diffusion is the spread of a cultural element item group of people or phenomenon from one place to another now in our last video we talked about historical causes of diffusion today we are going to continue our conversation but focus on contemporary causes instead globalization increased rates of urbanization and advancements in technology all have continued to reduce barriers between people making it easier than ever to connect with other people around the world today we can see the impact of time space convergence the concept we talked about from unit one as our technology improves it becomes easier to connect with different people and cultures around the world all of which reduces the impact of distance Decay apps like Tick Tock Snapchat Instagram or sites like YouTube Facebook or Twitter allow for people around society and the world to quickly communicate and share ideas all these different social media platforms allow for the spread of viral memes stories Trends and much more for example we can look at this app created by data for good which shows the social connectedness between different Geographic areas this map allows us to see which regions and countries around the world are most connected to the United States by observing the Facebook friendship ties between different regions and countries Geographic areas that are more connected to the United States have an easier time diffusing information between the two areas technological advancements have also transformed the workspace with online conferencing allowing people to work from home which has allowed companies to work with people around the country and the world we can see this in the U.S census which show between 2019 and 2021 the number of people primarily working from home triple from 5.7 percent to 17.9 percent this was most likely due to the covid-19 pandemic but we can see how technology allowed for information to spread from the office to home companies that allowed employees to work from home gained access to a larger pool of workers since they no longer have to look for talent in a specific geographic area and can expand their search over an entire region country or possibly the world these are just two ways in which the internet and advancements in technology are reducing barriers and allowing for ideas cultures and people to diffuse as the internet becomes more accessible around the world we will continue to see more changes in society and more diffusion occurs we will also see the further diffusion of modern culture or pop culture which often gets diffused through the internet sometimes this newly connected world can lead to cultural Divergence and cultural convergence cultural Divergence happens when individuals become separated from different aspects of their culture this can happen because people are physically separated from their culture or because they are exposed to new cultures and ideas this is why certain folk cultures and indigenous cultures might be resistant to modern technology cultural convergence on the other hand is the exact opposite of cultural Divergence here we see different cultures come together to start to have one Mass called culture oftentimes in the form of a modern culture or Global culture we can see both cultural Divergence and convergence occur due to improved access and communication and globalization when looking at the internet and advancements in technology we could also look at the diffusion of English and how English became a lingua Frank which we can see is due to historical and contemporary causes of diffusion British colonialism and imperialism definitely was a major factor in the diffusion of the English language but today we can also see the impact of the internet movies music and social media all of which predominantly use English as the main language which allows for English to continue to diffuse around the world another Concept in our class that promotes diffusion around the world is globalization we can see that as countries become more connected they will continue to see new ideas cultures people goods and services and information diffused today Supply chains businesses economies governments and people are all interconnected and are influenced by a global culture and community unit oftentimes diffusion here happens through hierarchical diffusion starting first at a world or Global City these cities not only influence the people that live in the city or the region in which they're located but also different places around the world as the cultural trait spreads to the global City it eventually makes its way to other large urban areas where it'll continue to diffuse through the surrounding settlement and eventually make its way down to the smaller community so we can see diffusion on the global scale and how over time it can impact the national scale as the cultural trait goes from Global to National eventually the diffusion of a trait may continue to shift to culture and make its way down to a regional scale or even the local scale as technology urbanization and globalization continue to connect different people and places around the world will continue to see more diffusion occur all of which will lead to more people to get introduced to new cultures ideas goods and services and people from around the world all right that was just a quick look at contemporary causes of diffusion now comes the time to to practice what we've learned as always if you need more help with your AP Human Geography studies don't forget to check out my ultimate review packet and subscribe thank you so much for watching I'm Mr sin and I'll see you next time online