Frog under the well: The relationship of global media use and cosmopolitan orientation among Hong Kong youth (China)

The exponential growth of the Internet, accompanied by the spread of affiliated digital communication technologies, contributes to the formation of a planetary communications network in which images are rapidly transmitted from one corner of the globe to another. Morley and Robins (1995) argue that the globalization of communication technologies provokes identity crises within national populations by forcing individuals to acknowledge the presence of others who are very different from them. This concept of identity crisis has also been used to describe the teenage experience. Buffeted by external forces of economic and technological globalization, as well as by developmental challenges, today's global teenagers must constantly renegotiate their identity on two fronts.; Cultural imperialism theorists argue that lopsided cultural flows threaten the autonomous cultural space of non-Western nations. Others celebrate the democratic potential of our global communications infrastructure. Yet, both stances assume that which needs to be proved, namely the belief that there is a direct relationship between global media content and audience orientation toward the outside world.; This study contributes to our understanding of these issues by examining how the media habits of Hong Kong youth are related to their orientation toward the world, or their “cosmopolitan orientation.” In relating the cognitive classifications, values and behaviors of Hong Kong youth to their media habits, this study challenges the notion that exposure to global media necessarily fuels global culture. It also strengthens our understanding of how global communication technologies might be used to foster cosmopolitanism.