Lecture Notes September 15 2015 How Technology Alone Doesn t Change Society Challenging technological determinism o A lot of people think that technology is all bad biases against the media with the idea that TV turns you into a zombie harms children dumbs you down limits real communication distracts you from real life Fear and hate arises because it s easy We like to project problems onto a source People think their generation is the greatest generation biases against the new things Desire to control what other people are viewing o A lot of people think technology and media progress anti censorship campaigns people saying that giving people access to technology will change their lives for the better People frequently withdraw into closed communities using the media Covers of magazines in the US are less global pointed inward Echo chamber people choose media that reinforce a person s preconceived notions which makes biases stronger o Sometimes when a better quality of technology comes out there are road blocks that come with it ex DVDs are newer and more advanced but sometimes they have more technological problems than VHS or governments can regulate them and control them more Digital divide the gap between individuals and communities that do not have access to information technologies o Haves vs Have Nots Geography urban settings more access Race whites more access Education more education more access Income Marital status Age Global location o 1 5 Americans doesn t use the internet because they don t think it s relevant not because they can t Soft determinism o Technology is just one factor in shaping society o We should also be looking at how society affects technology o There are always social struggles about technology o Sometimes technology isn t used in the way it should be used Ex electric cars Textuality matters o Global village the idea that technology has shrunk the world o Many think that the Global Village doesn t exist because of the way we use the internet Marketing matters o Shows us how to use the technology we are given o Marketing encourages us to use our phones as music machines or business tools or travel depending on the ad Context matters o Radio then and now the radio used to be something that the family would get together and do listen to but today radio is something to keep us busy while we re driving or doing other things o Film used to be in fancy theaters all the time it was a fancy thing that you can do with others but now movies can be experienced portably or in private o Manga in the US is a weird subculture but in Japan it is part of the mainstream 2 o Audiences and users matter People from different countries respond to movies differently Even when being pushed in a certain direction people are the ones who determine how technology is used in culture 3