Societies worldwide are made up of several diverse elements, which are incorporated using different fundamentals frequently in a community. A component that is constantly used within every society is technology. As technology continues to advance, it has found a way to integrate itself in all aspects of life, making it a fundamental tool to utilize regularly. There is a controversial debate on weather or not humans shape technology. This debate has led to the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach which is defined as the way the users of technology are the agents of social change rather than the technology itself (Kline and Pinch 1996: 764). Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker developed this approach in the 1980’s. The Social Construction
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This causes the same artifact to have different meanings to different social groups (Kline and Pinch 1996: 766). There is flexibility in the way people interpret the meaning of the technological artifacts and in the way the artifacts are designed (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 421). In the stage of interpretative flexibility, the artifact is open to more than one interpretation causing it to be a more social phenomenon (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 409). Interpretative flexibility is not permanent. As society continues to grow and develop, the technology becomes more popular within society, therefore the manufactures and inventors need to continue to change the …show more content…
This leads to the concept of closure. Closure in technology occurs when a controversy about a certain technological artifact is concluded (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 426). Sometimes the debate about a product is not resolved causing certain meanings to dominate (Kline and Pinch 1996: 766). This concept is developed following the use of technology. Within society, people often try to close the debate about a product through the use of advertising publicly defining it’s purpose (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 427). The requirement to add definitions to an artifact in order to be able to communicate about it varies on the way the artifact is used within any specific social group (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 424) emphasizing the notion that the Social Construction of Technology approach (SCOT) boosts our understanding of how the use of technology is strongly
This causes the same artifact to have different meanings to different social groups (Kline and Pinch 1996: 766). There is flexibility in the way people interpret the meaning of the technological artifacts and in the way the artifacts are designed (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 421). In the stage of interpretative flexibility, the artifact is open to more than one interpretation causing it to be a more social phenomenon (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 409). Interpretative flexibility is not permanent. As society continues to grow and develop, the technology becomes more popular within society, therefore the manufactures and inventors need to continue to change the …show more content…
This leads to the concept of closure. Closure in technology occurs when a controversy about a certain technological artifact is concluded (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 426). Sometimes the debate about a product is not resolved causing certain meanings to dominate (Kline and Pinch 1996: 766). This concept is developed following the use of technology. Within society, people often try to close the debate about a product through the use of advertising publicly defining it’s purpose (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 427). The requirement to add definitions to an artifact in order to be able to communicate about it varies on the way the artifact is used within any specific social group (Pinch and Wiebe 1984: 424) emphasizing the notion that the Social Construction of Technology approach (SCOT) boosts our understanding of how the use of technology is strongly