This document provides lecture notes on topics related to new communication technologies and their social influences. It covers several theories on how technology impacts society, including technological determinism, social construction of technology, and social shaping of technology. It also discusses concerns about new media technologies and how people fear their effects initially but eventually domesticate the technologies over time. The document outlines concepts like blogging best practices, attribution, copyright, and content curation. Several references are cited at the end related to personal connections, blogging, and content creation.

1. Week 9 Lecture Notes COM325
Personal Connections: chapter 2
Blogging: Chap 2 (pages 50 – 57); chapter 3 (pages 82 - 86)
Everybody Writes: Part Four (pages 160- 178)

2. SocialForces
InfluenceNew
Technology
 We see new technolgy depicted in movies and on TV
 We read about new tech in news and from friends
 People (always) fear the impact of tech on children
 Communication about technology is
 reflective (tell about the communicator and about the
technology)
 productive (generate meaning, new uses for the tech, and
even new tech)
 Examples:
 Invention of telegraph was inspired by urban myth about
“sympathetic needles” that allowed people to communicate
instantly across distance.
 Hypertext was theorized in 1965 by Jurgen Habermas.
 In 1945 a science advisor for President Roosevelt said a new
device was needed to store info that could be easily access
published info

3. consequences
ofnewmedia
 How people explain the consequences of new media:
technical forces, social forces, or a combo.
 19th Century Americans responded to new technologies
in 2 ways:
 utopian: Tech will bring families together
 dystopian: media will create substitute relationships.
 People feared the telephone would replace visiting.
 People feared the Internet is a marriage wrecker.
 The Internet is depicted as causing social isolation.
Internet and video game users were called junkies or
said to be addicted.

4. 3theoriesabout
theconsequences
ofnewmedia
 Technological Determinism
 When media are new, there is a strong tendency to
view media as causal agents (humans have no power to
resist!).
 Social Construction of Technology
 A view that people are the primary forces of change in
both technology and society
 Social shaping Perspective
 Sees technology and society as continually influencing
one another.

5. Domestication
oftechnology
 At some point the public accepts and works with new
technology without all the hand wringing about its
impact. The ordinary becomes invisible.
 As time passes, people stop questioning technology and
tech becomes a part of everyday life.
 New technology moves from wild to tame
 New Tech becomes everyday objects embedded in the
practices of daily life.
 Domestication determines where to place devices and
who gets to use them.
 The Internet and mobile phones have been
domesticated.

6. Technological
Determinism
 Machines change us. We are a passive recipient
transformed by an outside force.
 Focuses on authenticity of identity and the well-being
of relationships
 Popular visions of technology tend toward technological
determinism in history
 Technology is feared until it is used
 Greeks feared writing: Writing would kill memory.
 McLuhan said the “medium is the message” meaning
technologies characteristics are transferred to those
who use them (impact-imprint)

7. Social
Constructionof
Technology(SCOT)
 Focuses on how tech arises from social processes
 Humans are the agents of change
 New tech comes from
 1- Inventors responding to needs
 2 -Investors who provide resources
 3 - Competitors who drive development
 4 - Government agencies 5-users shape how tech develops
 SCOT focuses on the process of adoption and how the uses
of the technology affect adoption.
 Telegraph, radio, refrigerator, and Internet are all tech re-
envisioned and transformed by the users.
 Costs, access, availability, and marketing affect adoption
of technology.

8. TheSocial
Influence Theory
 Janet Fulk, 1993. The theory focuses on the influence
of peers on a person’s perception and use of media.
 New media causes fear of moral decline.
 Example: movies were suspected to use subliminal
messages to affect behavior. The Internet brings
cyberbullies and sexual predators.
 Statistic do not support this fear of moral decline.
 Moral Panic: Anxieties over uncontrollable social forces
become the focus of efforts to understand a new
cultural trend.

9. SocialShaping
ofTechnology
 Middle ground in the theories about how new
technologies interact with society
 Posits that people, technology, and institutions all have
power to influence the development and use of
technology.
 This theory see consequences of technology for social
life as emergent.

10. ThePublic
Sphere
 Ideal democratic space for rational debate among
informed citizens
 The idea of public sphere came from the liberal,
capitalistic society in the 18th and 19th centuries.
 Came from cultures of open debate in coffee shops of
large European cities
 World War II marked the decline of public sphere
 Radio and TV were said to have killed the public
sphere because broadcasting is one-way with no
serious feedback from the audience.
 Today the audience is not passive.
 We have increased participation through social media
and mobile phones

11. Socialmediaand
blogginginthe
publicsphere
 When we blog we publically proclaim our network.
 Publically articulated relationships have 4
characteristics.
 1-persistence: info is recorded and accessed later
 2-searchability: people can find the info
 3-replicability: the photos and info can be copied
 4-invisible audiences: You do not know who will read
your profile or information. A later audience may see
your info out of context.
 Social media results in colliding networks.

12. Dangersfor
bloggers
 Blogger should understand attribution.
 Information should be properly cited
 Seek permission to use information
 Accidental plagiarism can result when information is
not properly connected to original sources.
 Failing to cite the source of info hurts the reputation of
the blogger
 Copyright infringement is expensive: From $200 to
$150,000 for each infringement and the infringer pays
attorney fees and court costs.

13. Content
Curation
 Information found, collected, and organized using
technology to which new info is added to present fresh
content.
 Curation means getting the info from somewhere else,
not of one’s own creation.
 Credit the original sources to avoid copyright
violations.
 Do not use much from the original source without
permission.

14. References
 Baym, N. (2015). Personal connections in the digital
age (2nd ed). Malden, MA: Polity Press.
 Handley, A. (2014). Everybody writes: Your go-to guide
to creating ridicoulsly good content (2nd ed.). Hoboken,
NJ: Wiley.
 Rettberg. J.W., (2013). Blogging (2nd ed). Malden,
MA: Polity Press.