Effects of technology

In Service Education Unit

Ministry of Health
3 Trevennion Park Road
Kingston
Social Psychology
Topic: Effects of Technology on society
Done in partial fulfilment of the Nursing Administration and Psychiatric Nursing Programme
Presented to: Ms. J. Palmer
Presented by: Members of group three
Chereitha Lalor
Trishianna McIntyre
Sharon Mitchell
Marcia Green
Alman Davidson
Kerry-Ann Bryan-Anderson
Jerolyn Phillips
Everjoy Miller
Sonia Tavernier
Tanisha Pink-Gayle
Deanette Watson Edwards

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Effects of technology on society

Technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and
extracting of materials. The term Technology is wide and everyone has their own way of
understanding the meaning of technology. We use technology to accomplish various tasks in
our daily lives, in brief; we can describe technology as products, processes or organizations.
We use technology to extend our abilities, and that makes people as the most important part
of any technological system. Technology has changed the way how we interact with each
other. Technology is expanding the boundaries of our social circles, various media are also
changing how we perceive and interact with each other.
While most people probably picture computers and cell phones when the subject of
technology comes up, technology is not merely a product of the modern era. From the first
calculator, invented in 2400 B.C.E. Babylon in the form of an abacus, to the predecessor of
the modern computer, created in 1882 by Charles Babbage, all of our technological
innovations are advancements on previous iterations. And indeed, all aspects of our lives
today are influenced by technology. Technology is constantly developing and changing the
way we live and the way we do things. Three new technologies that are creating a great
impact on society are online banking, social media as a form of mass media and technology
in health.
The negative and positive of three types of technology and how it affects society will be
explored in this paper. The Three areas are:
1. Social media
2. Online banking
3. Technology in health

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Social Media
Social media is a form of mass communication and is the collective of online
communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing
and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social
networking, social bookmarking, social curation, and wikis are among the different types of
social media. Examples of social media includes Facebook, twitter, google+, LinkedIn,
reddit, pininterest and several others exist.
Positive effects of social media
1. Social networks help the businesses in a variety of ways. Traditional marketing
mediums such as the radio, TV commercials and print ads are completely obsolete
now and demand for thousands of dollars. However, with social media the businesses
can connect with their targeted customers for free, the only cost is energy and time.
Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social site you can lower your
marketing cost to a significant level.
2. The increasing popularity of social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, social
networks has gained attention as the most viable communication choice for the bloggers,
article writers and content creators.
3. These social networking sites have opened the opportunity for all the writers and bloggers
to connect with their tech savvy clients to share your expertise and articles. Your audience
will further share your articles, blog or expertise in their social circle which further enhance
your networks of the followers.

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4. Social networks have removed all the communication and interaction barriers, and now
one can communicate his/her perception and thoughts over a variety of topics. Students and
experts are able to share and communicate with like-minded people and can ask for the input
and opinion on a particular topic.
5. Another positive impact of social networking sites is to unite people on a huge platform for
the achievement of some specific objective. This is very important to bring the positive
change in society.

Negative effects of social media

1. One of the negative effect of social media or network is it leads to addiction. Spending
countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular
task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and
students. They mainly rely on technology and the internet instead of learning the
practical knowledge and expertise of the everyday life.
2. Kids can be greatly affected by these social networking sites if they are allowed to use
them. The reason is that sometimes people share photos on social media that contains
violence and sex, which can damage the behavior of kids and teenagers. It put the negative
impact on overall society as these kids and teenagers involve themselves in crime related
activities.
3. Another downside of the social media is that the user shares too much information which
may pose threats to them. Even with the tight security settings your personal information may
leak on the social sites. Downloading your videos or pictures and copying your status is an
easy task and can be done within few clicks.
The Functionalist Perspective

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Functionalists believe that mass media contributes to the benefit of society. Charles Wright
(1975) identified several ways in which mass media contributes to creating equilibrium in
society. He claims the media coordinate and correlate information that is valuable to the
culture. The media are powerful agents of socialization. Through the media, culture is
communicated to the masses. Serving society through social control, the media act as stress
relievers which keep social conflicts to a minimum.
The functionalists idea of equilibrium is evident in news broadcast as well as late night
drama programs. In both instances, all human acts lacking morality are reinforced by
showing them as unacceptable and wrong. Mass media make our world smaller. People
gather in groups to watch, they talk about what they see, and they share the sense that they
are watching something special (Schudson 1986).
Functionalists view mass media as an important function in society. Mass media can
influence social uniformity on scale broader than ever before. The internet reaches more
individuals in most social groups more often than television or radio. Mass media has been
accused of creating dysfunction. Postman (1989) argued that popular media culture
undermines the educational system. Claims have been made that there is a link between
television viewing and poor physical health among children.
The Conflict Perspective
Conflict theorists believe that mass media is controlled by corporations with the intent of
satisfying their own agendas. Social media are not merely to inform, but rather to keep our
interests long enough to deliver a well paid advertisement. The conflict perspective views
mass media as a conduit for social coercion. The controllers of mass media use programming
and advertising to influence certain social classes. Trends are introduced through mass media
and mimicked by the public lending credence to the theory that coercion, domination, and

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change in our society is partly due to television, radio, print, and the internet. From the
conflict perspective, modern mass media are instruments of social control (Sullivan 2007).
While functionalists and interactionists agree that mass media is necessary, followers of the
conflict perspective view mass media as a necessary evil. As instruments of social control,
mass media plays an important role in shaping our society.
The Interactionist Perspective
From the interactionist perspective, mass media is used to define and shape our definitions of
a given situation. This perception of reality seems to evolve as our everyday values and
cultures change. A definition of the average American family from the 1950s and 1960s is
drastically different from what we expect today. The mass media portrayal of family life has
always been a benchmark to compare our own lives and successes. Mass media serves as our
social acceptance gauge by providing symbols representing what is proper and what is
unacceptable. The interactionist perspective shares similarities with the functionalist
perspective. Both theories agree that mass media symbolizes a perfect society that individuals
strive to emulate. Celebrities, athletes and other role models promote clothing, brands, and
behavior while sometimes encouraging values and moral guidelines.
On-line banking
The worldwide web has permeated virtually every aspect of modern life. Access to a
computer with internet provides almost limitless amount of information, services and choices
at your fingertips. This includes online banking and financial transactions.
Advantages

It provides 24 hour access so that when the bank closes online transactions and access
to bank accounts can be gained.

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It is convenient as it provides an alternative for individuals who cannot get to the bank
during normal hours because of their work schedule, health or any other reason.

Personal bank accounts can be accessed from virtually anywhere, for example if you
are on a business trip or taking a vacation. Some banks offer features such as a mobile
website and mobile app.

Conducting business online is generally faster than going to the bank and long teller
lines can be time consuming, especially on a Pay Day.

Online banking provides a medium to keep track of account balances and overdraft
fees as it is sometimes easy for lose track of your money when one is trying to
balance work and family.

Disadvantages

Elements of society are dysfunctional if they disrupt social stability. Online banking
carries negative effects and can be seen as a dysfunctional element. Online banking is
certainly not always secure. Identity theft is rampant and once personal information is
compromised it can take up to years and incur thousands of dollars to correct the
damage.

The use of online banking services may result in job losses and so adversely affect the
family to adequately provide for itself causing imbalance and disharmony in the
family.

Malfunctioning on the system can occur causing difficulty to access accounts leading
to inconvenience especially when we become totally dependent on online banking to
carry out all transactions.

The functional perspective on technology

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Online banking would support the functionalist theory of contributing to the smooth running
of society. According to functionalism a society is a system of interconnected parts that work
together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole.
Functionalism focuses on how technology contribute to the smooth running of the society.

Gregory, D. (2010) Marketing Philosophy A mediated culture

http://marketography.com/tag/conflict-perspective/
Kingston, A. (2015) positive and negative effects of social media on society
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/positive-negative-effects-social-media-society-alikingston