The Digital Frontier: Psychological Effects of the Internet in the Orinoquía Region. La Frontera Digital: Efectos Psicológicos de Internet en la Región de la Orinoquía.

Abstract

This article presents the results of research conducted in the Orinoco Region of Colombia. This research focuses on the processes of cultural change produced by the advent of Internet and social media. Particularly, this article aims at understanding how these changes in the cultural landscape of peripheral regions modify the psychological processes associated to identity development. In order to investigate this problem, 71 semistructured interviews were conducted in the Orinoco Region of Colombia. Results show that Internet is producing a deep transformation in the cultural landscape of frontier territories, allowing a growing contact with cultural objects external to the local culture. Results show also that this contact is related mainly with music-related cultural products. This contact has allowed young people to come in contact with new aesthetic experiences, particularly, with tendencies not transmitted by traditional mainstream media (e.g., radio, tv). Contrary to popular expectations, these changes, at least for the moment, have not produced a decrease in the contact and appreciation of local culture (e.g., llanero music –a type of music from the Orinoco region-). All these facts indicate that Internet is allowing the advent of hybrid cultural experiences in which people has to negotiate local and global tendencies, as well as virtual and the physical spaces.