In the past decade, relatively few countries have shifted from “developing” to “developed” status, despite the significant advancements in sectors such as technology, economy and healthcare. In the formal sense, it is a difficult and detailed process for countries to make this shift, as a combination of factors is required: higher human development indicators, political stability and economic diversification, to name a few.
These terms should be taken with a grain of salt; there are considerable differences between our understanding of a country’s development and that of organizations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. Challenges for many of these countries to formally update their development status will always remain. However, these terms create the misconception that these countries are not making progress, often stuck in a “catching up” state.
What adds to this illusion is the plethora of online videos that go viral by depicting various developing countries in a negative light: clips of Indian street food emphasizing poor hygiene practices, favelas in Brazil reduced to crime-ridden backdrops, or marketplaces in Kenya and Nigeria shown as disorderly.
These videos are framed as entertainment or sensationalized content, but in turn, they selectively highlight extremes rather than the everyday realities and beauties of these countries. Seldom does social media show the parallel realities of these nations that unfold beyond our screens. Why do we not emphasize the thriving technology hub in Hyderabad, São Paulo’s advancement toward zero-emissions electric public transport or the “Silicon Savannah” in Nairobi, creating an environment for mobile banking and financial services for millions?
The implications of such videos are more subconscious than they are overt. Accumulating views over time, online users begin to sideline the cultural diversity required to understand a country’s social landscape. The result? We begin to associate disorder, danger, or “backwardness” with an entire nation. In the process of online algorithms promoting these biases, the multifaceted dimensions of cultural depth are lost.
Not all countries will experience a “Miracle on the Han River” the way South Korea did, but not all countries need to either. The internet often reduces images of developing countries to disorder, presenting them without context and ignoring how these spaces contribute to the shared culture and identity of everyday life for their residents.
These countries may be considered “developing”, but they are not stagnant. The narrow portrayals we see online hide the true development of these parts of the world and the social and cultural fabric that allows residents to call it their home.
