Social Imaginary and Techonolgy

     The main argument of Mansell’s article states that the way in which people see themselves and the functionality of their social environment is all determinant to Taylor’s theory of the social imaginary. Charles Taylor’s theory looks deeper than just the intellectual schemes or connections individually practiced when thinking about social reality in a basic and non-critical way. It focuses on the ways people imagine their social existence, how they determine whether they fit with others, the nature of these interactions and relationships with others and the normative expectations that are met. Encompassing this, the theory of the social imaginary looks at how people see themselves, and others in the society and or social environment.

     The technology industry, especially within the last 30 years, has advanced so quickly that the uses of these these new technologies have made their way into peoples everyday lives. Technology, now, is such substantial component or factor of most cultures living in these modern times. In many ways people see this human reliance on technology as having the potential to be damaging or detrimental to human society. People argue that this technological determinism, or the forward movement of culture reliant/dependent on the development and progression of technology, could lead to the formation of dystopian environment in which humans solely rely on technology in every aspect of their life. If we rely too much on technology, we risk the possibility of losing our ties or connection to the natural human elements of the functions of society. Other than technology’s interference with memory and retention of information read as well as the possible stress it induces in people, technology in society has proven itself to be a beneficial aid in performing necessary everyday tasks, especially in the information society. I believe that the possible problems technology can create, like stress, stem from people’s familiarity, or lack of, to the new technologies created, which purpose is to aid a persons social activities, progression and functionality in the information age.

     Technologies affiliation with our social self has helped us to become more expressive and communicative in the ways that we interact over the internet. The social imaginary, in my opinion & understanding, is an individual and common understanding, that has the ability to form common practices as well as a sense of legitimacy that is widely by the individuals. The imaginary shows how people see or imagine their social surroundings, as well as the functions of their society, whether they are supportive of it or feel as if there should be changes

     I found this link to be fairly interesting, giving an in depth explanation of the Charles Taylor's concept/theory of the social imaginary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLsceLMyElI

SOCIAL SHAPING

Digital communication combines components of communication done in face to face practices with those of writing.  Digital communication blends components  of both written and verbal communication while providing the opportunity to not walk away from the conversation or not respond to a letter. Displayed in the article about Katherine Pommerening, as all her friends are in her phone a good portion of her social life takes place through her phone, technology is shaped to seamlessly fit into your social life. I am able to easily catch up with friends I haven’t physically seen in months because their lives are communicated to me through technology.

The anxiety discussed in Bayms chapter of technology influencing humans is displayed through Katherine’s use of the word “we” when describing how she likes the colour blue. Katherine uses “we” to describe that her liking of the colour blue is approved by her online observations of Jennifer Lawrence, Gigi Hadid and Sprite. Katherine’s use of “we” highlights the influence digital communications has on society, however it is not a one way influence as the technological determinist believe.

                                              

On Instagram and Facebook we are able to digitize our emotions, we encourage others by liking their posts or pictures. Just like how Katherine’s friends go and unlike other girls pictures they don’t like. However, it is not that they don’t enjoy the picture, by liking or un-liking the picture they are digitizing their emotion towards that person not the picture being presented. There is a seamless flow of influencing and emotion coming from the digital communication device as there is going into it. Social shaping puts an emphasis on the social process that is involved in making sense of the technology.

I chose the theoretical framework of social shaping as I believe it is the closest to grasping the state of technology and societies relationship. I believe Baym could have pushed the discussion further,  Katherine is just one example of many of how we as a society interact with our devices. As we saw in the video in class, we are continually interacting with multiple platforms at one time, we are continually offered updates with our apps and devices. We no longer need to purchase a new technological device to be provided new implications, Apple continually attempts to improve the user experience while pushing technological boundaries. 

Technological Determinism

Do you remember growing up and only being allowed to go on the "family computer" (which was for the most part located in an open room where EVERYONE could monitor your every move) for at most a couple hours a day? And, for the most part would look a little something like this…

I do, and I've been able to witness how the adoption of technology has merged into our lives as a tool that is being used on a daily basis by a young and younger generation. When presented with the article on Katherine, a 13 year old that feels societies pressure to have an identity through different social media platforms I instantaneously thought about my nephews (3, 6 and 11 years old) who are continuously glued to their smart phone devices. I’m not even exaggerating when I say my 3 year old nephew knows how to work YouTube and play Mindcraft better than my 65 year old mom knows how to work a cell phone. As a new generation emerges you can see the anxiety that they receive when they do not have access to these technologies as Baym states that a, “Moral panic [happens] which anxieties over uncontrollable social forces become the focus of efforts to understand a new cultural trend” (Bayman, 49). Like Katherine, who develops a sense of anxiety when she is not surrounded by her smartphone (a lifeline, in her eyes) I believe that a lot of young people continue to feel the pressure of developing their online persona, which causes stress, and social anxiety, which distributes out into their real life relationships. Part of the Washington Post article that really got to me was when the author states, “She has 604 followers. There are only 25 photos on her page because she deletes most of what she posts. The ones that don’t get enough likes, don’t have good enough lighting or don’t show the coolest moments in her life must be deleted". I found this part of the article really sad frankly, and how Katherine a 13 year old girl is struggling to enjoy her life by being continuously glued on to her smartphone is unable to experience and post what she wants because she feels the social pressure to fit the ideologies of what others are doing. I came across this picture online that I think sums up the way of life that the next generation is being affected through the normality and overuse of the Internet and specifically social media platforms. 

I decided to look deeper into the theoretical framework, Technological Determinism because after reading the article in The Washington Post I was able to relate to the story of Katherine. I related to the article through my nephews and how their childhood is significantly different due to the technologies that are marketed to them as normal everyday device and how they have adopted them into their social and culture values.

Social Shaping of Technology

Social shaping of technology is a theory that is based on the combination of the way technology is influenced and formed, and the way that people use these technologies (Baym, 51). This social shaping aids in the creation of social structure within a network as it is created for one use, but often deviates and is developed according to the users.  New applications such as Snapchat and Instagram develop a new kind of social interaction for their users where users feel the need to feel included every waking moment of the day.

Snapchat was invented so that people could send quick photos of their daily life without having to take up precious space in a users phone.  However users have found multiple other ways to use the app. People communicate using the on screen text feature by typing and handwriting messages so much that it influenced how the app runs. Now, people like Katherine can use the in-app messaging system to chat with friends by sending messages that will disappear if not saved.  This way Katherines dad cannot check her phone records to see who she has been texting, and at what time. Users like Katherine and her friends also influenced the creation of Snapchat stories, as this newer feature allows friends to share a short video or picture to their general friend list. It can be inferred that this particular group would use it to show off what exciting activity they are participating in, or what cool new clothes they got. 

Snapchat is just one application where anxieties are formed by young teens.A user’s score is available to users’ friends, which gamifies the interaction for people like Katherine Pommerening. The article, 13, right now: This is what it's like to grow up in the age of likes, lols and longing, explains that people will use the app to send more snaps only to get a higher score. Katherine once spent her day sending and receiving approximately 1000 snaps to elevate the stress of having a low score. Society has enticed young people to use Snapchat in a new way, as well as Snapchat has enticed young people to communicate using short, quick messages for a score. This idea of a score also comes into play with stories, that a user can see how many people have clicked on their activity. Usually, the more people that click through, the more interesting it is. Thus the app helps to shape how, and what we take photos and videos of.

I personally believe that social shaping of technology would be best to describe the interaction between technology and the social mentioned in the above article as that is what social shaping is; the combination of the two. Social construction doesn’t look enough at how technology is involved in the process, and technological determinism looks too much at the technical side, and not enough at the social situations.

Social Shaping of Technology

     In the article that was read to us in class from The Washington Post, we saw how social media has a huge influence on the youth now more than ever, by reading about a young girl named Katherine Pommerening. We allow for technology to have the power to take over our everyday lives. From the moment we wake up to when we fall asleep, our social media is the first and last thing we check. People have become so dependent on social media that it stops them from trying to have an actual face to face conversation with someone. With social media, we are able to take our time when answering or posting something but when we have a direct conversation with someone we freeze.  Technology and social media interfere with our communication skills because we are so dependent on what the new gossip is online or getting the most likes on a photo. We fail to realize that technology is slowly taking over. 

     Katherine is a young teenager in today’s society that is a prime example of how we allow for technology to take control of us and how we are so into it more than anything. She has all of her social media accounts linked to her phone, which means she is constantly on it refreshing the page or waiting for a new update. Young teenagers get anxious when they are not with their phones because that is what they are most comfortable with and they might miss out on something. 

     With technology advancing and social media becoming a huge part of our everyday lives, we tend to lose legitimate connections with people. Friendships are broken because of pictures being posted on Instagram or gossiping over Facebook, relationships do not last long and are solely based on social media because we get upset when our significant other likes someone’s photo, and the new way to meet people is through dating apps rather than saying hi to someone in person that we may seem interested in. Yes, we are all guilty of one of these no matter how hard we try to deny it, but it is very important to recognize that we cannot continue this because we can lose our true selves in the process. Maybe that’s just me getting too deep, but I feel like we lose connections with people and the reality of things when we are so caught up in social media. At the end of the day, if someone unfollows you on social media who cares, if someone does not like your photo on Instagram, it’s not the end of the world. We try so hard to get the most attention from people when in reality, it is just a waste of time when we could actually be doing something productive that will benefit ourselves. I think we are all guilty of feeling anxious from social media in one way or another and that is completely normal. It is just important to be able to realize that and know that it is something that is very common. 

Blog #2: The Social Construct of Technology

The article 13 Right Now, depicts the day to day life of teenagers in today’s smart phone era. In the article Katherine is immersed in social media as most kids are; as her smartphone is her tool of choice. Although it may seem overboard her phone is simply the fuel to her addiction to stay connected. This article looks to give insight on the need to use and need to know about the public sphere in our private everyday lives. As what we see is a tool  we use in order to shape the way we act in or day-to-day lives.

Smartphones and social media in specific gives users a world of their own that provides both an abundance of pros and consequences with its heavy reliance. The article goes into detail to communicate some of the habits that Katherine has that are a true reflection of those of the new millennium. As it is used to stimulate her mind and either boost or lower her self-esteem. Althoguh I can not fault her because she a simply a product of her environment Katherine. Modern society places such high value on how you are perceived and to Katherine, she associates her self worth and success with the number of likes she may get as she states “Over 100 likes is good for me” and that the ones that don’t get enough likes get deleted, as if she is trying to keep up some sort of image of who she is.

I choose this theoretical framework because of the fact that whether anyone wants to admit it or not, the social aspect of University puts high importance on how you are perceived. Although I don’t believe its right in the day and age we live in, most people feel is if their worth is determined by how much they are liked, and how many people know about them. As both society and social media shape how we act, live, and ultimately stay connected with those around us

Domesticated Digital: 100 Likes, Birthday Besties, and Snapchat Scores

Nancy Baym’s perspective on the domestication of technology, is the framework through which I believe I can best analyze the social anxiety enabled by new digital media in teens.  In “13, right now: This is what it's like to grow up in the age of likes, lols and longing” Katherine exemplifies how digital media has become “everyday (tame) objects embedded deeply in the practices of daily life” (Baym 52) through a couple of practices that some people limited by a generational gap may assess as “wild.” The domestication of technology is the most effective perspective for me, because I am almost ten years older than Katherine, and this makes her assessment of normal or "tame" activities more recognizable to me as I still see some of them as "wild", whereas I am not as easily distanced from a social shaping or social construction frameworks.

Consider what Katherine means when she says, “Over 100 likes is good, for me.” Placing this in the context of her own social media standards expresses that in order to cope with the social anxiety of online popularity, teens rationalize a set of individual standards through which they may assess themselves in a preferable light.  If the girl Katherine discusses gets a lot of likes because she posts TBH pictures excessively and, for instance, another friend from school gets a lot of likes because he is friends with a vine celebrity, then Katherine can accept that around 100 likes is acceptable for her and her status in comparison.  It would not be likely for her to hold herself to the same 100 like standard if she just made her account recently. The fact that she deletes photos in order to maintain this standard exemplifies the everyday construction of her identity and standards. In order to cope with the social anxieties that digital media presents, she guides herself with her own rationalized standards. 

The “celebration” of birthdays has placed more importance on a process of friendship validation, than a tradition of partaking enjoyable activities in a physical space. Katherine posts a picture for her friend’s birthday, explaining that to do so is important. It is unsurprising that on Katherine’s birthday, she attentively waits for her friends to post a picture for her.  This practice is contrasted in the article by framing it with the physical presence of her grandparents, who came to her house to celebrate with her.  A decade ago, a teen might opt to enthusiastically emerge from her room to greet her family members on her birthday, to seek gifts, a birthday breakfast, and attention from those who came to physically celebrate with her.  Instead, the feeling of joy is postponed until a post can satisfy her anxiety.  I am not criticizing her, as I know that on my birthday I do the same thing, but it is with this contrast that the normalization of the practice can be identified.

Sending an excess number of snaps in order to ascertain a desirable Snapchat score before adding boys of romantic interest is something that I view as slightly wild, however I understand that my use of media as an adult differs from hers.  

I mean, this exists...

So I guess it is that important.

Although I would be disappointed to lose my score, I think that the effort it would take to regain 1000 points in one day would be too daunting of a task, and I might opt to either wait to add them until I get a decent amount of points, or just add them anyway.  The fact that having a low Snapchat score is considered so embarrassing that she must immediately address the situation, sheds light onto both the daily engagement and the anxiety that Katherine faces with digital media. 

Through the normalized practices of enforcing content standards relative to the individual, prioritizing digital celebration over physical celebration on one's birthday, and widespread quantification of popularity through constant engagement, the domestication of digital media becomes apparent.  The associated anxiety can be identified as one considers the rationalization behind these practices.