สื่อใหม่กับกลุ่มชาติพันธุ์: การต่อรองทางการเมืองและวัฒนธรรมของกลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ในสื่อออนไลน์

Abstract

                  This paper presents the author’s observations of the online survey results on the importance of new media, which herein means online media in the sense that they serve as a platform of political and cultural negotiation of certain ethnic groups, as illustrated through the case studies of the Shan and the Tai So. It is found that both ethnic groups have been using new media as a platform of their expressions of ethnic identity. While the Tai So use new media as a channel of communication in order to preserve their culture, the Shan use it as a channel of political movement to foster an awareness of the Shan identity, which will ultimately be the driving force of their political rights movement.
                  However, the study reveals that the accessibility of new media has also contributed to the fact that the outsiders can use them as a means to destroy cultural identities of ethnic groups. Consequently, the use of new media as a platform of cultural negotiation is a never-ending and subject-to-change process. In other words, it is a process that is full of dynamism, constantly changing in accordance with the social context as well as political and cultural situations.