Blog #3 - Eighth Grade and Technological Determinism - By Sarah Humphreys

 Eighth Grade and Technological Determinism - By Sarah Humphreys

Eighth Grade, directed by Bo Burnham, is a film that explores adolescence in the digital age of social media. The film stars Elise Fisher as Kayla, a middle schooler who struggles with the coexistence of social and anxiety, leading her to grapple with not "fitting in" with her peers. The film explores Kayla's journey through her last weeks of eighth grade and shows her attempt to "fit in" with her peers.

In Baym's reading, we come to understand that social media has genuinely altered daily practices (Baym, 2015, p.32) and that there is ongoing anxiety associated with digital media in today's digital world. Eighth Grade proves Baym's discussion as Kayla is heavily influenced by social media, leading her to struggle with self-image, and try and conform to technological standards, with the end goal to "fit in" with her peers. This idea can be explained through a technological deterministic lens, as technology is acting as a force influencing Kayla to act in a way that conforms to social media standards. For example, when Kayla goes on Snapchat right when she wakes up, she uses a filter and labels it "just woke up like this," which conforms with the standard of waking up with smooth skin and a glowing face when in reality Kayla just used a filter. Another example is Kayla's YouTube channel, where she publishes videos about her life experiences and how she has overcome countless obstacles by being true to herself, with an aim to appeal to her peers, however, in reality, Kayla is struggling with obstacles currently.

From a technologically deterministic perspective, anxiety about the interactivity of new digital media is evidenced in Eighth Grade, Kayla is directly influenced by the technology surrounding her such as social media applications like Snapchat and YouTube, leading to constant anxiety about meeting social media standards. Technological determinism acts as a force that creates ideas of what constitutes "fitting in," in Kayla's everyday life. 



Comments

  1. Francis MainellaOctober 24, 2022 at 2:41 PM

    Hey Sarah,
    I really liked reading your post this week! I specifically liked the part where you talk about technology acting as a force influencing Kayla to act in a way that conforms social media. I totally agree with this. How do you think one can avoid this technological influence? Overall, great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah HumphreysOctober 25, 2022 at 2:32 PM

      Great question Francis! I believe our generation has become so immersed and reliant on technology that we are influenced by it without noticing. With that being said although I think it is unrealistic to say we could have no influence by technology at all, considering we use technology for not only social purposes but also educational purposes there may be a few steps in limiting this everyday influence.

      I believe that by limiting our time spent on social media platforms, and educating ourselves on things that we cross paths with on social media could be a start. I also believe by recognizing that technology influences are everyday actions can also aid in limiting its influence as we are aware of this influence, and able to think before we act.

      Delete
  2. Zoe McLavenOctober 24, 2022 at 6:04 PM

    Hey Sarah, great post. Throughout your post you highlighted on many key points that connect to Nancy Baym's technologically deterministic perspective. Kayla has completely changed her perception of life to which she believes becoming popular on social media is the only way for people to become friends with her. However, when she represents herself it is not her authentic self like you stated, she uses filters to make her look "perfect". She is becoming blinded through technology to which she is unable to notice the toxicity within social media and how it is changing her.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liam BarwellOctober 26, 2022 at 1:55 PM

    Hey Sarah,

    Great post! I specifically enjoyed reading your work as I could not agree anymore. I too touched upon the fact that Nancy Baym’s perspective on technological determinism is relevant in Kayla’s life as she believes her social media presence and online life is the only way she can fit in and become friends with the popular kids. I too agree that Kayla is using technology as a force influencing Kayla to act in a way that conforms to social media standards. She believes that fixing her online problems through technology with fix her problems in real life but in reality, it is technology that has caused her problems and anxiety in the first place.

    What kind of advice would you give to Kayla in this technological driven society?

    ReplyDelete

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