Wars, he discusses the notion of intensification and how this affects global societies. With the emergence of the Internet comes a new level of globalization. Anyone with access to an Internet connection becomes part of a network of mostly unregulated and instant communication through blogs and other media-sharing websites, such as YouTube. In some ways this notion is beneficial in providing experiences through which people can learn about the world and it’s many cultures. The term “pen pal” is redefined and has actually become obsolete within the younger generation. Now, people around the world are connecting through Skype, MSN Messenger, and Xbox Live. These tools have the potential of providing a rich learning experience for people around the world.
As with any new phenomenon, the benefits accompany the drawbacks. Alongside the notion of intensification stands the problem of intolerance. Intensification is a result not only of the global community, but also of overpopulation and extreme consumerism. The world’s population has been growing exponentially and we can only assume it will continue to do so. The world only contains so much space for people to live comfortably. When people can no longer find comfort, negative emotions are projected onto the “other.” This is already happening on a smaller scale and the Internet provides the ideal platform for laying blame on the “other” without accountability. Not only is the scarcity of space becoming a growing concern, so is the scarcity of resources. Advertising is becoming more and more invasive, especially through the Internet. One cannot journey through any site without having to view annoying advertisements and deal with obtrusive pop-up windows. This is only increasing consumerism and prolonging the problem. Not only are we extensively consuming and producing waste, but we are consuming more and more resources which we can do without.
Intensification is a problem which was brought on by the emergence of the global community and the notion of intolerance, but it will continue to get worse as we continue to multiply and consume more than there is space or resources for. At the rate we are going, world chaos is no longer something we can dismiss as “it would never happen in my lifetime.”
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