Can Your Smartphone Knit a Sweater?
Technological Determinism: Not Your Grandmother’s Mass Comm Theory.
As technology has become more advanced, it has also become more commonplace in society. Smartphones barely began to take shape nearly a decade ago! How did our elders manage to make it through the day without technology?
The absence of smartphones once encouraged good ol’ fashioned craft and skill.
This resulted in grandmas who love to knit! However, at this technological rate, I think I’ll be a grandma using the Amazon app to purchase a sweater with free 2-day delivery.
There’s a word for my grandmother hypothesis. It’s called technological determinism. (AKA: McLuhan’s Technological Determinism).
This mass communication theory is associated with Marshall McLuhan. He suggested that social structure has been the product of the dominant communication medium of the time.
So, while our grandmas were reading print newspapers and magazines that encouraged hands-on crafts, we are learning how to make life more convenient through smartphones.
The idea of a future full of tech-savvy seniors is far from today’s normal. But, as McLuhan’s research suggests, culture changes in response to changing communication mediums. Still, the idea of tweeting and tik-toking grannies may feel weird, so here is a list of benefits to technological determinism in the golden years.
Benefits/Strong Points:
- Closes a gap of information sharing between sections of society.
Society becomes well-rounded and less separated by shared insights on news, events, and pop culture.
- Seniors are informed of current events and happenings.
Creates a new group that is equipped to take action for causes that previous generations were not educated on.
- Exchange of generational wisdom.
Shared experiences are directed in a two-way flow from youth to elders and from elders to youth.
Now that I’ve gotten you comfortable with the idea, we need to consider the cultural limitations this could produce:
Negatives/Limitations:
- Sacrificing old methods for convenience.
Technology as a tool replaces prior skills. Maps are replaced with GPS apps like Google Maps.
- Will we keep up with newer technology?
The possibility of future seniors failing to keep up with advancing technologies is a staple in our culture.
- Technology demands financial capability.
Access to technology, like smartphones, can be expensive. While the idea of seniors closing the tech gap presents a well-rounded society, not everyone can afford them.
As technology changes, so do the way we behave and interact as a society. Only time will tell what McLuhan’s Technological Determinism has in store for our future!
