Technological Determinism and New Media

In the second chapter of Nancy Baym's "Personal Connections in the Digital Age" she uses the majority of the chapter to differentiate between the multiple ways that new media is impacting society. For the sake of clarity and in relation to the article on Katherine Pommerening, I'm going to focus on the theory of Technological Determinism because I feel it makes the most sense when analyzing the case of Katherine. 

According to scholar Nick Carr, technological determinism is known as the way in which the technology is conceptualized as an external agent that acts upon and changes society (p.27). Baym referred back to Greek mythology to paint a clearer picture as she stated that Socrates decried the invention of the alphabet because he believed that it would be abused rather than used, ultimately placing too much reliance on this new technology. He feared that learners will put their trust into external written characters and forget how to actually do it themselves. This view persists the idea that regardless of the benefits that accompany new technology, we must be extremely careful to not let it change us for the worse. By this I simply mean that although technology makes things easier, putting reliance on it and neglecting our actual human skills and abilities could have negative impact on society as a whole.
These days we have gotten to a point where new technology has completely shaped the newest generation of children, which can be seen through their short attention spans due to rapid fire editing of current television (p.29). The newest generation of people were born into a world where technology has seen constant/rapid improvements and we are starting to see that the more you use them, the more they use you and the more you are influenced by them. Kids no longer hang out and play outside because they can sit on their couch and hangout online, and since these kids are experiencing social pressure to be online, anxiety is definitely present when their profile isn't the way they like it. 
Now looking at the case of Katherine Pommerening through the lens of Baym's work on technological determinism, one can clearly identify what Katherine and her family is experiencing. The anxiety brought on by the interactivity of new technology/ media is a very real concern these days, especially in the young adolescent age group. The biggest and most popular social media sites these days are ones that centre around the idea of creating a personal profile, and expanding your following. In other words, its essentially one big popularity contest which can be detrimental for young children. Throughout the article Katherine is portrayed as totally uninterested in what's happening in the real world because her attention is focused online. The amount of pressure that kids put on themselves to maintain a quality online profile is stunning considering it ultimately has no meaning whatsoever. When someone Katherine's age puts as much time into social media as she does, its hard for it not to have an impact on you. In the article it states that she has over 600 followers, and only 25 pictures which she carefully monitors and promotes to make sure she's seen as popular and cool. Although she may not have a problem gaining followers and likes other kids may, which puts copious amounts of weight on their shoulders as they are constantly comparing themselves to other kids. Also, at such a young age kids are very easily influenced which is usually more negative then positive. New media is constantly setting standards, telling you whats right or wrong, what to wear or not to wear, so the more time being spent sifting through these influences, the more it impacts you. In Katherine's situation, its evident that having a large online social presence is important to her, which leads her to spending more and more time online trying to improve. Although her online profile may expand, things such as real life social skills and multitasking ability will diminish more and more over time. 
I chose this theme because not only does it play a major role in the case of Katherine Pommerening, but I also believe it to be very true. Although I definitely still spend too much time online looking at new forms of social media, I do think that I have gotten better at letting it influence me as little as possible, and I'm confident that it comes with age. When you're a teenager there is nothing more important in life then being popular, but as you get older you start to realize that life isn't all emoji's and followers. 


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