Social
informatics is the study of how individuals and society have been effected by
informational technologies. This covers a range of theories and topics, my
understanding of which has been informed and shaped by a number of artefacts.
My digital scrapbook is a collection of these artefacts, and an explanation of
how they have helped me to understand social informatics and realise how it
plays out in my day-to-day life.
I have accumulated a variety of artefacts here as each persons interactions with technology is unique and can play out in a number of ways. One of the approaches in social informatics is the social actors approach. This approach tells us that individuals, will they are effected by their social context, still have "individual agency"and are able to use technology for their own purposes (Sawyer & Tyworth 2006). Due to this agency, the effects of new technologies cannot be predicted and therefore there are a number of unexpected consequences. Some of these
consequences have been observed within this scrapbook, both positive and
negative with each artefact revealing a different aspect. These outcomes can sometimes seem to contradict each other, but again this is because there is no singular outcome. Everyone experiences information technologies differently and all of these are can be true.
An understanding of social informatics and the effects information technologies have on individuals and society, is important. This is in part because technology is constantly evolving, it is not static (Sawyer & Tyworth 2006). It is not just enough to understand how technologies effect society now, but to understand these views and be able to apply them to future technologies. We simply cannot escape the effects of information technologies these days, they have become pervasive and surround us. We use these technologies in schools, work, for recreation, entertainment, and we carry them around in our pockets. As they surround us so completely it is important to note their effect, both positive and negative. This raises the issue of whether or not the benefits of informatics technology out-weigh the negatives, and whether or not we would be better off without them. While technologies are not in themselves either good nor bad, they enable these behaviours. These issues become even more important as time goes on, with globalisation continuing more and more people become users of these technologies, and we do not know how they will use them.
This particular digital scrapbook is also important as it provides examples and insight into a number of different themes and topics within social informatics. These artefacts have been collected from every-day encounters as well as authoritative resources. I have used labels in order to organise these artefacts into themes and topics. These are:
Social actors
While individuals are effected by society and their environment, they ultimately have agency (Sawyer & Tyworth 2006). As such they are able to use information technologies in ways the creators did not predict.
Pervasiveness of technology
Technology is now everywhere we look, with 6 billion mobile subscriptions (Fitzpatrick 2012), 34.3% of the worlds population uses the Internet (Miniwatts Marketing Group 2014), and 89% of the worlds households own a television (Ahonen 2011). With technology being so prevalent it is only reasonable that it was impact on our lives.
Effects on society
Information technologies effects how individuals understand and interact with the world around them and their relationships with the people in it. Social informatics teaches us that when we study technology we have to take society into account, likewise to understand society we have to take technology into account (Saywer & Tyworth 2006).
Effects on individuals
It is fairly easy to see how individuals are affected by technology, though each person my be affected differently. Information technologies have affected our home-life, professionalising it and increasing our personal information and our relationship to it (Lally 2005). As well as changing our habits, such as constantly checking our phones.
Unexpected consequences
Individuals do not always use technology for their original purpose, or indeed in any ways creators could imagine. Because they can use these technologies for their own benefit there are consequences, sometimes for just these individuals and sometimes for all of society. These unexpected consequences can be both good or bad, depending on the users intentions.
Ethical implications
With all this technology comes ethical concerns, this is especially evident when it comes to scientific advancements. There are a number of ethical questions raised when we consider how information technologies can be used to manipulate individuals and society to the benefit of those in power.
Some of these artefacts have multiple labels, making connections between them and showing how these themes inter-connect. The organisation of these artefacts is important as seeing patterns helps humans to understand and make inferences. Compiling this digital scrapbook as helped me make these connections and better understand social informatics as a whole.
