Influence of Technology
We all know that technology has had a big impact on our lives. The ways we communicate, store our data, and work have all changed dramatically over the years. The impact of technology is so pervasive that there are many areas where it has been applied in the past and continues to be applied in the present day. The following article will focus on the three main areas in which technology affects society: job security, entertainment, and social interaction.
For this first article I want to talk about the three main technological developments in the last decade, the negative effects of new technology, and the ethical considerations surrounding new technological developments. These three topics are related but they also affect each other in different ways. For example, while there have been some advances in ethical issues, especially with respect to online privacy, there have been few meaningful changes to traditional employment practices or the legal responsibilities of companies that own large databases of personal information.
In the previous article I mentioned that there has been some change in the position of traditional media as an influence of technology; this point is still valid. People are still willing to accept stories that are printed in newspapers and television news that they are happy to listen to or see celebrities talk about issues that are important to them. However, the audience for some forms of traditional media may be shrinking as the influence of technology increases.
The second area that we will discuss is the influence of technology in the political process. This is very similar to the political influence of technology discussed in the previous article, in fact the only difference is the scale. Since politicians depend a lot on the information provided by the mass media for their campaign strategies, the influence of technology is significant in shaping the political process.
The political influence of technology can be seen today where different political parties make use of new technological platforms such as social networking websites and the like. This is not just a new form of advertising; rather it is an innovative way to form strong political alliances. For instance, during the last elections in UK, three parties governed the country. One of them used technological platforms such as social networking websites and search engines to advertise their party. The other two used traditional campaigns, which included posters and pamphlets. They also made use of traditional media, such as television, radio and print.
These types of technological improvements may seem insignificant, but they do represent real technological advancements. This is why there is a need for a close scrutiny of some of these technologies that have been developed recently. For instance, one important element in the political process is political propaganda, which is the main goal of traditional media, and in order to shape public opinion, which is the goal of new technologies such as social networking sites.
There is also another important element, which is the need for transparency. Today, the concept of transparency has become very popular, especially in the realm of technological advancements. For instance, it is becoming compulsory for companies to reveal all the information about their technologies, which they use for marketing purposes. There are also many issues in this domain, as for instance, some people have been concerned about new technologies that influence human privacy. This concern is not based on fact, but on supposition.
For instance, with the help of social networking sites, people are able to interact more easily with their friends, relatives and colleagues. This means that technological processes such as blogging have changed the entire face of communication, which can be considered as a huge revolution. Therefore, it is wrong to claim that the Internet is a cause of social division and racism. Similarly, it is wrong to claim that new technologies such as social networking have caused the end of communication. The net effect of these technological processes can be nothing but positive. Thus we can conclude that there is no link between technology and race, and that such claims are completely unfounded.