The Pros And Cons Of Digital Technology

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Digital technologies can be considered to be a driving force of social change within society. Many people claim that digital technologies are changing our social life, which I can understand, but technologies do not just appear to change our lives and make us act and behave differently. Digital technologies are developed out of a social need. It is society’s social factors like cultural norms, economic pressures and legal regulations that create these needs and will then influence how new technologies are developed and used. In this essay I will be discussing the digital technology of the Internet within the two theories that have opposite opinions of how digital technologies drive social change. The first is ‘Technological Determinism Theory’, …show more content…
This view argues that technology is subject to social agency but agrees that each technology can place constraints on the way people do use them. Yet it is good to point out that humans do have the power to act and are respectively given a range of options of how they use the technology. This theory believes that new technology is made to satisfy current human needs. There can be a range of legal, cultural or even functional constraints for the technology. For that reason, technology is neither fixed nor fully predictable (Croteau, Hoynes and Milan 291). This theory was developed in the Science and Technology Studies. The theory consists of four core concepts – Interpretive Flexibility: Technology that is designed to produce different outcomes depending on the social circumstances of development; Relevant Social Groups: The users and producers of technology. They develop the technology until all social groups are happy with the outcome. They are suppose to present all social groups around the world but are usually the elite social groups of the world; Closure and stabilization: When different interpretations lead to conflicting images of a technology. Designing continues until closure is made by redefining unresolved problems so that they no longer pose as a threat to social groups; and Wider Context: The wider sociocultural and political environment to which technology takes place (Klien and Klienman 29). All these …show more content…
It was designed for communication between a few scientists related to national defence. The Internet was supposed to be a specialised tool for this small group, but it began to shape and reshape major segments of society, especially existing electronic communication systems. The economic sector took advantage of the Internets power and the Internet is now a major growing force in the financial market. The development of the Internet from a few scientist communicating to then it becoming a major drive in the worlds financial market, all happened within the space of 10 years or so (Merkel 24). The ultimate effect of the Internet is unpredictable and never-ending. Society cannot predict where it will go and what long-term impact it will have on society. Nevertheless, the Internet is a powerful example of where we shaped a tool, and now the tool is shaping

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