Blog Post #2: domestication of technology

Katherine Pommerening is the perfect example of domestication of technology because in the video it shows how integrated her cell phone is, into her everyday life. The article depicts how she uses it constantly and so normally such as when she gets in the car for school and when she’s doing her homework. However, being so accustomed to our devices does not only come with nice filters and a fun little way to catch up on our friend’s lives. New media provokes anxieties in its users and when young girls like Katherine are so absorbed into it, it inevitably impacts their self-esteem. For example, Katherine depends on likes and comments, to help her decide which pictures she keep on her Instagram page in order to depict the “coolest moments in her life”.  Rather than actively working to be a better person, she relies on comments to tell her that she is and validate her, so other people can say she is “nice and pretty”. A special day like one’s birthday now has the most meaning on social media, depending on how many people will put you on their page. It is sad that million’s of teens (and adults) allow their happiness to depend on other people’s actions towards them on social media, imagine if a friend forgot to post “happy birthday” on your wall but called you on the phone instead? It might be a travesty for most.


I chose the theory “domestication of technology” because while we read about Katherine’s story in awe, we tend to forget how integrated our technologies are in our own lives and how dependent we have become on them. Life with our technological devices has become normal, we don’t use alarm clocks anymore as we have the “clock” app on our phones, we use “Google Maps” instead of a GPS, and many people don’t even own camera’s anymore thanks to our high quality phone cameras!

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 6, 2018 at 10:09 AM

    Hi Mira,

    I really enjoyed reading your post. I chose the domestication of technology as well and I feel like you brought up a number of solid arguments to support your position. I liked how you included the examples of Katherine deleting her Instagram posts based on how cool she thought they were and the importance of birthday comments on social media. It amazes me how normal it has become to care so much about how you are being perceived online and that most people are not aware of the anxieties that result from this constant interactivity. Although I must admit I was guilty of this in high school, I've realized that it can be very liberating to take a break from the daily stresses of maintaining an active social media profile.

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