Modern Technology Is Creating a Single World Culture - IELTS Task 2 Band 9 Sample Essays

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Sample Essay 1

Some argue that the internet, streaming platforms and AI translation are flattening differences into a single world culture. I disagree. While technology standardises formats and accelerates the spread of global brands, its deeper effect is to multiply niches and amplify local identities. I will contrast platform-level convergence with content-level divergence and show how ‘glocalisation’—global distribution of local forms—prevents the reduction of humanity to one cultural template.

Admittedly, digital technology has imposed a unifying, platform-level grammar on everyday life. Algorithms reward the same hook-heavy storytelling and thumbnail aesthetics; streaming compresses release windows; and global retailers replicate cafés, menus and fashion cycles across continents. The result is recognisable surface sameness: Marvel plot arcs dominate cinemas, TikTok challenges leap borders overnight, and the “Instagrammable” café—neon script, terrazzo, latte art—appears almost everywhere. Even musical production converges around similar tempos, compressed dynamics and loudness norms optimised for earbuds. In this sense, technology standardises how culture is packaged, ranked and monetised. The danger is not overt censorship but a lowest-common-denominator aesthetic incentivised by metrics: what is easy to click rises to the top, while slower, ritualised or region-specific forms can be crowded out of attention markets.

Yet the same technologies that smooth surfaces also fertilise difference. Cheap creation tools, translation, and algorithmic discovery extend the “long tail”, helping local genres travel without being domesticated. K-pop, Afrobeats and Turkish dramas did not become global by mimicking Anglo-American norms; they doubled down on their own idioms and relied on subtitles, fan labour and platform distribution. Recommender systems actually segment audiences into innumerable micro-cultures—BookTok, chess-YouTube, francophone rap—where communities codify norms, resurrect dialects and teach rituals. Even multinationals adapt: McDonald’s serves halal menus, Netflix commissions Nigerian and Korean originals, and video games localise storylines for Southeast Asia. Far from melting into one culture, technology enables “glocalisation”: global reach with local flavour, creating hybrid forms that are recognisably rooted yet instantly shareable.

Therefore, technology synchronises the planet’s attention clocks but does not dissolve cultural pluralism. It homogenises interfaces and incentives while diversifying expression. On balance, the evidence points not to a single world culture but to an archipelago of hybrid, fiercely local cultures connected by global pipes.

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Sample Essay 2

The accelerating march of technology has shrunk distances and blurred cultural borders to such an extent that societies now resemble one another in unprecedented ways. I fully agree that modern technology is creating a single global culture. This essay will argue that the dominance of global digital platforms has unified lifestyles across countries, and that technological standardisation in communication and consumption has erased many traditional distinctions.

The first major force behind cultural convergence is the overwhelming dominance of digital platforms that dictate how people worldwide spend their time. Social media giants, search engines, and streaming services spread uniform tastes, slang, and humour across borders. Young adults in vastly different geographies now laugh at the same viral memes, follow the same influencers, and adapt their fashion or speech to mirror global icons. Even political movements are staged in a similar digital style, with hashtags, livestreams, and orchestrated visuals. The homogenisation is not accidental; algorithms reward universal relatability and discourage regional eccentricities. As a result, national cultures are increasingly subordinate to the aesthetic and behavioural codes dictated by a handful of technological ecosystems. A teenager in São Paulo and another in Seoul are not simply connected—they are culturally synchronised through a shared digital diet.

Equally significant is the way technology standardises consumption, communication, and even social rituals. Online marketplaces promote the same global brands, while fast-delivery apps spread identical eating patterns, from pizzas to bubble tea. Video calls, emojis, and instant messaging have compressed communication styles into concise, image-driven formats that transcend linguistic nuance but flatten expression. Religious festivals are broadcast on YouTube, weddings are live-streamed on Instagram, and global holidays like Black Friday overshadow indigenous calendars. Traditional markers of difference—local dress, cuisine, dialects—are increasingly repackaged into commodified versions for tourist appeal, while the daily lives of urban populations follow near-identical rhythms mediated by smartphones and cloud platforms. In effect, technology not only transports culture but scripts it into predictable forms.

In conclusion, the evidence demonstrates that technology has become the architect of a single world culture by shaping what people watch, how they speak, and the ways they live. Through digital platforms and standardised practices, once-distinct societies are now harmonised into a uniform global lifestyle that transcends geography.

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