網際網路與文化的融合效應──日本先驅學者從不同國家角度來談

The Blending Effect of the Internet and Culture: A Pioneering Japanese Scholar’s View on Internet Culture in Different Countries

The latest developments in communication technology have changed the way people connect and interact with each other. With the growing diversification of Internet use, more sophisticated survey methods are needed to understand Internet usage patterns. Since 1990, Dr. Ishii continues to focus on information society, media effects, nation branding, and consumer behavior researches. He believes that Japanese mobile Internet use is unique in that users are more dependent on mobile text messaging as compared to PC--based Internet and mobile voice phone. Dr. Ishii believes that mobile messages promote and support strong ties rather than weak ties in Japan. Japanese people are more individualistic at the psychological level. Mobile phones facilitate “selective interpersonal relationship” among young people. He said the mobile Internet will develop around the world in different ways, and this is dependent on the influence of local culture and customs. Cultural differences between different countries have been explained by the concept of relational mobility, which is the amount of opportunities people have in a given society or social context to select new relationship partners when necessary. For example, interdependent self-view is considered a common value among Japanese people, the associations between the relationship-oriented value (or interdependent self-view) and life satisfaction (happiness) mean that online communications with strong ties (or intimate friends) promote happiness feelings among Japanese users. It may be expected to have different interactions which are associated with happiness between Western and Eastern countries.