Summary

The author reflects on the pervasive influence of American culture on the internet, particularly within English-speaking platforms like Medium, and its impact on non-American users' understanding and perception of global issues.

Abstract

The article discusses the author's personal experience growing up in the UK, constantly exposed to American cultural references in media and online content. This exposure has led to a subconscious familiarity with American customs, measurements, politics, and social issues, often at the expense of a deeper understanding of local British culture and global perspectives. The author points out that the dominance of American culture on the internet can skew perceptions, making American issues seem universal and leading to misconceptions about historical and social matters, such as the prevalence of slavery and the experiences of white people in different parts of the world. The article emphasizes the importance of recognizing the American-centric nature of much online content to avoid adopting a solely American worldview.

Opinions

The author believes that American culture has a disproportionate presence on the internet, affecting the global narrative on various topics.
There is a critique of the assumption that American experiences and issues are universal, which can lead to a lack of awareness about other cultures and histories.
The author suggests that the internet's focus on American politics overshadows knowledge of politics in other countries, including the UK.
The article argues that discussions about historical events like slavery are often framed from an American perspective, ignoring the broader context of slavery throughout history and across different cultures.
The author is concerned that the cultural and political discourse on the internet, particularly regarding contentious issues, is becoming increasingly Americanized, potentially drawing non-American countries into America's domestic conflicts.
The author emphasizes the need for internet users to be mindful of the American bias in online content and to actively seek a more international perspective.

The Internet Is Dominated By American Culture

And so is Medium

(Note: I know that “America” is also comprised of other countries like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and so on. Sorry guys, the English language doesn’t have an alternative word for describing things from the United States).

As a child growing up in the United Kingdom, I was exposed to American culture on a daily basis.

I watched cartoons filled with characters speaking with American accents. I watched TV programs set in America; they used words like “high school”, “kindergarten”, “sophomore year” and “freshman year”. I listened to American music, and when imitating these singers, I would sing in an American accent myself.

As a kid, my little brain didn’t quite understand that the USA was a separate country from the one I was living in. After all, they were speaking my language.

I still remember watching WWF wrestling and being bewildered when I saw a man in the crowd holding up a sign that said “Shut up already!”. I didn’t understand the concept of using the word “already” at the end of a sentence — we don’t do that in British English.

Then I became a teenager and started browsing the internet. I would watch fitness videos and listen to the fitness influencer explain that he was benching “100lb”. 100 pounds? Huh? How heavy is that?

I would look up cooking recipes, and the video would casually explain “Now just add 2 cups of flour”. Cups??? What size of cup should I use?

“Just head to Walmart and you can buy everything you need”. Walmart? What’s that?

“Here are my ingredients: an eggplant, some egg whites, and some baking soda” Eggplant? Egg whites? Baking soda? What the hell is all this stuff???

I would constantly find myself mildly confused by the content I watched.

I tried to copy the lifestyle habits of American influencers on Youtube, but it never quite seemed to work the same for me as it did for them. They often lived in big houses, with huge kitchens, massive fridges and tons of storage space, in contrast to my small, dimly lit kitchen in my cosy, old British house.

I read posts from people online talking about how they “only” earned $60K a year and feelt incredibly inadequate. You earn $60k a year?!?!

I didn’t realise that the internet is dominated by American culture.

American culture permeates the English speaking internet in all kinds of ways that I had never considered until recently.

Here is a list of topics that I know in great detail, despite the fact they have absolutely nothing to do with me.

Roe Vs Wade
The Ulvalde school shooting
The Tea Party
The Proud Boys
Alexandria Oscasio-Cortez
The Ohio train derailment

Why do I know all this stuff?!

Living in the UK, these things have absolutely nothing to do with me, and have absolutely no effect on them, yet my brain seems to have collected all kinds of information on these topics.

In fact, I have a greater understanding of US politics than I do of UK politics or any other European country.

On top of that, I often find myself saying American phrases like “Bruh” and “badass” (Nobody with a British accent should ever use the term “badass”. It sounds ridiculous).

Despite all these quirky trivialities, American culture dominates the internet (including Medium) in far more serious ways that I hadn’t noticed until recently.

Whenever “slavery” is discussed online, it’s automatically assumed that what’s being discussed is the trans-Atlantic slave trade from Africa to the USA. Spend enough time online reading about politics and you might get the impression that the only group to have ever practised slavery were white westerners, leading them to the false conclusion that white people are uniquely evil compared to other races.

If we were to discuss slavery with an international perspective, rather than an American perspective, we would discuss the Arab slave trade, Africans enslaving each other before white westerners arrived, slavery in ancient Egypt and endless other incidents of slavery throughout human history.

Discussing slavery with an international perspective, rather than an American perspective, leads us to completely different conclusions. We would be more likely to conclude that slavery was the norm throughout history, across all countries, and not unique to white people.

Speaking of white people, across the internet, you will find articles talking about how “white people” are like this, or how “white people” are like that. When in fact, what’s actually being discussed are white American people.

After all, white people in Eastern European countries like Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Romana, Croatia and Hungary are vastly different from white Americans. The same can be said for white Italian, Spanish and Portuguese people.

When the BLM protests erupted in the USA in 2020, the trend spread through the internet and sparked similar protests in the UK. Protesters would shout and scream about the death of George Floyd, despite the fact that he died on the other side of Atlantic ocean to completely different police force.

More and more, the culture war currently raging on in the US is spreading to European countries. How did it spread? Through the internet, of course.

If we’re not careful, we’ll all end up being dragged into American’s culture war.

Americans also have an unfortunate tendency to talk as though the USA is the default country of the world, a tendency causes a lot of confusion for those of us living in other countries.

Here on Medium especially, writers and commenters often seem to assume that everybody reading lives in the USA.

I often receive comments on my articles saying things like “This country is a horrible place”. Which country? The US?.

I might be discussing feminism with somebody, and they will respond “Yeah, but women’s rights are being taken away”. Oh, you mean in the US?

“This election is going to be crazy”. Oh, you mean the US election?

“Schools in black neighbourhoods are underfunded”. Oh, you mean black neighbourhoods in the US?

“The police are racist scumbags!”. Oh, you mean the police in the US?

“The education system is a joke!”. In the US, you mean?

“I live on the east coast, and…”. You mean the east coast of the US, right?

“You’re just a stupid lib!”. You’re referring to the incorrect American definition of liberal, right?

“White people are so entitled”. You mean white American people, right?

If you’re not careful, you end up talking about politics through an American perspective without even realising it.

If you’re not from the US, it’s important to continually check in with yourself. Ask yourself, is this just an American thing? In many cases, you’ll find that the entire discussion doesn’t apply to you.

The internet is dominated by American culture. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up basing your entire world-view through an American perspective.

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