How TV Ruined Your Life

Found online: 
NotPercy203 2012, How TV Ruined Your Life - s01e01 - Fear, video recording, YouTube, viewed online 4 April 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQBwNyJDHsw>.

As Kling mentions in 'What Is Social Informatics and Why Does It Matter?, ICTs only benefit sections of society, not the whole (Kling 1999). How TV Ruined Your Life points out how TV has been used by those in power to control and manipulate society, showing how ICTs are political. One of the reasons this works so well is because it played on human biology and our ingrained reactions to threats and fear.    This makes us realise the effects our biology and history have on how ICTs affect society in a noticeable way. One of the reasons TV has such an affect on us is its pervasiveness, with most people owning at least one TV. TV has been presented as a necessary item, allowing those in power, both those in government and in media, to control a large section of society.   

Laptop

Davenport points out that there are "unintended consequences" of ICTs, which has made me notice all the ways in which my laptop has impacted on my life. One of the major ways is the way I study, because it is portable I am able to take it anywhere at work at anytime. While this is productive, it has changed what I would have once have considered time for relaxation, such as during a bus or train ride or while I am eating. Anther consequence is a change in my sleeping pattern, able to use my laptop in bed I find it hard to switch off, feeling as if I'm going to miss out on something important.

'Opening: Networking minds, creating meaning, contesting power'

Castells, M. 2012, ‘Opening: Networking minds, creating meaning, contesting

power', in Networks of Outrage and Hope, Polity, Cambridge, pp. 1-19. 

Castells writing points to the inextricability of society from technology (Sawyer & Tyworth 2006). The Internet and social media here is seen to be an extension of society, particularly when it comes to political movements. Mass-communication has helped to spread the awareness of political injustice and demonstrations taking place, giving power back to the people. Individuals saw the potential for ICTs to help with these movements, both spreading awareness and allowing people to become involved no matter where they are located.  

Monarch Of The Glen

Found online:
MonarchOfTheGlenTV 2013, Monarch Of The Glen s03e03, video recording, YouTube, viewed online 5 April 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Qz07MpNpo>.

This episode made me realise, as Sawyer and Tyworth mention, how individual intentions and attitudes affect how we use information technologies (Sawyer & Tyworth 2006) .A camera can be used to take family photos, record funny moments, or they can be used to invade privacy and acquire evidence of criminal activity. It is the intentions behind how we use technology that determine if they have negative or positive effects. This episode bring up the question of whether a person is or should be believed over technologies evidence, which can not capture the full story. Which can lead not only to misunderstandings but ruin a persons reputation.     

IT Crowd: The Internet Is Coming

IT Crowd: The Internet Is Coming 2013, DVD, FremantleMedia, UK.

This episode helped me to understand the idea of social actors and how people can use technology in original ways that they were not intended for. In this episode Moss wears female trousers to increase his confidence, similarly humans use information technologies to benefit themselves in a number of ways. Several events in this episode show how pervasive technology has become, leading to a lack of privacy which has both good and bad effects. This can help when it comes to investigating into the corrupt, individuals who once got away with criminal activity because of their wealth can now be exposed online. While it is said 'you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide' it also becomes clear through this episode that the Internet can lead to misunderstandings and misjudgement of a situation because technology does not capture context.  

YouTube Abuse Recovery

TheGeekyBlond 2014, YouTube Abuse Recovery, video recording, YouTube, viewed online 24 March 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uc5eNNG60o>.

The abuse mentioned in YouTube Abuse Recovery show that ICTs have created new power relationships. As Kling mentions, ICTs tend to benefit certain groups more than others, in this case we see how the creator/fan relationship that YouTube has brought about, can be manipulated to the harm of the fan (Kling 1999). YouTube was previously perceived to be unlike any other media, with an absence of negative effects. These events clearly show how individuals use ICTs for their own purposes, while YouTube in neutral, people are not. It also raises the question of wether the benefits of such ICTs out-wiegh the potential they have for harm.