The concept of digital culture was created out of the need to explain certain phenomena and effects that digital technology has developed in some contemporary cultures, and how it has changed trends in the behavior of individuals.
Throughout the evolution of humanity, the trend that has existed in terms of social and cultural changes from the different technological eras has been observed, (it was agronomic, industrial and information age) but no such changes had been registered. significant and of as fast process as in the last decades.
There are different definitions of digital culture today, however all of them refer to the creation and use of digital information online.
The term culture focuses on the emergence of means of interaction and new ways of forming interactive communities.
And the term digital is used to contrast with the analogous means of communication.
Therefore, digital culture can be understood as the evolving use of digital information and as a channel for social and economic exchange mediated by technological devices.
Furthermore, digital culture is not a product but a process of creating culture through new technologies, and has the power to create cultural trends that are applied to digital platforms, digital culture is not the expansion of previous forms of interaction and creation if not a new way of producing social expressions and of giving people a better understanding through the concept of prosumer.
Technological development in recent years has been considered the largest in history, as it can be seen the development of electrical energy, the use of radio, the incorporation of television, the introduction of satellite, etc.
Technology is developing at an incredible rate and it is true that digital media such as the Internet and the World Wide Web, mobile telephony, and digital video have allowed us to do things that we could not even imagine in the past.
Digital culture
The concept of digital culture was created out of the need to explain certain phenomena and effects that digital technology has developed in some contemporary cultures, and how it has changed trends in the behavior of individuals.
Another application of the term digital culture refers to the knowledge required and derived from digital tools, however its definition has gradually moved away from tools and focused on the changes that this generates in a population..
Throughout the evolution of humanity, the trend that has existed in terms of social and cultural changes from the different technological eras has been observed, (it was agronomic, industrial and information age) but no such changes had been registered. significant and of as fast process as in the last decades.
With the generation of new forms of communication that are characterized not only by making instant communication possible regardless of where people are, but by the possibility of communicating with millions of individuals among themselves, thereby generating a global collective consciousness. (Suarez, 2013)
Digital culture can be understood as that way in which people interact through the use of technological tools, digital culture differs from analogue for the following reasons:
- The digital culture places more emphasis on the meaning and purpose of communication than on the construction of the message. In digital culture less attention is paid to the functions of sender and receiver. Digital culture maximizes the possibilities of innovation and productivity for society Since it does not make them simple consumers of internet content, digital culture requires the development of new skills and new forms of knowledge. (Flores, 2009)
There are different definitions of digital culture today, however all of them refer to the creation and use of digital information online.
The term culture focuses on the emergence of means of interaction and new ways of forming interactive communities.
And the term digital is used to contrast with the analogous means of communication.
Therefore digital culture can be understood as the evolving use of digital information and as a channel for social and economic exchange mediated by technological artifacts.
Digital culture is a human creation that arises from the need to interact as a society, ICT they allow individuals to create, express, and propagate their ideas through common digital platforms.
The user of the technology is not a simple consumer, but rather someone who effectively interacts with the technology at their fingertips and thus becomes a participant in the global sphere.
The user can be understood as the prosumer who refers to the fact that nowadays the user of the new environment not only consumes but also produces the contents and makes them known to the audience that is generated over time.
Furthermore, digital culture is not a product but a process of creating culture through new technologies, and has the power to create cultural trends that are applied to digital platforms, digital culture is not the expansion of previous forms of interaction and creation if not a new way of producing social expressions and of giving people a better understanding through the concept of prosumer.
Characteristics of digital culture
- Digital culture is dynamic since it facilitates the production of new languages, skills, habits and ways of socializing. It transforms the conception of time and space, this because the transmission speed is instantaneous and can reach anywhere in the world. (Ferrari et al, 2012)
One of the most important aspects of today's digital culture is rapid change, because it evolves with increasing speed and with this, technologies become increasingly complex, technology develops at an incredible rate and it is true that Digital media such as the internet and the World Wide Web, mobile phones and digital video have enabled us to do things that we couldn't even imagine in the past.
However, what is truly surprising is the capacity for transformation not only of the world but also of the way of understanding what people represent in the environment and how they change in it.
Technological development
Technological development in recent years has been considered the largest in history, as it can be seen the development of electrical energy, the use of radio, the incorporation of television, the introduction of satellite, etc.
The evolution of computers and their networking have transformed the way people perceive the world. The digital system has significantly changed culture. Culture is directly related to the digital age.
"Culture or civilization… is that complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and any other capacities and habits acquired by man as a means of a society." In current anthropology, it is common for culture to be understood as "the total lifestyle" that includes all "patterned and recurring ways of thinking, feeling and acting" or, in other words, "the integrated system" that includes both " learned patterns of behavior "as" material objects "(Taylor, 1871)
Environments of the culture of man
The environment in which man develops is part of his culture and technology is of great importance in the way he develops. From this point of view (Toffler, 2001) establishes that the culture of man has been shaped by environments.
The first wave countries are those that are located in an agricultural stage, the second wave countries have acquired a high level of industrialization and the third wave countries are those that have digital information transmitted by networks and this plays a fundamental role in them.
Social settings
Natural environment (E1) identifies people as natural beings or born in an established place, it emerged in the earliest stages of history, when large cities did not exist when man was nomadic and thus continued until establishing themselves in cultural groups.
Urban Environment (E2) considers people through their place of residence, it does not necessarily focus on the place where they were born but rather where they decided to live, it arose from the first civilizations, this environment prevails and refers to states or nations.
The virtual network environment (E3) It emerged in the twentieth century thanks to the digital age, in this telecommunications is considered, this environment has no citizens but customers, has crossed borders leading countries to globalization, has transformed business creating electronic commerce and the cyberculture that uses the internet with a wide freedom has emerged. (Negroponte, 1995)
E3 is related to the digital revolution and this has impacted culture, transforming it in a surprising way in recent decades. However, the following stages emerge from the digital age.
Digital prehistory: contemplates the scientific events linked to the binary number theory and the technological advances that were capable of storing information and yielding results and that did not require electricity.
The German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz (1646-1716) created the binary numbering system inspired by yin and yan, duality of the I-ching, deciphered binary numbers like strings of zeros and ones. He was a pioneer in the use of symbolic logic in mathematics. All modern digital devices use both binary numbers and mathematical logic.
It was computational: during this, the construction of computers that were capable of processing previously entered data to generate a result was achieved.
The Second World War promoted the use of digital machines for the construction of war artifacts: MARK 1 and other supercomputers were used by the United States Navy to solve ballistics and organization problems in the Pacific.
The computers were advancing until they were able to have desktop computers and portable machines, that was possible thanks to the development of bulbs, integrated circuits and microchips.
The most current stage of the computational era has managed to make them so small that they have been drastically incorporated into society and other devices such as cell phones, automobile components, music listening devices, cameras and video players have emerged.
With the above, computer technology has grown and culture has changed radically.
Information age or global network: at this stage the largest information revolution that has been seen throughout history has been achieved, since it has managed to connect millions of computers worldwide, speeding up communication processes. and thus achieving a large database on what man knows.
“No technological advancement to date has changed human habits and behavior so profoundly. None has absorbed so many hours of life in a "black hole" whose virtual effects we do not know "(Vázquez and Cebrían, 1998,)
Emergence of ICT
ICTs are a set of technologies that provide people with information, communication and entertainment through the latest technological means.
ICTs are of great importance within society and emerged as a technological convergence of electronics, software and telecommunications infrastructure, these three technologies led to a conceptualization of the information process in which communications open new horizons and paradigms.
ICTs are defined as the set of technologies that allow the acquisition, production, storage, treatment, communication, recording and presentation of information in the form of voice, images and data contained in signals of an acoustic, optical or electromagnetic nature.
The ict are based on the electronics that supports the development of telecommunications, computing and audiovisual.
The contributions of ICT
ICTs are part of the digital culture that surrounds us and with which we live daily, they expand physical and mental capacities and spur social development.
The concept of ICT includes computing and its associated technologies, telematics and multimedia, and also the media such as social media and interpersonal media with technological support such as telephone, fax, etc. Which have evolved with scientific advances and economic and cultural globalization.
The rapid obsolescence of knowledge leads to continuous changes in economic, social and cultural structures.
The main contributions that ict have given to society are specified in a series of functions that facilitate the performance of work, whatever these may be, because they always require information to carry out a data process and enable communication with other persons.
- Easy access to all kinds of information: on any topic and in any format (textual, iconic and sound) specifically through television, internet and also through access to CD-ROOM and DVD discs with information on various topics such as: tourism, economics, general and thematic encyclopedias, films and digital video. Information is a raw material that is needed to generate knowledge with which to face the problems that arise every day in the environment where a person develops.Instruments for all types of data processing: computer systems, which are integrated by computers and programs, allow data processes to be carried out quickly and reliably, writing and copying text, calculations, creation of databases, image processing,for them there are endless specialized programs: word processors, editors, graphics, spreadsheets, etc. that help people to express themselves and thus develop creativity and organize information. Communication channels: this can be immediate, synchronous and asynchronous to spread information and contact anyone in the world by disseminating information in web format, email, instant messaging services, telematics forums, videoconferences, blogs, etc. Storage of large amounts of information: this using small, easily transportable media (, portable hard drives, memory cards) a 1 Gbyte flash drive can store a billion characters,which is equivalent to a thousand books of hundreds of pages and thousands of photographs of average quality. Automation of tasks: you can program the activities you want computers to perform, this is the essential characteristic of computers that are understood as machines that process automatically the information following the instructions of certain programs. Interactivity: they allow us to dialogue with management programs, video games, multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions carried out by users. Cognitive instrument: enhances mental capacities and allows the development of new ways of thinking.Task automation: you can program the activities you want computers to perform, this is the essential characteristic of computers that are understood as machines that automatically process information following the instructions of certain programs. Interactivity: they allow us to dialogue with programs management, video games, multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions carried out by users. Cognitive instrument: it enhances mental capacities and allows the development of new ways of thinking.Task automation: you can program the activities you want computers to perform, this is the essential characteristic of computers that are understood as machines that automatically process information following the instructions of certain programs. Interactivity: they allow us to dialogue with programs management, video games, multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions carried out by users. Cognitive instrument: it enhances mental capacities and allows the development of new ways of thinking.This is the essential characteristic of computers that are understood as machines that automatically process information following the instructions of certain programs. Interactivity: they allow us to dialogue with management programs, video games, multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions carried out by users. Cognitive instrument: enhances mental capacities and allows the development of new ways of thinking.This is the essential characteristic of computers that are understood as machines that automatically process information following the instructions of certain programs. Interactivity: they allow us to dialogue with management programs, video games, multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions carried out by users. Cognitive instrument: enhances mental capacities and allows the development of new ways of thinking.Multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions performed by users. Cognitive instrument: enhances abilities mental and allows the development of new ways of thinking.Multimedia training materials, expert systems, etc., this interaction is possible due to the fact that computers are programmable machines and it is possible to define their behavior and the responses they must give to the actions performed by users. Cognitive instrument: enhances abilities mental and allows the development of new ways of thinking.
Of all the elements of ict, the most powerful is the Internet that opens the way to the achievement of digital culture and the age of the Internet, which is what society is currently in.
The Internet provides a third world in which you can do almost all the things that are done in the real world and at the same time it allows you to develop new activities, nowadays people can interact in three worlds: the classroom, made up of laws of space, the interpersonal of the imagination and cyberspace of a virtual nature. (Marques, 2000)
Natives vs. digital migrants
Within the digital age, 2 currents have been developed, which are described below:
Digital natives: today's university students form the first generation that is made up of technological advances, which have become accustomed to immersion as they have always been surrounded by computers, video games, digital music, mobile telephony and other related entertainment.
They are considered to have dedicated
- 000 hrs to reading000 hrs to video games000 hrs to television
Therefore, it is not surprising that multimedia messaging, mobile phone, internet, etc. they are a fundamental part of your life. They think and process information differently than their predecessors, their skill in handling technology is superior to that of their parents and teachers.
Digital immigrants: this is the name given to those who due to their age have not lived immersed in technology but have been forced to learn quickly, immigrants learn at their own pace to adapt to the technological environment while maintaining a connection to the past. These communicate in a different way because they are forced to learn a new language unlike the digital natives who already have it established in the brain.
Characteristics of digital natives
- They prefer to receive information in an agile and immediate way They are attracted to multitasking and parallel processes They prefer graphics to texts They work better if they work in a network They are aware that they are progressing, which makes them feel immediate satisfaction and reward.
Characteristics of digital immigrants
- They do not justify that the learning process can be enjoyable and fun. They are suspicious of technological innovations. They prefer to move within what is known. They reject that it can be learned while watching television or listening to music. (Prensky, 2010)
Digital culture from the aspect of cultural heritage
Digital culture is a new area of research and application that refers to the digital version of cultural heritage, these include the visual arts such as painting and sculpture, the performing arts (music, theater, dance) and the media Communication (television, cinema) and also digital contemplates artificial environments (architecture) and natural environments (in the form of cultural landscapes).
Digital culture also includes new media that were born in the digital sphere such as virtual reality reconstructions, Internet art and new interactive narratives as well as digital versions, content and functions of heritage institutions (libraries, museum and archives).
Just as museums do digital culture has the challenge of collecting, contextualizing, transmitting and preserving.
The objective of digital culture is to promote the development of ICTs and applications in order to build a knowledge society and provide citizens with the possibility of taking better advantage of the resources offered by technology.
The evolution of the internet currently leads to forms of access, learning, work and creativity, the digital age is a new stage in the construction of human knowledge. (Colorado, 2010)
Digital culture in organizations
As has already been seen today there is a globalized world characterized by social and technological change, we are part of a networked world where hierarchies and relationships that power in people and structures in which people live are questioned every day. In this world, information and knowledge flow and are accessible at any time.
In this new era, many new generation companies, more agile, digital and fast, compete to gain ground for consolidated companies with extensive experience.
Digitization in a company is not an objective in itself but rather a process of profound transformation that requires attitudes of change and permanent adaptation to get out of comfort zones and explore possibilities.
Organizations that have the right culture and the necessary talent meet their objectives. To be competitive, you first need to be competent. Organizations need a digital culture and professionals with the necessary digital competences. In this way, the challenge of digital transformation becomes the challenge of digital transformation of talent.
8 digital skills to transform business
All professionals must acquire and develop the following skills to create a digital culture
- Digital knowledge: ability to function within an organization. Information management: ability to search, obtain, evaluate, organize and share information in digital contexts. Digital communication: ability to communicate, relate and collaborate efficiently with digital tools and environments.. Networking: ability to work, collaborate and cooperate in digital environments. Continuous learning: ability of people to manage learning autonomously, know and use digital resources, maintain and participate in learning communities. Strategic vision: ability to understand the digital phenomenon and incorporate it into the strategic orientation of your organization's projects. Network leadership:Ability to lead and coordinate distributed work teams in networks and digital environments. Customer orientation. Ability to understand, know how to interact and satisfy the needs of clients in digital contexts.
Digital transformation is not a technological issue but rather a form of vision, strategy and organizational culture. (Margo et al, 2014)
conclusion
Digital culture is a phenomenon of informational, communicational, cognitive, emotional, sensory, interactive change and social human behavior caused by technical scientific development and other multiple factors. In this behavior the ways of knowing, of being, of speaking, of writing, of reading, of believing, of feeling, of being and of being in the world are highlighted.
The digital culture is popularized in the way in which digital inclusion was expanded where different members of society are integrated where they are trained to know how to use technological resources.
We must bet on a digital culture centered on a humanistic vision and for this we must ensure that people move in digital migratory flows so that the appropriation of technology leads to the promotion of opportunities, equity and greater coexistence quality.
The peculiarity of the digital revolution does not focus on the number of machines that have been introduced into society, but rather on the configuration of communication environments in new methods of perception, language, sensitivities and writing and in new ways of acquire knowledge.
Bibliographic references
- Colorado, A. (2010). Perspectives of digital culture. ZER, 103-115. Flores, R. (2009). ROSA FLORES LOPEZ. Obtained from ROSA FLORES LOPEZ: http://rosainesflorezlopez.blogspot.mx/2012/10/confectoFerrari, EI (2012). Digital culture: a study of the appropriation of technology in Colombia. University of Michigan.Margo, C., Salvatella, J., Alvarez, M., O. Herrero, Paredes, A., & G.Velez. (2014). DIGITAL CULTURE AND TRANSFORMATION OF ORGANIZATIONS. Barcelona: ROCASALVATELLA.Marques, P. (2000). ICT and their contributions to society. DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED PEDAGOGY, FACULTY OF EDUCATION UAB. Negroponte, N. (1995). Be digital. MEXICO: Atlántida Océano.Prensky, M. (2010). NATIVES AND DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS. INSTITUCIÓN EDUCATIVA SEK. Suárez, C. (06/29/2013). KAMIAN BLOG. Obtained from KAMIAN BLOG: http: //kamian-suarez.blogspot.mx / 2013/06 / que-es-la-cultura-digital.html Taylor, E. (1871). Primitive Culture. 37. Toffler, A. (2001). The vision of leaders in the digital age. Mexico: Prentice Hall.
Information and communication technologies
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