I’ve been reading lately – my current book is Benkler et al’s Network Propaganda, and in its Origins chapter, I was reading about 19th century vs 20th century American political styles and how they apply today, and caught myself thinking “am I studying America too much? Misinformation is hitting most countries around the world now – am I biased because I’m here?”.
I think that’s a valid question to ask. Despite there being good work in many places around the world (looking at you, Lithuania and France!), much has been made of the 2016 US elections and beyond; many of the studies I’ve seen and work I’ve been involved in have a US bias, funding or teams. And are we making our responses vulnerable because of that?
I think not. And I think not because we’ve all been touched by American culture. When we talk about globalisation, we’re usually talking about American companies, American movies and styles and brands, and much Internet culture has followed that too (which country doesn’t bother with a country suffix?) And just as we see Snickers and Disney all over the world, so too have our cultures been changed by things like game shows.