Blog Post #2- Is Technology Taken for Granted Due to Domestication?


Baym’s theoretical perspective of the domestication of technology is particularly eye opening because as a society (and I am guilty of this as well) we often forgot about the marvellous, unique and wild capabilities technology has to offer. Technology is so normal to us because of our extensive use that we often take it for granted. I choose this theoretical perspective in order to take a moment to step back and think of my life and how much more knowledgeable and successful I am with technology but also what my life would be like today without it.
The domestication of technology is the way in which technology has moved from being strange and new to being just a normal part of everyday life. It is also about how technology is so intertwined into our lives that life without it can become unimaginable. From reading the article we immediately learn that Katherine’s everyday life is guided by her technological and social media use. It is so normal to her that as a 13-year-old she has the capabilities and access to quickly switch between apps and other interests on her phone without trouble. Her cell phone has become domesticated in every aspect of her life including, her social life, school life and personal life. “iPhone is the place where all of her friends are always hanging out. So, it’s the place where she is too” , her phone has changed the way in which she interacts with her peers. Before technology her and her peers would have to meet up in person but now technology is so normal hanging out in person would be weird and probably unheard of. Her social interactions have changed, and it is normal for her to identify and understand herself in society by the likes and comments she gets on Instagram instead of the real friendships she has in person. Her worth is defined by a little notification which is deemed normal and accepted in our society today. In her school life, “She’s on it at school, when she can sneak it” It is as if Katherine is lost and obligated to use her phone that she sneaks it when she can, just so she can check her social media, scroll between apps, and check what her friends are doing. If Katherine didn’t have an iPhone, her life would be different, her car ride home and interactions with friends and family would be strange to what it is now. However, Katherine will never know what that is like because to her generation a life without technology is unimaginable. 13-year-olds wouldn’t know what to do with their days or their free time and it is social media that fills the empty time and moments because we have taken technology for granted.

Baym, N. K. (2015). Making new media make sense. In Personal connections in the digital age: Digital media and society series (2nd ed., pp. 52-57). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Comments

  1. Monique GirodatOctober 3, 2018 at 7:49 AM

    Hi Rachel!

    I found it interesting how you chose to focus on the domestication of technology, as the perspective itself seems unnatural to blend the terms "domestic" and "technology" together. This has become the norm to us today, overcoming any other versions of the lifestyle we have been deemed to live in the past. Our minds are so far gone into this virtual world, seeking validation or otherwise (through the little red dot signalling a notification) where at such a young age like Katherine's, bringing her back into 'reality' imposes more challenges. Her iPhone acts as her own personal playground, where her and her friends are able to connect without human connectivity, which in a way has taken away aspects of her childhood through being normalized and domesticated to the point where this process is unrecognizable.

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  2. UnknownOctober 3, 2018 at 8:21 AM

    Great post Rachel!
    I completely agree that it's saddening that this young generation considers their self worth to be the number of likes or comments they get on a picture/status. A notification should never predict your self worth and confidence levels. I also completely agree with your comment on how if she didn't have her phone with her at all times she would feel lost. However, her phone actually blocks herself from reality and blinds her from situations that are going on around her as she ignores all of her father's questions and is immersed with this false reality within her phone. Great work keep it up!

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