Online communication of digital heritage: Motivation, path, and effect

Abstract

Since the 21st century, the ecology of communication of cultural heritage has changed significantly thanks in large part to new media technology. For the existing social order and cultural ecology, new media technology has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are apparent, but the disadvantages are hidden and less discussed by scientists exclude a few humanists. Here are some of the facts: (1) the more complex and vivid the media symbol environment is, the more beguiling the resulting stereotypes are, and the greater the likelihood is that people will mix up the real world with the cyberworld; (2) compared with traditional media such as radio and television, ethics anomie in network communication is more serious, especially the copyright infringement, defaming and invasion of privacy. (3) network changed people's space-time concept, formed specific bias of communication which makes certain types of information can more easily spread and be accepted than other information; (4) under the action of multi factors including above three elements, the mechanism of cultural inheritance and variation is destroyed, communication effects gaps arise, which probably make the cultural heritage encounter even more serious ecological crisis on the whole. In order to enhance understanding and explore the rule of online communication of cultural heritage, this paper put forward an angle of discussing the problem from the aspects of motivation, path and effect based on the investigation into the status quo of online communication of digital heritage. The status quo of online communication of digital cultural heritage is not optimistic. Select several well-known portal sites such as MSN, AOL and Yahoo! to make a rough survey of the web content, we find that it is not easy to acquire information about cultural heritage from t