The internet has become an intricate part of everyday life for almost everyone in the industrialized nations of the world. The world wide application of the internet and the development of social networking media websites has created an environment for the exchange of information that only a couple of decades ago would have been impossible. The ease of access to new information throughout the world has allowed for quick and widespread change affecting culture. This paper looks at the ways in which social media networking websites affect our lives and culture from an individual, local community, and national political realms. By demonstrating that social media websites affect our daily lives, we can illustrate the impacts on culture and how these websites are affecting culture change globally. This paper looks at the necessity for anthropologists to analyze the impacts of social media so we can understand the implications on future culture change and the development of a global culture. By using examples set by Benedict Anderson's analysis of the spread of nationalism related to the invention of the printing press, this paper demonstrates that culture change through media may not be a new idea, but it allows such change at a pace that has not been seen before.
