Intercultural New Media

Abstract

In broad terms, intercultural new media refers to scholarly attempts to fathom ways through which ICTs (new media) and digital technologies, in general, relate to and affect intercultural communication. This area of research explores the deep-seated yet complicated relationship between computer-mediated communication and intercultural communication, seeking to understand how, for instance, social media platforms, podcasts, mobile phones, text messaging, online games, virtual worlds, and streaming apps, among several other digitally delivered technologies that enable communication, are impacting verbal and nonverbal interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds. In other words, intercultural new media speaks to the interplay among technology, communication, and culture. This field of studies arises from the assumption that new media are deeply transforming communication across cultures. It has gained increasing relevance as geographical, social, and political boundaries have been diluted with the growing usage of ICTs by people worldwide to communicate in different settings and with different purposes. Robert Shuter has defined the terms of this field of inquiry called intercultural new media studies (INMS), which was devised to explore specifically the intersection between intercultural communication and new media and is composed of two main research areas: (1) new media and intercultural communication theory, and (2) culture and new media. This means that INMS approaches not only include the study of new digital theories of intercultural interaction, but also are meant to advance existing intercultural communication theories inquiring into their salience in digital communication and how new media shaped their development. In a world where the adoption of communication technologies has become more of a ritual among many, understanding how different cultures perceive, interact, accommodate, and accept each other in a tech-driven society has become highly essential. INMS research goes beyond the more common studies of how new media is appropriated and used in different cultures and how cultures affect the new media development; its main focus is on how new media impacts intercultural communication between both individuals and groups in different contexts. In other words, these studies are mostly concerned with the ways in which new media affect and shape communication between users who do not share a cultural background. How are customs, values, and beliefs individually and collectively shaped by the transformative new media discourse and affordances? In this article, we review relevant and influential studies exploring intercultural new media, appraising works that have historically shaped the emergence, development, and destiny of this area of research.