Technological determinism and deteriorating mental health? Misra

 So far in CS371 we have learned that the fundamental purpose of communication technologies has been to deliver messages while not being co-present. Technologies now have ‘affordance power’. But we are now looking at the effects of these technologies in our social lives. In this week's blog post, I have chosen technological determinism in order to discuss the anxieties of interactive media. Specifically, I am looking at the Stats Can article on Canadians’ assessments of social media in their lives. In this article, it is evident that social media usage has a negative impact on a minority of the Canadian population. Schimelle et al. (2021) explain


“Among all social media users aged 15 to 64, around one-fifth reported that in the previous 12 months, they had lost sleep (19%), gotten less physical activity (22%), or had trouble concentrating on tasks or activities (18%) as a result of their social media use. Around one in eight users (12% to 14%) reported feeling anxious or depressed, frustrated or angry, or envious of the lives of others (p.1).”


This study implies that it is the technology that is determining negative health impacts on individuals. Specifically through interactive social media. For example, in Schimelle et al. (2021) lit review, they argue that people in the ‘Igeneration’ (1990s forward), are spending less time doing in-person activities (P. 3). This automatically assumes that technology has shaped the way we socially interact. For example, video games with party chat functions have shaped the way that individuals socially interact with their peers. For me, Call of Duty was a way for me to bond with my friends while not being co-present. 

Comments

  1. TheaOctober 26, 2022 at 12:18 PM

    Hi Misra,

    Great post! I too spoke about the StatsCan article. I like how you focused on technological determinism to determine the negative health impacts on phone users. This obsessive technological consumption has also socially constructed social media applications. Applications are originally designed for certain uses, however as consumers use them they begin to reshape the applications in order to suit what they desire. Thus making social media more desirable to new users. How do you think that this mass consumption affects the lives of those in their prime ages (15-24)?

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