Technological Determinism's Effect on Kayla's Experiences

Technological Determinism's Effect on Kayla's Experiences

The theoretical perspective of technological determinism is useful in understanding the personal and social anxieties produced by digital media. Technological determinism focuses on the idea that technologies are active forces that change individuals and society, and people often have little power to resist them (Herman, 2021). It examines the authenticity of identity and the welfare of face-to-face relationships as a result of technology usage (Baym, 2015, p. 43). An effective example of technological determinism is present in the experiences of Kayla in the film Eighth Grade. The Internet in Kalya's experience, specifically Instagram and YouTube, allow her a sense of authentic self-representation. She is able to show her true identity and personality through the videos she posts, including ones on her videos: “putting yourself out there” and “how to be more confident.” This sense of authentic self-representation that Kayla experiences on the Internet results from the liberation of the constraints of her social context (Baym, 2015, p. 38). She becomes less anxious and awkward over the Internet as a result of the technology's mediation. At the same time, the Internet negatively affects her face-to-face relationships with her peers and causes her to experience anxiety and social isolation (Baym, 2015, p. 43). She is disconnected from her peers as a result of a lack of necessity to connect face-to-face with her peers because she can substitute her face-to-face interactions with her mediated relationships where she connects more openly and confidently (Baym, 2015, p. 43). Overall, Kayla has a different identity online and offline. These differing identities cause her to lose her own sense of place as a result of the separation of physical and social spaces through electronic media (p. 29).

Olivia Custodio

Comments

  1. Maddy VioliOctober 14, 2021 at 7:42 AM

    Hi,
    I agree with your post, Kayla uses social media in order to express her "true self" as she has trouble doing that in person. On one hand, I think that it is great that social media is a space that she is able to feel safe in. However, I also believe that social media is the cause for a lot of her social anxiety that she is feeling when she attempts to communicate with her classmates. Social media is a large aspect of her and her classmates lives. Many of them seem to also be facing a disconnect from the real world because of the use of social media. For instance, when she gives the girl a note after her birthday party she doesn't even look up from her phone. This kind of behaviour is a result from over exposure to technology, and because they are still so young they are even more impressionable to the effects of it.

    Great post,
    Maddy

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  2. Shanna AllimanOctober 18, 2021 at 12:49 PM

    Hi Olivia,
    I agree with your examples of technological determinism and its effect on Kayla. Your explanation of technological determinism was very clear. In terms of Kayla, social media is a huge part of her life. She uses to express herself and you say put herself out there. Especially in the environment Kayla has grown up in technological determinism explains how she has little power to resist social media.

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