Blog Post #2 - The Social Shaping of Technology


Within our Making New Media Make Sense reading, Baym had focused on the four perspectives of technology and culture that he believed plays a role within our interpersonal communicative relationships. Baym emphasized the importance that technological determinism, social construction of technology, social shaping of technology, and domestication of technology had within our culture. However, one of the four perspectives that I believe had played an important role within the article about eighth grader Katherine Pommerening was the perspective of the social shaping of technology. This perspective refers to the way that we use our technology and contextualize these devices into our everyday lives. Within the article, it was significantly apparent that Katherine was completely glued to her phone. Whether it be switching from one application to another or continuously refreshing her timeline for new posts, Katherine’s fear of missing out had constrained her from wanting to put her phone down for even a second. This fear of missing out on what others are doing, while missing out on ways to build yourself within your own social media presence, will surely cause anxiety within its users. I chose this theoretical framework in association with Katherine’s interactivity of new digital media because despite her having almost no constraints from posting and acting a certain way within social media, the anxiety of her wanting to accurately appropriate herself with others within this digital media culture determined how she uses these social media technologies.

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