Is Social Media Cosmopolitan? Social Sciences Essay

Is Social Media Cosmopolitan?
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Is Social Media Cosmopolitan?
In the current globalized world, individuals have become increasingly connected especially through various social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. However, the increasing usage of the social media has deprived people of an opportunity for physical contact, a critical component for upholding friendships. Humans experience is largely shaped by the world in which we are natured. As people’s worldview expands, so is the size of their brains. According to Konnikova (2014), primates often have large brains than other animals because of the socially complex societies in which they live in. In other words, the human brain increases with increase in the group size. Consistent with this argument, Appiah (2006) suggests that today’s humans have more experience than their predecessors who lived in prehistoric times because of interacting with a relatively large group of people. Accordingly, it is expected that the advent of the various social media platforms would increase people’s experience of the world. However, critics of the social media have expressed concerns that that the social media cannot help humans to me more cosmopolitan. In light of this, the current essay draws on the relevant literature to advance the argument that the social media cannot help us to be more cosmopolitan due to various limitations inherent in such media compared to the conventional face-to-face interactions.
Before delving into the question whether the social median enhances cosmopolitanism or not, it is important to define the term cosmopolitanism itself. Cosmopolitanism is not a new phenomenon, but rather dates back to the 4th century BC (Appiah, 2006). The term is quite different from other terms like globalization and multiculturalism. Initially referring to the “citizen of the cosmos,” the concept of cosmopolitanism has been elaborated to echo “oneness of humanity” (Appiah, 2006, p. xiv). As such, cosmopolitanism is construed as the global citizens constituting a single family within the universe, in which each rational citizen is concerned of his or her own well-being while promoting global togetherness under the so-called general laws of nature. Cosmopolitanism is based on two important tenets: our obligations to other people that transcend our families and relatives to include people from other cultures; and taking interests in beliefs and practices that lend particular human lives significance. Social media does make us more cosmopolitan considering the number of causes that are advanced online. For instance, people struggling with poverty can find help from people living in different countries.
Partial cosmopolitanism is a situation whereby we embrace the global values, beliefs, and practices while still being closer to our own set of values, practices and believes. Appiah (2006) illustrates this kind of cosmopolitanism that existed in his Kingsway Street in Kumasi where there was friendship and peaceful coexistence of individuals originating from diverse cultural backgrounds. To some extent, the social media, including Twitter and Face...