Transformations in the Digital
Society
Week 1 – Introduction
There are 3 questions on which this course is built:
1. How can we understand change and continuity?
2. When do we begin our analysis of digital transformation?
3. What is the focus of our analysis?
Negroponte, 1996. The DNA of Information
How bits and atoms are alike but far from the same
A bit is a state of being: on/off, true/false, ect. It is either 1 or 0.
Being digital can lead to better and more efficient delivery of what already exists, but with
this comes a whole new world where we need rules.
2 results from all media being digital:
1. Bits commingle effortlessly (=multimedia)
2. There is a new kind of bit: a bit that tells you about other bits (headers,maps)
Negroponte, 1996. Epiloge: An Age of Optimism
There will be digitalization
“Like a force of nature, the digital age cannot be denied or stopped. It has four very powerful
qualities that will result in its ultimate triumph:
1. Decentralizing
2. Globalizing
3. Harmonizing
4. Empowering
Technological Determinism
Marvin, 1988. When Old Technologies were New.
1897-1900 invention of:
1. Telephone This is a study to telephone and electric light
2. Electric light
3. Phonograph
4. Wireless
5. Cinema
New media technologies started earlier than everyone is saying
With this new timeline, new issues emerge
Relations changed as well
Question 1
“Classes, families, and professional communities struggled to come to terms with novel () devices that
made possible communication in real time without real presence, so that some people were suddenly
too close and others much too far away. New kinds of encounters collided with old ways of
,determining trust and reliability, and with old notions about the world and one's place in it.” (Marvin,
p.5-6)
Transformation is misleading because the emphasis is on change rather than continuity.
“…the problem is how to acknowledge transformation without resorting to over-exaggeration; to
respect historical continuity whilst recognizing difference.” (Prior, 2012)
Question 2
In what year did the digital age begin? It is estimated at 2005. But the digital revolution started
somewhere in the late 1970’s.
There is a problem for historians: where does one begin? The history of the event versus the longue
durée.
The digital society is produced, not discovered (Epochs).
“for those of us living in the modern age, history is almost by definition a technology-driven process.”
(Williams, 1994).
In her book Carolyn Marvin avoids technological determinism by shifting focus: “…from the
instrument to the drama in which existing groups perpetually negotiate power, authority,
representation, and knowledge with whatever resources are available. New media intrude on these
negotiations by providing new platforms on which old groups confront one another. Old habits of
transacting between groups are projected onto new technologies that alter, or seem to alter, critical
social distances.” (Marvin, 1988, p.5)
“The history of media is never more or less than the history of their uses…” (Marvin, p.8)
But…. if we only focus on how people use media, then we risk ignoring how media/tech companies
design certain preferred uses into media technology
Douglas, 2010. How do New Thing Happen?
Hard and soft technological determinism
Social constructivism (human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed
through interaction with others) instead of technological determinism
How have subcultures used technology in unanticipated ways?
“Cultural Preparation”: “Not merely must one explain the existence of new mechanical
instruments: one must explain the culture that was ready to use them and profit by them so
extensively” (Mumford, 1963, p. 4). How has society been “culturally prepared” for
digitalization?
Technological determinism = the human tendency to create the kind of society that invests
technologies with enough power to drive history. (there are other views as well)
McLuhan: it is about the medium, not the content
Technological or communicative affordances
“what do certain technologies privilege and permit that others don’t, and what does that
mean?”
McLuhan: the global village
Communicating technologies have intrinsic properties
Communicating technologies can have the opposite consequences due to the economic and
political system
, -> The solution: Find a balance between technological determinism and social determinism
Summary
1) How do we acknowledge both change and continuity in our analysis of ‘digital transformation?
Answer = Negroponte
2) When do we begin our analysis of the ‘digital transformation’?
Answer = Marvin
3) What is the focus of our analysis? Devices? Practices? Something else
Answer = Douglas
“Is the history of media first and foremost the history of technological methods and devices? Or is the
history of media better understood as the story of modern ideas of communication? Or is it about
modes and habits of perception? Or about political choices and structures? Should we be looking for a
sequence of separate ‘ages’ with ruptures, revolutions, or paradigm shifts in between, or should we
be seeing more of an evolution? A progress?” [Gitelman, Always Already New, p. 1]
Week 2 - Participation
Stewart Brand (founder of The Whole Earth Catalog): “the counterculture’s scorn for centralized
authority provided the philosophical foundations of not only the leaderless Internet but also the
entire personal-computer revolution”.
The Apple computer was the first computer that was small. Internet was used for personal
expression and seen as a sign of freedom.
Eli Pariser (author of the book Filter Bubble, 2011): “The California futurists and techno-optimists: an
inevitable, irresistible revolution was just around the corner, one that would flatten society, unseat
the elites, and usher in a kind of freewheeling global utopia”.
Facebook revolution or twitter revolution.
One of the opposing views to internet is slacktivism. This is a combination between slacker and
activism. Activism online is signing online. Slacktivism is for the lazy generation to avoid
responsibilities. It is not real engagement. It is an illusion of making a real impact without it being an
impact. It functions as a distraction and is to make people feel good about themselves.
Utopian and dystopian views: Old wine in a new bottle? “New technologies is a historically relative
term. We are not the first generation to wonder at the rapid and extraordinary shifts in the dimension
of the world and the human relationships it contains as a result of new forms of communication”
(Marvin, 1988, p.3).
Putnam: watching television is associated with a decline in memberships for magazines or social
participation / interacting in real live.
Television and the decline of Americans’ membership in civic associations since the 1950s “There is
reason to believe that deep-seated technological trends are radically ‘privatizing’ or ‘individualizing’
our use of leisure time and thus disrupting many opportunities for social capital formation. The most
obvious and probably the most powerful instrument of this revolution is television. … The new ‘virtual
reality’ helmets that we will soon done to be entertained in total isolation are merely the latest
extension of this trend.”
Society
Week 1 – Introduction
There are 3 questions on which this course is built:
1. How can we understand change and continuity?
2. When do we begin our analysis of digital transformation?
3. What is the focus of our analysis?
Negroponte, 1996. The DNA of Information
How bits and atoms are alike but far from the same
A bit is a state of being: on/off, true/false, ect. It is either 1 or 0.
Being digital can lead to better and more efficient delivery of what already exists, but with
this comes a whole new world where we need rules.
2 results from all media being digital:
1. Bits commingle effortlessly (=multimedia)
2. There is a new kind of bit: a bit that tells you about other bits (headers,maps)
Negroponte, 1996. Epiloge: An Age of Optimism
There will be digitalization
“Like a force of nature, the digital age cannot be denied or stopped. It has four very powerful
qualities that will result in its ultimate triumph:
1. Decentralizing
2. Globalizing
3. Harmonizing
4. Empowering
Technological Determinism
Marvin, 1988. When Old Technologies were New.
1897-1900 invention of:
1. Telephone This is a study to telephone and electric light
2. Electric light
3. Phonograph
4. Wireless
5. Cinema
New media technologies started earlier than everyone is saying
With this new timeline, new issues emerge
Relations changed as well
Question 1
“Classes, families, and professional communities struggled to come to terms with novel () devices that
made possible communication in real time without real presence, so that some people were suddenly
too close and others much too far away. New kinds of encounters collided with old ways of
,determining trust and reliability, and with old notions about the world and one's place in it.” (Marvin,
p.5-6)
Transformation is misleading because the emphasis is on change rather than continuity.
“…the problem is how to acknowledge transformation without resorting to over-exaggeration; to
respect historical continuity whilst recognizing difference.” (Prior, 2012)
Question 2
In what year did the digital age begin? It is estimated at 2005. But the digital revolution started
somewhere in the late 1970’s.
There is a problem for historians: where does one begin? The history of the event versus the longue
durée.
The digital society is produced, not discovered (Epochs).
“for those of us living in the modern age, history is almost by definition a technology-driven process.”
(Williams, 1994).
In her book Carolyn Marvin avoids technological determinism by shifting focus: “…from the
instrument to the drama in which existing groups perpetually negotiate power, authority,
representation, and knowledge with whatever resources are available. New media intrude on these
negotiations by providing new platforms on which old groups confront one another. Old habits of
transacting between groups are projected onto new technologies that alter, or seem to alter, critical
social distances.” (Marvin, 1988, p.5)
“The history of media is never more or less than the history of their uses…” (Marvin, p.8)
But…. if we only focus on how people use media, then we risk ignoring how media/tech companies
design certain preferred uses into media technology
Douglas, 2010. How do New Thing Happen?
Hard and soft technological determinism
Social constructivism (human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed
through interaction with others) instead of technological determinism
How have subcultures used technology in unanticipated ways?
“Cultural Preparation”: “Not merely must one explain the existence of new mechanical
instruments: one must explain the culture that was ready to use them and profit by them so
extensively” (Mumford, 1963, p. 4). How has society been “culturally prepared” for
digitalization?
Technological determinism = the human tendency to create the kind of society that invests
technologies with enough power to drive history. (there are other views as well)
McLuhan: it is about the medium, not the content
Technological or communicative affordances
“what do certain technologies privilege and permit that others don’t, and what does that
mean?”
McLuhan: the global village
Communicating technologies have intrinsic properties
Communicating technologies can have the opposite consequences due to the economic and
political system
, -> The solution: Find a balance between technological determinism and social determinism
Summary
1) How do we acknowledge both change and continuity in our analysis of ‘digital transformation?
Answer = Negroponte
2) When do we begin our analysis of the ‘digital transformation’?
Answer = Marvin
3) What is the focus of our analysis? Devices? Practices? Something else
Answer = Douglas
“Is the history of media first and foremost the history of technological methods and devices? Or is the
history of media better understood as the story of modern ideas of communication? Or is it about
modes and habits of perception? Or about political choices and structures? Should we be looking for a
sequence of separate ‘ages’ with ruptures, revolutions, or paradigm shifts in between, or should we
be seeing more of an evolution? A progress?” [Gitelman, Always Already New, p. 1]
Week 2 - Participation
Stewart Brand (founder of The Whole Earth Catalog): “the counterculture’s scorn for centralized
authority provided the philosophical foundations of not only the leaderless Internet but also the
entire personal-computer revolution”.
The Apple computer was the first computer that was small. Internet was used for personal
expression and seen as a sign of freedom.
Eli Pariser (author of the book Filter Bubble, 2011): “The California futurists and techno-optimists: an
inevitable, irresistible revolution was just around the corner, one that would flatten society, unseat
the elites, and usher in a kind of freewheeling global utopia”.
Facebook revolution or twitter revolution.
One of the opposing views to internet is slacktivism. This is a combination between slacker and
activism. Activism online is signing online. Slacktivism is for the lazy generation to avoid
responsibilities. It is not real engagement. It is an illusion of making a real impact without it being an
impact. It functions as a distraction and is to make people feel good about themselves.
Utopian and dystopian views: Old wine in a new bottle? “New technologies is a historically relative
term. We are not the first generation to wonder at the rapid and extraordinary shifts in the dimension
of the world and the human relationships it contains as a result of new forms of communication”
(Marvin, 1988, p.3).
Putnam: watching television is associated with a decline in memberships for magazines or social
participation / interacting in real live.
Television and the decline of Americans’ membership in civic associations since the 1950s “There is
reason to believe that deep-seated technological trends are radically ‘privatizing’ or ‘individualizing’
our use of leisure time and thus disrupting many opportunities for social capital formation. The most
obvious and probably the most powerful instrument of this revolution is television. … The new ‘virtual
reality’ helmets that we will soon done to be entertained in total isolation are merely the latest
extension of this trend.”
