Blog Post #3- Abbegayle Zwep

 The film we watched in class Eighth Grade is closely connected to Baym's perspective on technological determinism when she talks about theoretical perspectives on the causal relationship between technology and the social in order to help understand these anxieties. Technological determinism is the idea that technology has an important effect on our lives.  It is closely related to Eight Grade as the main character Kayla revolves her life around social media.  Baym states "Most anxieties around both digital media and their historical precursors stem from the fact that these media are interactive. Especially in combination with sparse social cues, interactivity raises issues about authenticity and well-being of people, interactions, and relationships that use new media."(24).  This quote can be used to directly dissect Kayla's anxiety on social media.  She posts videos where she pretends to be someone she is not and gives advice based on her fantasy of life experiences.  She also makes sure to tell everyone to like, comment and share her video in hopes of going famous.  Kayla also gets invited to a party via social media and is seen wishing she was more like that popular girl who invited her.  She was then anxious about going to the party and having to interact with the popular girl and the rest of her class off social media.  As she was just a quiet inverter in class but had an outgoing persona online.  The anxiety around technological determinism in the movie Eighth Grade is very prominent.    

Comments

  1. Zoe McLavenOctober 24, 2022 at 5:46 PM


    Hey Abbey, great post! I agree that the film Eighth grade is connected to technological determinism as Kayla’s entire life is surrounded by technology in a negative way. Kayla tries to become popular through social media however it is ultimately creating more anxiety for her as she only believes people will like her if she is “cool” and “popular”. Thus connecting to how technology is creating people to represent a different personal which in reality is taking away the authenticity of technology.

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  2. Tiffany ChanOctober 27, 2022 at 11:18 AM

    Hello,

    I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you about how the anxiety around technological determinism is evident in Kayla’s life as much of her life is surrounded by the internet, specifically social media. We can see a change in her identity where she struggles to talk to her peers in person, but confidently shares her self-help tips online as a YouTuber; this shows how she is not the person she portrays to be online. While navigating through the end of her school year, she is overwhelmed by the pressure of gaining social acceptance from her peers by appearing to be more cool, which gives her anxiety. Platforms such as Instagram and Youtube provide a way to compare oneself to others where their worth is based on the metrics of followers, likes and comments they receive; having a higher follower count often shows how popular one is in the platform. The internet becomes something that coexists with a teenager’s anxiety where they constantly compare themselves to others in hopes of fitting in. With that being said, do you think the idea of social media has changed? Why?

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