How Society Shapes Technology

The history of networked technologies provides valuable insight into the present-day relationship between society and technology. In this essay, I intend to prove, through careful examination of the history of networked technologies that from the earliest conceptions of the ARPANET to the modern-day impact of Big Tech , technology continuously adapts to society. This idea of how different socio-political factors shape technology helps us understand the modern technological landscape and how society largely develops technology to facilitate its own needs. Throughout this essay I aim to provide examples from various points throughout the history of networked technologies that showcase this sociotechnical trend, concluding with how it has resulted in our modern symbiotic relationship with technology.
This viewpoint of society shaping technology is also echoed by other authors such as Robert Pool who argues that one must look past the technology to the broader sociotechnical system __the social, political, economic, and institutional environments in which the technology develops and operates. (Pool, 1997, p.5) Indeed when analyzing the broader relations of society with technology, the rise and development of the terminology associated with technology itself cannot be overlooked. The first instances of the contemporary use of technology appeared as early as 1828 (MARX, 1997, p.974) right as the industrial revolution had started to pick up steam. Moreover, a look at the words technology and computer through Google Ngram Viewer showcases how both terms started to gain popularity right around the late 1950s ( Google Books Ngram Viewer , 2020) as the space race between the USA and the USSR started, a basis for the eventual development of the ARPANET (Abbate, 2000, p.5). Through this shift in language around technology, we can observe that the terminology always follows the development itself, therefore it can be inferred that technology as a concept does not predate its implementation but rather the concept adapts itself to the changing landscape which it helps facilitate. This also serves as a counter-argument to the claims laid by Leo Marx when he states, to my assertion that technology, as the concept is used in public discourse nowadays, is hazardous (MARX, 1997, p.979) This nuanced approach at technology today provides a prominent contrast to many recent technological deterministic ideologies, showcasing how the modern-day relationship with technology -in essence- remains fairly consistent throughout history.
This sociotechnical relationship, that we can see play out through the literature associated with technology, can today be best understood through social media. While social media today dominates how we interact with technology, it is the history of social media that serves to highlight how technology needs to constantly adapt to society in order to survive. Going back to the earliest iterations of social media with early bulletin board systems in small local areas to Fidonet stretching far across the different continents, this system grew based on society s needs to communicate (Driscoll, 2016, pp.58 60). This was later expanded upon by the introduction of various SSNs (Social Networking Site) such as Friendster which introduced features such as profiles and friends . However soon these profiles and friends started to be exploited in ways these sites had not foreseen, as was the case for Friendster where users started to create fake profiles and added strangers just to expand their reach (Boyd and Ellison, 2007, p.216). Friendster responded by banning so-called fakesters and removing the most popular feature, a decision that ultimately backfired on them as many of their early adopters flocked to Myspace directing traffic away from the site as well. Myspace, on the other hand, capitalized on this immigration of new users by introducing multiple features based on popular demand, as well as expanding its demographic to include minors (Boyd and Ellison, 2007, p.217). This example perfectly captures how technology needs to keep updating itself according to society to stay relevant. While Friendster refused to adapt, Myspace readily updated itself to take advantage of society s psychological need for attention and personalization. This helps elaborate on the bombardment of new updates and features by current SSNs and how throughout history, a technology that refuses to adapt to society, fails to stay relevant.
Both these examples of technologies throughout history highlight technology s secondary nature to society, yet a counter-argument that refutes this claim comes up in the form of the ideals of a techno-utopia. Such an idea that technology inevitably leads to the betterment of mankind can be echoed through both the works of John Perry Barlow and Steven Levy. We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before. (Barlow, 2016) The evidence of this can is visible with technology being used to curb inequality in developing countries (McGowan and Vereinte, 2018, p.63), however, when looking at a broader picture, looking at the history of these technologies, it becomes abundantly clear that the utopian ideals proposed by Barlow and Levy are na ve and hypocritical. Demonstrated by how African American history in the rise of networked technologies was suppressed while also using that same technology to further persecute them (McIlwain, 2019, chap.2). This exclusion of the black community is evident today as well with the massive underrepresentation of the community in technical jobs at major U.S technology companies ( Infographic , 2018). Both these examples serve to refute the claims of a techno-utopia by contrasting them with the reality of today`s socio-technical society and strengthen the case of how technology is bound by the ideals of society. This serves to show how the history of these networked technologies can highlight underlying societal biases when trying to understand the modern sociotechnical relationship.
In conclusion, this essay showcases how by analyzing the history of networked technologies, we can see certain trends define themselves. These trends aid our understanding of how technology has morphed itself to encompass more and more areas of societal life, not because it is imminent but rather because it adapted to disguise itself as such. By using this history to conclude how using this adaptation, we can build upon this relationship and use technology as leverage to harness the true potential of modern society.

BIBLOGRAPHY

Abbate, J. (2000) Inventing the internet. MIT press.

Anon (2020.) Google Books Ngram Viewer [online]. Available from: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=computer%2C+technologyyear_start=1800year_end=2019corpus=26smoothing=3direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccomputer%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctechnology%3B%2Cc0 (Accessed 31 October 2020).

Anon (2018.) Infographic: Does Silicon Valley Have a Diversity Problem? [online]. Available from: https://www.statista.com/chart/14208/share-of-afroamericans-in-us-tech-companies/ (Accessed 1 November 2020).

Barlow, J. P. (2016) A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace [online]. Available from: https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence (Accessed 1 November 2020).

Boyd, D. M. Ellison, N. B. (2007) Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. [Online] 13 (1), 210 230.

Driscoll, K. (2016) Social media s dial-up roots. IEEE Spectrum. [Online] 53 (11), 54 60.

MARX, L. (1997) Technology : The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept. Social Research. 64 (3), 965 988.

McGowan, R. Vereinte, N. (eds.) (2018) Inequality in Asia and the Pacific in the era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations publication. Bangkok: United Nations.

McIlwain, C. D. (2019) Black Software: The Internet and Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter. Oxford, UNITED STATES: Oxford University Press USA - OSO. [online]. Available from: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kcl/detail.action?docID=5899247 (Accessed 1 November 2020).

Pool, R. (1997) Beyond engineering: How society shapes technology. Oxford University Press on Demand.