Individualization can be traced back to the study of Carl Jung’s work on indi-
viduation (http://www.mindstructures.com/carl-jung-individuation-process/. Access
March 27, 2014). He stated that
it is a process by which individual beings are formed and differentiated; in particular it is the
development of the psychological individual as a being distinct from the general, collective
psychology.
According to Jung, the ego is a subject of one’s consciousness and a subset of the
self, which includes both the consciousness and unconsciousness of the total psyche.
Globalization increases this individualization process. Consequently, the German
Sociologist Ulrich Beck proposed his individualization theory, arguing how indi-
viduals in the late modernity take their lives in their own hand (due to migration and
economic opportunities) and thereby create a new identity of social life (http://
damienlanfrey.net/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12:notes-
on-ulrich-becks-qindividualizationq&catid=13:modernity. Accessed March 27,
2014).
With the breakthrough of the new media as a consequence of the digitization
revolution, new formats of self-expressions have become popular as the audience
gains recognition of his/her private, social, and public achievements (Hjarvard
2013 : 150). Hjarvard ( 2013 :11) explains that the mediatization process affects an
individual autonomy and social belonging in such a way that the individual gains
more autonomy by relying deeply to the external world in the act of connecting to
the large social networks available. He calls this phenomenon,soft individualism.
Elliott and Lemert already observed a new kind of individualism in 2006. They
propose that globalization has a profound impact on the individual level. They
defined this new individualism as a highly risk-taking, experimenting, and
self-expressing individual underpinned by new forms of apprehension, anguish, and
anxiety. High levels of individualism can lead tonarcissism. Twenge and Campbell
( 2009 : 19) state in their book,“The Narcissism Epidemic,”that the central feature
of narcissism is a very positive and inflated view of self and this value is growing
rapidly in the American culture fueled by the mass media, including the new media,
and changes in parental approaches to upbringing that emphasizes self-expression.
Symbolic representations of the new American culture of self-expression or par-
ticipating audience/amateur journalist are the emphasis on celebrities in the media,
the success of Facebook as social networking sites, the uploading of personal
videos on YouTube, twitter (micro blogging and text-based social networking or
SMS on the internet via its own website), and blogging (Twenge and Campbell
2009 ). In many cases the audience can be a target or a commodity when
profit-making and commercial values are built into the media system of advertising.
The self or ego of the audience will in these cases be coupled with commercial
products to increase self-confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, etc.
The mediatization effect can be used to explain the booming of spirit-medium
cults, amulet cults, and commercialized religious movements as external factors to
help strengthen the new kind of individualism.
12 1 Thai Buddhism, the Mass Media, and Culture Change in Thailand