What is globalization?ㅣChoi Jaewon(최재원)

A. Summary

As a media and communication student, when I first heard the word "globalization," I mostly thought of things like K-pop on YouTube or Hollywood movies everywhere. I thought it was a new thing, mostly because of the internet and how fast everything is. But after reading "What Is Globalization?" by Robertson and White¹ and listening to my professors, I learned my first idea was wrong. The readings showed me that globalization is a really old process. It's about how different parts of life—like trade, travel, ideas, and culture—have been connecting for a long, long time. So the hyper-connected world we see today with social media and digital platforms isn't a new thing; it's just a faster and bigger version of what's been happening forever.

The lecture gave a good example with the spice trade. A really long time ago, people wanted spices, and that made a huge network of trade routes connecting Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. This wasn't just about moving goods; it was also about sharing knowledge and stories. It helped me understand that connecting different cultures is a thing that has always happened. I can see how today’s global companies and internet stuff are just like those old connections. The main idea—that our lives and cultures are connected in ways we don't always know—really made me think.

B. New and Interesting Insights

The most interesting idea for me was that globalization has "deep roots." I thought it started in my lifetime, maybe when social media got big. But the reading showed me its history goes way back to old civilizations. This made me think different about my major. I used to think media was just a new way to share culture, but now I see it's a big part of a long history. For example, the Silk Road wasn't just for goods; it was a way to share new beliefs and art. Today's social media connects people across the world, but much faster. This made me realize that new media isn't making a new world, it's just making old connections go super fast.

A good example of this is the Netflix show K-Pop Demon Hunters. It mixes Korean music with a global idea of fantasy. It’s a perfect example of modern globalization in media. The show takes something very local—K-pop—and puts it into a story (good vs. evil) that people everywhere can understand. This isn't just about putting a Korean show on Netflix; it's about making a new kind of content that can only happen because of globalization. It shows how media can take local cultures and make them global, proving that globalization isn't about making everything the same, but about mixing different cultures to make something new. This idea of mixing local and global is something called 'glocalization', and it’s a cool thing that media does now.

C. Discussion

The class materials were great for explaining how globalization brings us together. But I've been thinking about the other side of it. With so much media, it feels like people are also getting more divided, not just connected. This feels very real for me as a media student. On one hand, we can easily find people who like the same things we do, anywhere in the world. But this easy connection can also cause problems. Social media algorithms can put people in "echo chambers" where they only see what they already agree with, and political groups fight more than ever. This is a big problem in my field, because it feels like media is being used to build walls instead of bridges.

So, my question for our class discussion is this: if media can both connect and divide us so easily, what can we do, as future media professionals, to use our skills to help people understand each other, instead of making them argue more? This feels like a very important question for me as a media student, especially when we see so much global conflict. Is it our job to fight against these dividing trends? What would that look like? Would we need to design new social media, or change the way we tell stories to help people be more kind to each other? I'd like to know what everyone else thinks about this.

I'm worried about this a lot. It seems like the more information we get, the less we actually agree on. Like, everyone has their own "facts" now, especially with news and politics. It's kind of scary. So I think it's not enough to just talk about how we connect. We also have to talk about how we can fix the problems that media is causing. I mean, we are the ones who will be making this stuff in the future. We should be responsible for making sure it helps people, not hurts them.

D. Conclusion

Before this class, my idea of globalization was pretty simple. Now I see it as a very long journey with media in the middle of it. Learning about how media can either bring people together or pull them apart has made me think hard about my future job. I used to think my job as a media professional was just to make cool content. Now I see a bigger responsibility: to use technology to build bridges between cultures, not to build up walls. I think it's about being more responsible with what we create and share. I'm excited to talk about these ideas more in class and figure out how we can use our skills to make a good impact, helping people see the world not just from their own side, but from many different perspectives.

E. Note on AI use

I wrote this blog post based on my own thoughts from class. I used an AI assistant to check my writing. It helped me find spelling and grammar mistakes and made some sentences sound better without changing my ideas. For example, the sentence "I always thought it was something that started in my lifetime, maybe with the internet..." was originally "I thought globalization was new with the internet." I also asked it if "deep roots" was a natural way to say "오래된 뿌리" in English. This help made my writing easier to read.

Ref. Ronald Robertson, Kathleen E.White, "What is Globalization" in The Blackwell Companion to Globalization, edited by George Ritzer, 54-66. USA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.