The harm caused by the lack of diversity on the Internet

Digital Media, as the following amplifier of power in today’s era, plays a vital role in the development of society (Kaltzada, 2018). It can be used not only as an aid to rights but also as a tool to question rights (Kaltzada, 2018). However, in the massive expansion of the Internet, although the diversity of cultural development is constantly emphasised, the lack of diversity on the Internet is severe. As the assistant of the powerful, the media has placed some minority groups under the shadow of the media. In this article, the inadequacy of the media’s comprehensive analysis of the event and the differences brought by the algorithm of the Internet platform will aggravate the bias, which will lead to a negative impact on social development and the formation of personal identity.

 

A democratic society is where people want to live, and a diversified media pattern is a goal every community wants to achieve, especially in a world of extraordinary cultural integration ‌(Larrazet & Rigoni, 2014). Minority voices and cross-cultural acceptance are the kinds of diversity that need to emerge on the Internet (Mathisen, 2021).

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The premise of diversity is that the inclusion of all cultures is fair, and there is no discrimination. Only when the national media can accept cross-cultural groups without prejudice can society achieve true democracy. Only when multiple views exist simultaneously and people try to obtain the output of different views, can an organisation develop in the direction of democracy. The sources of different perspectives are people from different backgrounds, occupations and experiences ‌(Larrazet & Rigoni, 2014). The diversity brought by such attitudes is richer and more balanced. Different viewpoints can give an event different views from other benefit receivers, making the event’s cognition more objective and less biased. Seemingly simple diversity is challenging to achieve in social practice, especially for news. As the source of opinions, most people accept the views of elite groups, such as politicians, managers and people with power (Mathisen, 2021).

 

On the contrary, the opinions of ordinary employees or the people in society who are not aware of politics will not be published by the media as a source. The media shadow is also called information blind spots and black holes (Mathisen, 2021). Most of the “non-elite people are placed under the shadow of the media by the media (Mathisen, 2021). “non-elite people” find it hard to get their views across to more people. Over time, they will become the marginalised people represented (Mathisen, 2021). It’s hard to get their opinions across by the media because they lack enough information to meet their needs. For example, in Australia, a country with diverse cultures, there is very little content on minority diversity (Rodrigues, 2020)‌. In Australia, Australians with non-European and aboriginal backgrounds account for about 24 per cent of the Australian population but only 6 per cent of the relevant content in the news. For example, during the global pandemic after 2020, the discrimination against the yellow race reached a more authoritarian state in the early stage when the media all over the world published that Covid-19 was the Chinese virus. A single source of opinion does not contribute to the development of media diversity. However, the Internet platform has become a voice tool for minority groups in today’s society. Due to the current society’s obedience and the elite’s authority, the audience will subconsciously accept their views (Mathisen, 2021). Few people are willing to correct the mistakes in the elite discourse or oppose privileged speech. And this understanding of reality will become narrow and unreal(Kaltzada, 2018). Therefore, the lack of pluralism on the Internet has a more important value for the cohesion of a country’s democracy.

 

Discrimination caused by the lack of diversity is a fact in the current Internet. Presently,

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It isn’t straightforward for users to absorb information from the Internet. To better attract users, platforms will calculate users’ preferences through big data algorithms to provide more content that can attract users. For example, the emergence of the Filter bubble makes the user’s acceptance of information more limited and occluded. It seems that users experience better platform Settings. Still, it will be gradually trapped in a user’s only contact range is very narrow, and the limitation of such is the user’s bias into the abyss. False information processing is complicated due to the lack of diversity for the elimination of prejudice will also be problematic(Kaltzada, 2018).

 

In the national democratic development and the formation of national mainstream ideology, media plays an essential role in constructing audiences’ identities in daily consumption and life ‌(Larrazet & Rigoni, 2014). Australia is a multicultural country. Diversity in Australia has been hampered in the last century because most news came from the white community. In the past, due to the lack of media coverage outside the white community. At the end of the last century, white people still strongly discriminated against people of colour.

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Even when it was severe, they believed that people of colour could not be called ordinary citizens.

 

Because the media fails to reflect the diversity of society, it encourages the distortion of people of colour, immigrants and social distancing that separates different groups (Kaltzada, 2018). In the analysis of multicultural societies, studying other groups will consider two aspects of individual social identity and self-classification (Imperato & Mancini, 2021). The range of discourse in the media shapes perceptions of the public world. The influence of diversified media on individuals is the determination of their position and the tolerance of the uniqueness of society and human beings (Imperato & Mancini, 2021). In particular, the younger generation of students is the main person who obtains information on the Internet. The lack of diversity will cause students to have contradictions in their identities and stereotypes about cross-cultural people. Discrimination against cross-cultural groups has led to the emergence of school violence and cyber violence. Even in terms of gender, this comes from a deeply rooted patriarchal society. Many women are also a minority group in society, and there are even transgender people now. Everyone should also accept the development of gender diversity. Internet platforms to better use the user can search for the platform’s accuracy. Everyone will be calculated for digital individuals, algorithm simulations to predict the user’s behaviour, but failed to prevent the spread of false information, only more so for the Internet media meet the output of diversity, to make between groups to maximise social and personal peace and tolerance.

 

Under the current global integration model where the Internet links the world’s economy and culture, the lack of diversity of the Internet is evident to all. The social model has been more concerned with people’s thoughts since ancient times. Still, under the requirements of the diversity of the Internet, a small number of people began to resist because of interests and oppression and spoke up for themselves. When minority groups fight for their interests, everyone must care about minority groups to reduce the unfair treatment of more people. Every group of people is the same, and cross-cultural inclusiveness is a goal the world should strive for together. Therefore, the lack of diversity in the media presents a negative attitude toward the development of society. There is also why the media needs to diversify to allow more people with different nationalities and educational backgrounds to accept cross-culturalism and form an inclusive and fair society.

 

Reference List

Imperato, C., & Mancini, T. (2021). Intergroup Dialogues in the Landscape of Digital

                  Societies: How Does the Dialogical Self Affect Intercultural Relations in Online

                 Contexts? Societies11(3), 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11030084

Kaltzada, P. (2018, October 31). Why diversity in media matters. Coppieters.

                  https://ideasforeurope.eu/news/diversity-and-media/

Larrazet, C., & Rigoni, I. (2014). Media and Diversity: A Century-Long Perspective on an

                Enlarged and Internationalized Field of Research. InMedia. The French Journal

                of Media Studies5. https://doi.org/10.4000/inmedia.747

 

Mathisen, B. R. (2021). Sourcing Practice in Local Media: Diversity and Media

                 Shadows. Journalism Practice, 1–17.

                 https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1942147

 

Rodrigues, U. M. (2020, August 17). Whitewash on the box: how a lack of diversity on

                Australian television damages us all. The Conversation.

                https://theconversation.com/whitewash-on-the-box-how-a-lack-of-diversity-on-

australian-television-damages-us-all-143434