Blog Post #2

 In todays lecture we discussed Baym's four perspectives of causal relationship. One of them was the special shaping of technology. This is when attributes of a social platform emerge unexpectedly and differently than it was originally made for. One example we discussed were hashtag and retweets on Twitter. This example relates to  a shift that is currently happening in our social media world. Instagram was originally created for people to share their images with others. However, now Instagram has created "Reels," which is short videos, similar to TikTok's platform. The reason for this is because Instagram has begun to adapt to society and the ways in which people use social media. Currently, more videos are being shared on the app in comparison to photos. This was an unexpected special shaping of technology, and due to it Instagram has begun to alter its sharing platform to indulge in more videos, while also supporting photos. This is interesting to me because our social world is becoming more more of a written medium, ultimately shaping what can be communicated and its meaning. 

Comments

  1. Rebekah KrofchickOctober 5, 2022 at 7:59 AM

    Hey, great post! I really enjoyed your point about the social shaping of technology with regards to Instagram. I agree that the shift from photos to reels highlights a societal change in the content we consume and the platforms we use. It is interesting, however, to look at the discourse surrounding Instagram reels. Once Instagram introduced reels to make the platform resemble TikTok, users were poking fun at them and commenting on how unnecessary it was. How users reacted to the introduction of Instagram reels was strange, because as a society we didn't want to see a platform that we all know and use turn into something else. However, despite the initial reaction, Instagram reels are very successful on the platform, and I think that highlights the social shaping of technology theory that Baym discussed.

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  2. Sierra AndersonOctober 5, 2022 at 11:01 AM

    Great post! Another example of this is what TikTok has recently introduced as a "Now". This concept is basically a copy of BeReal as it enablesTikTok users to post 1 photo of what they are doing at a random time in their day. It is interesting to see how different social media apps take inspiration from one another and attempt to remain in competition by taking the most successful features from other apps and encorporating them into their own. I personally hate when apps try to copy others as not only does it ruin the uniqueness of certain platforms but it also takes away from the original purpose/specialization of the platform. For example, instagram was originally used to post 1 photo at a time with a short caption to your followers. However, now instagram users can post reels, direct message, online shop, create notes, and post up to 10 photos at once. It is clear the app has done this to compete with apps such as twitter, TikTok and facebook market place.

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