CS 371 - Blog Post 3 - Carpino
The theoretical perspective of technological determinism is evident in the StatsCan report “Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives”. Technological determinism assumes that technology, in this case, social media, is an “external agent that acts upon and changes society” (Herman, 2022). In this digital era, the rise of social media has had a profound impact on how society thinks, feels, and functions day-to-day. While it could be argued that social media has sparked positive changes, this StatsCan report suggests that it caused more harm than good. Their results show that younger social media users often experience the following negative outcomes: “lost sleep, trouble concentrating on tasks or activities, less physical activity, feeling anxious or depressed, feeling envious of the lives of others, and feeling frustrated or angry” (StatsCan, 2021). In particular, social media users’ concerningly short attention spans are a predominant example of how society’s cultural values are shifting to adapt to this new technology. Consider TikTok, in which users have become accustomed to quick bursts of information in 6 to 30-second long videos; videos that are just 2 minutes or longer seem lengthy and boring. An inability to concentrate on programmes in their entirety affects how individuals desire to consume their news and entertainment, causing broadcasters and producers to adjust to this change. For example, BBC along with other news networks have created official TikTok accounts to deliver highlight reels of news. Unfortunately, these negative effects become normalized as social media continues to become more and more integrated into people’s everyday lives.
References
Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives. (2021, March 24). Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2021003/article/00004-eng.htm
Herman, A. (2022). Retrieved from My Learning Space website: https://mylearningspace.wlu.ca/d2l/home/450821
Hey Avery,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Technological determinism in relation to this StatsCan article is extremely interesting to me given the circumstance that it follows its own internal logic of efficiency yet describes social media as an external agent. Whether or not social media causes more harm than good is an extremely controversial topic and will require generations of research in order to draw a conclusion leaning to one side. It is interesting to study subjects like these because you do not think about things like attention spans when thinking about social media. I believe social media use will continue to incline so it is up to us individually to determine how we let it affect our lives whether that be in a positive way or negative one. Your points are demonstrated very clearly throughout your posts.
-Alexa
Hi Avery,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really strong post! Very interesting connection that you described between technological determinism and the stats collected by StatsCan in this article. As a daily social media user, I completely agree with you on the fact that technology usage has dramatically impacted users attention span or focus. Even while I am scrolling TikTok and find a video that is interesting, if it takes too long to get to the point, I am already onto the next video.
Jake
Hi Avery, I really enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that social media has more negative impacts than it does good. One way social media can affect us negatively is through body image. Specifically, Instagram creates a lot of anxiety around looking perfect before you can post. Many photos on Instagram are edited by Celebrities. The same celebrities young teenage girls look up to ultimately make these girls feel insecure over unrealistic body goals. I like how you mentioned social media can also create short attention spans, especially Tik Tok because I find with the new update on the app where people can post up to 3min Tik Tok videos now even that is too long for me to sit and watch so I will scroll past 30 seconds into the video. Overall I feel I can name more negative impacts social media has on my life than I can positive ones.
Hi Avery!
ReplyDeleteYou highlighted key points from the the StatsCan report as It is very interesting to read about the negative effects social media can have on young users. I believe I downloaded both Snapchat and Instagram in grade 6 where I had and continue to experience numerous outcomes that are stated in the report. You make a good point in regards to attention span and the platform TikTok. It is interesting to reflect on how individuals now find it hard to watch lengthy youtube videos or even a full movie due to being able to watch quick and endless TikTok videos. With that being said, I am definitely guilty of this notion as well!