mid ter rewview Flashcards
What is Communication? provide an example.
Communication is the deployment of signs and symbols (gestures, words, images, etc.) in social interaction to produce a shared understanding of the world.
Example: Telephony
The telephone transformed social relationships by allowing personal, direct communication over distances, changing both private and public interaction.
Example: Telegraphy It created a new shared reality by enabling faster information exchange, thus uniting geographically separated societies. The telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication by transmitting messages almost instantaneously. Before its invention, news and messages traveled by physical means like mail or horseback, often taking days or weeks.
What is Culture?
Definition:
Shared beliefs, values, and practices that map the social world (existential, normative, utopian).
Includes rituals and habits (Bourdieu’s “habitus”).
Both a verb (creating culture) and a noun (the culture itself).
Example: Early Cinema, Cinema shaped collective identity and values, offering a space where cultural norms were both reflected and negotiated.
Silent films in the early 20th century were more than entertainment; they were a reflection of societal hopes, fears, and aspirations. For example, movies like Metropolis (1927) explored themes of industrialization and class struggle, symbolizing societal anxieties about the rapid pace of technological change.
Movie theaters became cultural hubs, where people of diverse backgrounds gathered to consume shared narratives.
What is a Medium/Media?
Definition:
Medium: The specific channel or form that carries a message (e.g., radio, TV, newspaper).
Media: Plural of medium; all channels of communication.
Example: Radio
The radio, as a medium, created a shared auditory experience. During the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” were instrumental in calming public anxieties during the Great Depression. Families gathered around the radio to hear updates directly from the president, fostering a sense of national unity.
It also democratized entertainment by bringing music, drama, and news to rural and urban households alike.
Impact: Radio acted as a unifying medium that bridged geographic and social divides, creating new forms of communal experience.
What is Technology?
Definition:
Tools and systems used to interact with the environment.
Technology shapes and is shaped by society, enabling new forms of communication and culture.
Example: Telephony
The invention of the telephone in the late 19th century drastically changed social dynamics. Initially intended for business communication, it was quickly adopted in private homes. Women played a significant role in its domestication, using it to maintain social ties and coordinate household activities.
Later, the telephone enabled the growth of customer service industries and long-distance relationships, reshaping personal and professional interactions.
Impact: Telephony demonstrated how technology, while designed with one purpose in mind, could be adapted to serve broader societal needs.
What is Power?
Definition:
The ability of individuals or groups to shape societal structures, relationships, and inequalities through communication and media.
Example: Television
Televised presidential debates, such as the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate, demonstrated the power of visual media in shaping public perception. Kennedy’s calm demeanor and polished appearance contrasted with Nixon’s sweaty and unprepared look, influencing millions of voters.
Beyond politics, television empowered advertisers to shape consumer behavior by broadcasting persuasive ads to a massive audience.
Impact: Television concentrated power in the hands of those who controlled its content, becoming a tool for influence in both political and economic spheres.
Four Perspectives on Technology and Society
technological Determinism
Definition: Technology acts as an external agent that drives societal changes.
Example: Radio and World War II
During WWII, radio was used by governments as a propaganda tool. Adolf Hitler’s speeches were broadcast to create a sense of unity and loyalty among Germans. Similarly, Allied broadcasts countered enemy propaganda and rallied public support.
Impact: Radio’s technology was seen as a force that directly shaped societal beliefs and behaviors.
Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
Definition: Social forces and contexts shape technology’s design and use.
Example: Telephone in Domestic Life
While telephone inventors envisioned it as a business tool, societal norms at the time (particularly women’s roles in the home) influenced its adoption as a household communication device. Women used telephones to maintain social networks and create support systems.
Impact: The telephone’s use evolved based on social contexts rather than the inventors’ original intentions.
Social Shaping of Technology
Definition: Technology provides affordances that are used in unexpected ways.
Example: Hashtags on Twitter
Hashtags were not part of Twitter’s original design but were introduced by users to organize conversations around topics. Twitter later incorporated this user innovation into its platform, officially adopting hashtags as a feature.
Impact: This demonstrates how users influence the development of technologies in ways creators might not anticipate.
Domestication of Technology
Definition: Technology becomes normalized into everyday life, its effects often overlooked.
Example: Wi-Fi
When Wi-Fi first became available, it was seen as a groundbreaking technology. Today, it is so integrated into daily life that it is almost taken for granted. People now view it as a necessity rather than a luxury.
Impact: This domestication process shows how revolutionary technologies can become normalized over time.
