chapter 1 Flashcards
(34 cards)
What technologies and media did you use this morning, and for what purposes?
iPhone (looking up reviews, texting, train app, checking location lecture), Laptop (school)
Reflects the integration of technology into daily life.
What is digital media sociology?
The study of how digital media impacts social structures, interactions, and identities.
What does sociology study?
The social organization of society, including how people live together, opportunities, and problems that arise.
What are the key questions in sociology?
- Social order
- Social inequality
- Identity
What is the difference between media sociology and media psychology?
- Media sociology: studies how media affect social organization
- Media psychology: studies how media affect individual cognition, emotion, and behavior
What are the micro and macro levels in digital media sociology?
- Micro-level: Changes in everyday practices
- Macro-level: Changes to societal institutions
What does social structure refer to?
The organized patterns of relationships, rules, and arrangements that govern how people interact and live together.
What is the concept of ‘desire path’?
A shortcut taken by people that can lead to social change when enough individuals follow it.
What is Giddens’ duality of structure theory?
Structures and agency are mutually constitutive; society enables and constrains actions while individuals shape society.
What does agency refer to in sociology?
The capacity of individuals to reflect on social structures and act intentionally to modify their behavior.
What are technological affordances?
Possibilities for action that technologies enable or constrain in particular contexts.
What is the relationship between technology and society according to Orlikowski?
Technology and society shape each other; technology reflects social structures and influences human behavior.
Fill in the blank: Social order concerns the ‘rules’ that ______ society and give structure to life.
[order]
True or False: Social structures are inherently negative and restrict individual freedom.
False
What does the term ‘appartgeist’ refer to?
The ‘spirit of the machine’ that shapes human behavior through built-in logics and expectations of technology.
What are the three problems we face in analyzing the impact of rapidly changing technologies?
- Moving target problem
- Functional view of technological affordances
- Constant evolution of digital media landscape
What is the significance of SMS in the history of digital media?
Initially an insignificant byproduct of mobile telephony, it evolved into a massively successful communication tool influencing social practices.
What are the criteria for something to be considered an affordance?
- Relational
- Contextual
- Designed
What is the difference between a feature and an affordance?
- Feature: A designed function of a product
- Affordance: The potential action perceived by users based on design
What does social change occur when?
Individuals successfully and collectively produce a new social order.
How do social structures and culture relate to each other?
Culture consists of shared beliefs, norms, and values that shape and are shaped by social structures.
What is the difference between a feature and an affordance?
A feature is a designed function or characteristic of a product, while an affordance is the potential action a user perceives they can take with an object based on its design.
Define affordance in the context of technology.
Affordance refers to what a technology allows you to do, focusing on function or action possibilities rather than just features.
List the three threshold criteria for something to be considered an affordance.
- Neither the object nor a feature of the object
- Not the outcome
- Has variability
