【明報專訊】Homogeneity is the lack of diversity that affects an area to varying degrees. It is a global trend, as the world is gradually being taken over by the market economy, consumerism and materialism, eroding traditional cultural values.

The homogeneity of self-image × black-and-white mindset

In September 2015, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of facebook, announced that facebook was to test a "dislike'' function. He said that while he used to baulk at the move because he did not want facebook to be a forum for people to express support for or opposition to posts, he wanted to go ahead with the plan because in cases such as bereavement or refugee crisis, there should be a better way to express opinions than the ''like'' function.

Some people were worried that the new function would bring back the problem of online bullying and cause the homogeneity of people's self-approval. During puberty, young people from time to time rely on other people's recognition to build self-esteem. They join different groups to seek like-minded people so as to build a sense of self-approval from their friends. If ''like'' and ''dislike'' were the only ways to express comments on facebook, young people's mindset and means of communication would become dichotomous(二分). People were worried that this would not only affect lateral thinking skills, but also make their self-approval become one-sided - either they are liked or disliked.

Finally facebook launched reaction buttons such as happiness, anger, sadness and surprise, ''dislike'' was not included.

Globalisation

The Turning Point Project, an anti-globalisation movement, said in an article titled Global monoculture that while several decades ago travelling served the purpose of seeing the world and exploring the diversity of cultures, such diversity is disappearing, as the rapid process of economic globalisation is bringing the same brands(such as McDonald's and Disneyland)to different countries.

Some people, however, think that cultural globalisation has given rise to glocalisation(全球在地化). As consumption patterns and customs differ from place to place, cross-national companies make changes to their business modes in accordance with local cultural customs when they expand globally.

Homogeneity of tourism × decrease in tourists

Hong Kong's tourist industry and retail industry are caught up in a downturn. This is attributable not only to protests against parallel traders(水貨客) but also to the homogeneity of Hong Kong's tourist industry. It has been a long time since Hong Kong began to market itself as a ''paradise for shoppers''(購物天堂). Some people think that Hong Kong should promote a diversified travel experience, encouraging visitors from all around the world to find out more about Hong Kong's culture and characteristics with its museums and artistic atmosphere.

Related concepts:

．interaction

．cultural pluralism

．cosmopolitan city

[通通識 第488期]