Blog Post #2: Domestication of Technology

In the Washington Post article, Katherine’s relationship with technology, her social life, and associated behaviours show that her cell phone use and her use of social media websites is related to the  domestication of technology.  The technology she uses is seen as normal and expected to be there and is not something new, trendy, or fashionable. Almost every waking minute she is online and communicating with her friends. This technology is taken for granted and has become a very large part of her everyday life. The digital world is a natural home to Katherine, one where she can meet and talk with her friends. This allows her to forget the issues in her non-digital world. 
The technology discussed takes a form that can cause a sense of anxiety where Katherine needs to be liked online. In the article, it discusses how important receiving certain positive comments on her pictures was. Having positive comments to her infers that she is a good person who is liked by others. Likes are something that are also significant to many social media users. If a picture does not receive a certain number of likes, individuals like Katherine will delete their posts. Although, this may seem ridiculous to some who are not as submerged in this social media world, for Katherine’s generation it is how they are able to compare themselves to others. Katherine is part of Generation Z, who are grown up surrounded by this technology. It is also clear from Katherine's interaction with the non digital world that she may have already developed deep and long lasting bad habits and poor social behaviours. An example of this is when she does not speak to her nanny as she is more interested in her phone. Another example is when she thumbs through social media sites even after being told it was time for basketball practice. It seems that getting just a few more minutes of online interaction is more important than being sociable and active in the real world.

In today’s society, having a phone or computer is something that is totally expected, and in fact, to not have one is seen as being abnormal. We take much of technology such as the internet and social media for granted. Baym discusses that when others don’t use technology it becomes our issue which can create a block in our two-way communication (Baym). We are so used to being able to connect with others, so having someone not use technology really hinders our abilities to connect. Baym discusses that there are often questions that arise that ask “what it means to truly be yourself, to have meaningful relationships with others, and to be situated in a world of others who are different from the people with whom we were raised” (Baym, 55). Social media and interacting in a digital world certainly has its own ground rules for building and maintaining relationships and communicating effectively, which Katherine uses everyday. 

Works Cited
Bayn, N.K. (2015). Making new media make sense. Personal Connections In The Digital Age: Digital Media and Society Series (2nd ed., pp.52-56). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. 



Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 6, 2018 at 5:38 PM

    You made some really good connections between Katherine and how technology can disrupt even the most basic human values or processes. For example, you mentioned that Katherine kept scrolling through her phone for a few more seconds regardless of being told it was time for basketball practice. From my perspective, she should have taken the initiative and responsibility to prepare to leave practice; however, she chose to ignore her responsibilities and continued to scroll through the apps on her phone. Essentially, prioritizing her online presence is restricting her ability to develop essential fundamental skills one needs to manage their life.

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