The Guardian Article and Technological Determinism

This post will discuss the reductionist theory that assumes that a society's technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values – technological determinism – and its relationship to the Guardian article. The presence of social media in our society, and the role that it plays, is extremely significant in addition to the impact it has on mental health of the users. The Guardian article states that Instagram makes body image issues worse for one in three girls and “thirty-two per cent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.” These stats are quite disturbing knowing that these girls are so young and so vulnerable. Instagram is aware of how addictive the app is, the effect it has on young girls, as well as how they can somewhat control and determine a large portion of society’s direction in relation to social media. Many social media platforms and big tech companies know that they have you by the short and curly’s from the day you make an account because their platforms and devices are extremely addictive, and they shape what you look at by using algorithms which impacts your perspective on yourself, others, and the world around you. Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer of Facebook, even made the false statement that social media was more likely to have positive effects on mental health and other high ups in Instagram suggested that Instagram has ‘quite small’ effects on teenagers’ mental health. My question is: do you think that we just continue to get more and more engulfed and controlled by social media and technology, or do you think there will be major backlash at some point about its effect on our mental health? Olivia Schuster


Comments

  1. Hello, thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding the Guardian article. I agree that this article is a clear example of the power/hold that technology has over society. My post was regarding the Eight Grade, therefore it was nice to read your post about Instagram! I am not at all surprised by the impacts that Instagram has on users. Instagram can be a very dangerous place for an individual's self-esteem, and the capabilities of the technologies associated with social media amplify this danger (i.e., photoshop and face/body editing apps). Body editing apps create a new reality, as technology is influencing how we see ourselves and others. In our capitalistic society, I am not surprised that profits are trumping mental health concerns. With the filter bubbles and targeted advertisements found on social media platforms, it is clear that humans’ opinions are being shaped in a particular manner. To answer your question specifically, when articles like these are published I feel they cause reflection among users. Social media platforms receive backlash, but with technology monopolies and their addictive nature I do not know if society would ever be able to stop using the platforms. Hopefully, awareness will help better the situation but that is not enough. I feel that society goes through waves of being passive social media users (i.e., becoming more “engulfed”) and then becoming active users (i.e., being aware of its impact when using the platform), only to fall back into passivity.

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  2. Hey Olivia, great post! I completely agree with your thoughts regarding the Guardian Article. I like how you mentioned the use of Instagram and it's effects on young girls. To answer your question, I do believe that as a society we are getting better at recognizes the downfalls of social media specifically Instagram. There was a recent trend on TikTok and it showed individuals before and after pictures that they have posted but also heavily edited, and the message that this trend is putting out there is to not believe everything you see on social media and in this case, specifically Instagram.

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  3. Hi Olivia,
    Great post this week. I enjoyed reading your relationship between technological determinism and how social media impact the mental health of its users. To answer your question, I agree with Harpreet that society is getting better at recognizing the negative impact social media can have on its users. This awareness allows users to demand more realistic content to be featured both by large companies as well as individual content creators. From my personal experience, content creators are opting to be less photoshopped and more transparent with their audience which is good and beneficial for both parties. Without people realizing and acknowledging the real negative effects the content posted on social media has to viewers especially young girls, there would not have been pressure for change.

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