People in the West tend to be anxious about the digital future. They worry technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will manipulate them and undermine democratic institutions. Western policymakers are focused on breaking up large tech companies and how to regulate social media and AI. But according to digital anthropologist Payal Arora, young people outside the West, and especially in the Global South, are optimistic about, and even excited by, the digital future. For them, the digital world is a source of pleasure and entertainment — and offers hope for a better future.
Western users are pessimistic about digital culture — but young people in the Global South are optimistic.
People in the West today have remarkably negative attitudes toward digital technologies. They see digital platforms as traps, crafted to rob people of their attention and their will to take action in the world. They view the algorithms that drive search engines and social media as manipulative and inherently biased. This perspective has bred a widespread “pessimism paralysis”: Westerners are more likely to make the choice to accept the status quo — despite railing against it — than to try to change it. Moreover, they ignore or discount the ways that digital culture supports human connection and expression — especially in places in the world controlled by oppressive regimes.
For young people in the Global South — including China and India — digital culture is a source of joy, inspiration and liberation. Nearly 90% of youth worldwide live in the Global South, and, unlike their Western peers, they are optimistic about the future and eager to use digital platforms to change their lives and the world in which...
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