Month: February 2018

This article discusses two different viewpoints on technology and society. “Technological determinism” outlines the effect that technology has had on society, and how it has shifted our culture, for better or worse. To sum it up, machines change us. “Social construction technology” is the inverse; people have the power. This theory states that humans are the catalyst to change, and we shape technology into what it is. In both of these terms, humans and technology evolve into something they weren’t previously. The middle ground between these two perspectives is “social shaping”, and acts as hybrid interplay between the evolution of society and technology.

In the chapter, Baym mentions the productive nature of communication about technology. This sparks new meaning for technologies, as well as new uses, and the innovation of new technologies altogether. However, with the introduction of new, foreign technologies in our lives, its effects are strongest due to our misunderstanding of it. “Rather than using it, people may be used by it” (Fischer, 1992:12).

This chapter also mentions some of the societal effects technology has on our lives, and whether being connected to a global network is truly connecting people in a meaningful way. It also raises the idea of anonymity and privacy. Being in a virtual environment with someone is far different than physically being with someone. Virtual identity raises confusion whether it is intentionally altered or not. Social media acts as our virtual identity, but it is subject only to what we want it to be perceived as. Technological determinism focuses on the connections humans have built amongst each other with the help of technology. Although some of these technologies may be dividing us, it underlines the human needs for connection, and trust amongst individuals.

In contrast to technological determinism, social construction of technology shifts the relationship we have with technology. This view states that humans hold the power to shape these technologies into what they are. The example of texting is a good descriptor. Although these students had phones, they did not realize what texting was until it was implemented into society. The phone isn’t necessarily innovative technology, but the way we use the technology we already have shifted as a result of human influence.

The domestication of technology poses an interesting point about how we view technology. Modern technology would be considered science fiction to our ancestors. Society views this technology as common and invisible, missing the fascinating nature of its very existence. The domestication of technology is prevalent in our society, and technologies are simultaneously enabling and disabling in result.

This article underlines the effect our digital culture has on children who grew up not knowing a world without technology. Being surrounded by technology is no substitute for tangible, sensory inputs of the real world. Although we are becoming more connected on a grandiose scale, we are becoming more disconnected from the world directly surrounding us. Social media communication severely undermines face-to-face communication, and is leading people to feel more disconnected as we become more connected.

There are various aspects of technology touched on in this article. Although there may be benefits to using this technology, there are certainly some downfalls. Using technology can enhance the learning experience, but access to an endless amount of information can pose some risks. Our brains still respond to our environment, whether it is physical or virtual. This alters the brain’s chemistry, ultimately leading to a shift in neural patterns.

New communication technologies provide us with the ability to connect with anyone in the world, and access any piece of information desired. This is connecting the world into a collective intelligence, yet people feel more alone than ever before. It makes you wonder how being more connected can lead to the inverse.

This cultural shift in technological advances has radically changed society. The author separates the generations that grew up without technology, and those that grew up with it into two distinct groups. One group sees technology as unnecessary and detrimental to our youth, and the other sees it as necessary and couldn’t imagine a world without it. Nonetheless, both groups remain steady consumers of the latest and greatest innovations. It’s no contest that technology has shifted as a result of culture; it is simply a matter of how we make use of it.

By separating the digital immigrants and the digital natives, we see how they both react to these new technologies. They also experience different motivations when it comes to interacting with it. The younger generations definitely have more trust in online information sharing, whereas older generations tend to be more hesitant and repulsed by the idea. This is simply a matter of conditioning and previous life experiences.

This article shed a light on how the two different generations experience these shifts in technology. It was interesting to read about how one subject can have many different implications based on people’s varying perceptions. New communication technologies have changed the world, and will continue to do so. Whether it is streamlining learning through video games, or children experiencing virtual trauma, there are many positives and negatives to be assessed and considered when implementing this technology into our society.

This book outlines the influx of new communication technologies in our society. The first chapter shows a humorous, real-world example of this. A woman’s dog pooped in the subway, and she failed to clean it up. This led to comments from other subway passengers and resulted in someone posting her actions onto a popular blog. This seemingly fleeting event reached global popularity through Don Park’s blog.

Without this technology, someone in the United States would have no idea about what is going on in a subway car in Korea. With modern communication technology, this is becoming almost instantaneous information. The motivation to share this information virtually with others hints at a sort of group-formation, or collective intelligence arising in our society. An individual is merely a node in the network, but sharing information to this network has the possibility of spreading across the vast web of the Internet at an exponential rate. While this is beneficial for most information, it raises caution when dealing with and exposing personal information.

With such powerful technological capabilities at our fingertips, it’s important to recognize the vast potential of this technology. “When we change the way we communicate, we change society.” This statement has been proven decade after decade and is prevalent in the first chapter of this book. An occurrence that historically would have remained as a story or transmitted through a phone call, has become a global phenomenon casting across the globe. This ease and speed of information sharing impacts not only our societal actions, but impacts our individual motivations as well. There is a motivating factor pushing people to share this information, whether it is the feeling of social acceptance, validation, or simply the want to share with others.

There is certainly a level of trust involved with sharing information online. Many people resent privacy infringements, however, they continue to use social media and add their own personal information. There is a trade-off between being more involved and being more vulnerable. I believe that people build trust in these social media sites by seeing others trust and share their information. If everyone else is doing it, it must be okay.

This reading has given me a refreshed insight on just how powerful these new communication technologies in our society. Our culture has radically shifted over the past century, and we owe it to the ease and efficiency of our communication technologies. A message that normally took weeks or months to reach across the globe can now be delivered in a matter of seconds. This would seem impossible 100 years ago; what do we see as impossible today that will one day become our everyday reality?