CS371- Blog Post 3- Jennifer Athanasatos
The main idea of technological determinism is the idea that technology has important effects on our life and changes society. It is clear that technology is important to many people. Whether it is for entertainment, communication, or educational purposes. Many people use Tik Tok to pass time, Facebook to find things, and Snapchat to stay connected with friends. In this day and age, we use technology every day. It has shaped our society in a way where we feel we can't live without it as it affects many lives in so many ways. But technology does not only have positive effects on people’s lives such as staying in touch with friends but it also has many negative effects. After reading an article by The Guardian it is clear how technology more specifically Instagram can affect people's lives negatively especially teenage girls. Instagram is an app used to follow all your friends and update your account by posting photos and stories of your life. It sounds fun but unfortunately can be very toxic. Many large influencers and celebrities such as Kylie Jenner will upload photos that are highly edited and make these celebrities look flawless. Everyone in these photos has clear skin, is super skinny, has a toned body, and has perfect lighting. Yet none of this is realistic because the photos aren’t natural. For many young girls who look up to celebrities like Kylie begin to feel they aren't enough based on her photos. Girls will excessively work out, start-up diets, wear tons of makeup, obsessive over the perfect hair all because of photos seen on Instagram that aren’t realistic and this creates a lot of anxiety. There is a lot of stress that now goes into posting on Instagram because the standards are so high therefore young girls have anxiety about posting the perfect photo. The article discusses how Instagram gives every 1 in 3 teen girls body image issues and when they already felt bad about their bodies Instagram would make it much worse. Overall Instagram is ruining young girls' self-esteem creating anxiety and ultimately having a large effect on their life.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great discussion! Technological determinism is indeed present in social media, especially in relation to young female teens on Instagram. It is a concept that acts on and changes society. Your example of Kylie Jenner and her social media uploads of photoshopped images is an excellent example of how technology provides a device, applications, and social media platform to sew the idea of what an ideal body should look like. This, the images affect a broader population who use social media than ever before because of Technological Determinism.
What other areas in your personal life have you seen technology affect you?
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you and the struggles that young people, especially young girls are up against when it comes to social media. I think it's so unfortunate that young people have to grow up in this as it totally changes the ways that they view themselves and the world. Social media amplifies insecurities as it projects ideas that people, typically influencers, have a perfect life since the only thing that they post is what will look good on their feed. This becomes problematic as young, impressionable people believe that these posts are what life is supposed to look like when in reality, it's clearly not.
Overall, great post!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that social media enhances many struggles for young girls, and they constantly compare themselves with their friends and what they see on social media. The example of Kylie Jenner definitely relates to how young girls are deceived by the unrealistic photos that Kylie posts of herself, such as her lips. Young girls don't realize that these celebrity influencers have gone under significant plastic surgery and botox to look the way they do, damaging their self-esteem. I feel like creators and influencers should post realistic photos of themselves without photoshop and wearing regular clothes instead of provocative and inappropriate clothing. If more influencers were to post the 'real' them, do you think this would help young girls' self-esteem?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, and everything you mentioned is very true and relevant in todays generation. Social media can be an enabler for many young girls to feel like they need to become something that they are not. The Kylie Jenner example you discussed is a prime example of someone who portrays a version of them that doesn't truly exist in the real world and this could trigger many young girls that look up to her or find themselves jealous by what the assume is her true beauty. Teenagers have access to an endless world of media and they are easily influenced by what they see, so seeing the impact that social media has on teenagers' anxiety and insecurities can also contribute to a snowball effect where not only do people question themselves because of edited internet posts, but they also notice people around them struggling with other aspects of the internet that will cause more people to question those new things as well and wonder if it can also be applied to their own lives and views of themselves.
Hello Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very intriguing post!
I think the way that you captured and related technological determinism into a present issue was spot on. What I have been trying to convey in my own posts is the idea that social media is what keeps us connected and the perception that “we must have” these applications. Unfortunately what comes from that ideology, is that there is no escape from both the positives and the negatives. What we have come to know and now challenge is these narratives that configure these social media platforms hegemonic structures. For example, body image, for years communication mediums have marketed the “ideal” body type and what other expectations are of each other's bodies. Now we have seen the shift to challenge the norm with body positivity. Both these have brought out positives and negatives, which I argue; there are a lot more positives from the body positivity marketing compared to the negatives of the “ideal” body.
I also made a mention in my post about how filters within the applications are just an addition to the marketing, whether it is positive or negative. I finished my post with saying:
“I believe that the introduction of filters within Instagram only perpetuates the issue. These extra features encourage body-distorting aspects to create a false reality, rather than attempting to lessen the amount of social comparison that takes place within the app. Young, impressionable females see these filters in action and mistakenly think they are normal when in actuality, they are not” (Blog Post #3 - Dawson Smith).
Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Thanks,
Dawson