Technology

Question 1

What is technological determinism?

Answer 1

The theory that technology affects the form, style and content of our communication.
Form: this means emails, letters, voice mail, texts, blogging, Skype, phone etc
Style: the register and mode of address we use as a result of the form of communication we’re using e.g we use a different type of language for texting than we use for writing letters
Content: what we communicate about changes according to the type of technology we use. Spoken language is traditionally considered redundant while written is more entropic

Question 2

Give some points for the argument that technology changes our cognitive processes, the way we think

Answer 2

• the technology of print helped us to develop rational abstract thought because it enables us to share ideas with others, to consider other points of view. Some would also say it changed our memory skills; instead of having to carry everything in our heads we could record it, freeing up our minds for other purposes
• there is now scientific evidence to suggest that using computers, playing online games etc is changing the way children think. Some think it’s shortening our attention spans, others think it encourages lateral thinking
• computer technology/virtual reality allows us to redefine who we are, affects our perception of ‘self’ e.g Facebook, blogging, YouTube etc. Do we have different ‘online selves’? We can even invent a virtual self (e.g World of Warcraft) and participate in an imagined community

Question 3

What did Marshall McLuhan mean when he said “the medium is the message”?

Answer 3

• the technologies we use are not just neutral channels through which messages flow; they are messages in their own right. This can be interpreted in two ways:
  1. They become status symbols in themselves, sending out messages about our identity and world view (e.g MacBook/Apple Watch = rich/creative, iPhone is more hegemonic)
  2. The medium itself develops its own way of communicating and individual style i.e the way it communicates and what it stands for become as important as what it communicates

Question 4

What does Neil Postman mean when he claims we live in a technopoly?

Answer 4

He says that accessing and using new media technology is key to understanding out society. Technology dictates to us how to see the world and what reality is (leading to hyper-realities?). It’s an extension of our senses

Question 5

What does Neil Postman mean when he says “TV reality is the reality”?

Answer 5

That it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between the sense of reality produced by the mess media and the ‘real’ world, and thus “TV reality is the reality”

Question 6

Considering the ubiquity of the Internet what could you argue?

Answer 6

That the ‘real’ world has now been imploded into cyberspace, that more and more of our awareness and communication is mediated through technology and so we have a very hazy understanding of what is real and what is not (e.g media manipulation, anchoring images with captions that encode certain messages)

Question 7

Why does Postman claim “technology is ideology”?

Answer 7

1. Because of the symbolic forms used to encode messages, media contain emotional and intellectual biases (i.e The Sun v The Times, sending a text v sending a letter)
2. Because of technical and economic structure different media have different content biases e.g indie film v mainstream film (due to lack of budget indie film doesn’t need to pander to as big an audience, can afford to be more liberal/controversial with its ideology)

Question 8

The Internet turns information into entertainment. In Baudrillard’s post modern view it uses:

Answer 8

• fragmentation rather than coherence
• style over substance, superficiality
• image-based culture, collage, pastiche
• simulacra rather than reality
• bricolage (do-it-yourself)

Question 9

Pessimists see the ubiquity of communication technology as a frightening development and a threat to our freedom:

Answer 9

• warped perception of what’s going on in the world, it’s interpreted for us rather than by us
• ISA’s hold masses of info about us and can use it at our disadvantage
• have to be online 24/7, no boundaries between work and home
• cyber bullying
• Internet porn, objectification of women
• pressure to constantly text/mail friends

Question 10

What does Carol Craig, a social scientist, say about young people in Britain becoming increasingly narcissistic? (the Guardian, 2012)

Answer 10

“The way that children are being educated is focussing more and more on the importance of self esteem - on how you are seen in the eyes of others.”

“Facebook provided a platform for people to self-promote by changing profile pictures and showing how many hundreds of friends you have.”

Question 11

List 5 ways communication technology could disadvantage us:

Answer 11

• the ubiquity of redundant representation (e.g stereotypes) could have a negative impact on the way we are socialised
• communicating for the point of communicating (e.g snap chat), lack of substance
• we over-share, no privacy
• increases conformity, pseudo individualised identities
• allows a space in which to express extreme views, radicalisation