IB Digital Society 4.1 Cultural Key Definitions

The idea that human attention is a scarce, valuable resource that platforms compete to capture and sell to advertisers, shaping media to be as engaging and hard to put down as possible.

Technology that overlays digital content onto a view of the real world, through a phone screen or glasses, adding to what you see rather than replacing it.

A legal right that gives the creator of a work control over how it is copied, shared, and used, which digital media makes both easy to breach and hard to enforce.

The adoption of elements of one culture, often a marginalized one, by members of another, especially when done without understanding or credit and detached from the original meaning.

The process by which local and distinct cultures become more alike, often as globally dominant media, platforms, and trends spread and crowd out smaller traditions.

The gap between people who have reliable access to digital systems and the skills to use them and those who do not, a gap that tends to follow existing lines of income, age, geography, and ability.

Cultural heritage that is created in, or converted into, digital form, including digitized artefacts, 3D scans of monuments, recorded traditions, and born-digital cultural material preserved for the future.

Any content stored and shared as digital data, including text, images, audio, and video, which can be copied, edited, and distributed almost instantly over digital systems.

The process of converting analogue data into a digital format that computers can understand and process.

An online space where a group mostly encounters views that match its own, so shared beliefs are repeated and reinforced while opposing or outside perspectives rarely get in.

A cycle in which the output of a system feeds back to affect its own input, either amplifying the change (reinforcing) or pushing back to keep the system steady (balancing).

The narrowed view that results when recommendation algorithms mainly show you content similar to what you already like, limiting your exposure to different ideas, tastes, or perspectives.

AI that produces new text, images, audio, or code by learning patterns from vast training data. It is a powerful form of narrow AI, not a general intelligence, despite how capable it can seem.

Adding geographic location data, such as latitude and longitude, to a photo, post, or other piece of media so that it is tied to a specific place.

The extension of internet connectivity to everyday physical objects such as lights, watches, and sensors, so they can collect data and be monitored or controlled over the network.

A group of people who interact and build shared identity, norms, and belonging through a digital platform, connected by common interests rather than by physical location.

The situation where a destination receives more visitors than it can sustainably handle, straining local residents, infrastructure, and the environment, often intensified by digital platforms that funnel crowds to the same popular spots.

An algorithm that predicts what a user is likely to want and ranks items to suggest, based on their past behaviour and that of similar users.

A digital system that collects ratings and reviews from users to build a public score for a person, product, or service, used to signal trust and guide others' choices on a platform.

An economic model in which digital platforms let people rent, share, or access underused assets and services directly from one another, such as spare rooms, cars, or skills, rather than owning them outright.

A house equipped with devices connected to the internet.

Online platforms built around user-generated content and connection, letting people create profiles, share posts, and interact in many-to-many networks rather than receiving content from a single source.

Delivering audio or video over the internet so it plays in real time without being downloaded and kept. It shifts culture from owning copies of media to paying for access to it.

A smaller cultural group that exists within a larger culture, often with distinct beliefs, values, or interests that set it apart from the dominant culture.