Living through the Technological Revolution documents the changes in communication technology over the 20th century in Australia. In the 1920s, television began entering homes, though it was not well developed outside of major cities until the 1960s. In the 1970s, only wealthy families could afford home telephones while others relied on public phone booths. The advent of mobile phones in the 2000s greatly enhanced social interaction. Advances in communication technology since then have connected people worldwide but also introduced issues like privacy concerns, addiction, and cyberbullying that government regulation needs to address.

1. Living through the
Technological
Revolution:
the social impact of changes in
communication technology

2. In the mid 1920’s television entered
the homes of everyday people
(Hilmes, Newcomb and Meehan
2012).
In the 1960’s Television broadcasting
was underdeveloped in Australia
Bigger cities had broadcasting, but
smaller towns did not (Kelly
2016).
Some young children at the time,
did not find interest in Television
(Kelly 2016).
Technology in Australia

3. Telephones
● In the 1970’s telephones were
only in households of families
that could afford them (Kelly
2016).
● Walking to a local phone
booth was common practice
for a lot of people (Kelly
2016).
● Saving up to afford a home
telephone improved quality of
life significantly (Kelly 2016).

4. Social Needs and
Technology
(Kelly 2016)
Social interaction as a teenager is important and underdeveloped
technology can inhibit these interactions.
Telephones were one of the biggest social contributors to improved
communication during the 1970’s.
Once landlines were commonplace, the advent of mobile phones were
pulled into everyday useage (Poe 2010), enhancing people’s social
lives.

5. 1970’s Telephone to 2010’s Iphone
Poe’s
Pull
Theory

6. Advances in Telephones
Affordability
Internet accessibility
Fast and strong connections
Options for text message, iMessage, calls, emails, Facebook
etc.

7. Benefits of Advances in Telephones
Enhances communication for business and personal life.
Enables Marketing for businesses.
Accessibility for share market trading.
Instant communication in emergency situations.
Enhances safety through maps, compasses and help calls.

8. Benefits of Advances in
Communication
CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE
ALL OVER THE WORLD

9. Detriments of Advances in Telephones
People become busier.
Contradictory, less communication happens between face-
to-face interactions.
Everything is simplified.
Capitalism is encouraged.
The new-age Narcissist is born.

10. Selfie: a photograph that one has
taken of oneself, typically one
taken with a smartphone or
webcam and shared via social
media (Oxford Dictionary 2016).

11. Social Media
Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to
participate in social networking (Oxford Dictionary 2016).

12. Positives of
Social Media
(Bennet 2015)
● Instant connection with
friends.
● Boundaryless connection
with people around the
world.
● Excellent for business
marketing.

13. Negatives of Social Media
(Bennet 2015)
● Vulnerability to cyber
bullying
● Invasion of Privacy
● Risk of defamation
● Leads to addiction

14. Where to from here?
Innovations are not
evenly distributed over
time, but appear if at
all discontinuously in
groups, swarms or
clusters (Papageorgiou
& Panayotis, 2016).

15. No one really knows, but...
What needs to happen is, the Government needs to update its laws, so that
people who engage in Social Media and modern day technologies, who is virtually
everyone, must be protected from privacy issues, defamation, and cyber-bullying,
in order to live peacefully in the technological advanced world.

16. References
1960’s Australia, image, viewed 22 May 2016, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1o5H8_w_PO0/maxresdefault.jpg
Bennet, A 2015, Media and Communications - Technologies, Policies and Challenges : Social Media : Global Perspectives, Applications and Benefits
and Dangers, Nova Science Publishers, New York.
Hilmes, M, Newcomb, H, & Meehan, E 2012, Legacies From the Past: Histories of Television, Journal of Communication Inquiry, vol 36, no. 4, pp.
276-287.
Kelly, GM (2016) Interview subject for COMM12022, T1 Assignment Two, CQUniversity, Australia.
Kim Kardashian Selfie, image, viewed 22 May 2016,
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=iphone+narcissism&espv=2&biw=1260&bih=688&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTitvB9e3MA
hXjrKYKHdtwDT8Q_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=selfie+narcissism&imgrc=IGJQv3EvvW29nM%3A
Oxford Dictionary 2016, Online, viewed 24 May 2016.
Papageorgiou, T & Panayotis, G, M 2016, Joseph Schumpeter and Thorstein Veblenon technological determinism, individualism and institutions, The
European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 1-30.
Telephone 1970, image, viewed 22 May 2016, http://www.69aliverpool.co.uk/image/cache/data/Item%20Pics/0078/March%2013%20-
%2006%20078-912x684.jpg