SOCI 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Sherry Turkle, Planned Obsolescence, Symbolic Interactionism
27 Apr 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
Media & Technology – textbook chapter 8
Vocabulary
• “Planned obsolescence” – “when a company plans for a product to be
obsolete (outdated) from the time it’s created” (pg. 180)
• Algorithms – mathematical formulas; continually refining itself (IV
(independent variable) DV (dependent variable))
Media/Tech: the functionalist argument
• As a social institution, media have some beneficial purpose(s) to society
• What social function might a functionalist like Durkheim emphasize? What
function did religion serve?
• What types of communities & connections are made possible/easier for
technology?
• Other possible beneficial function: moral socialization?
• Pg. 178: “what is not clear, despite nearly 50 years empirical research, is
how much socializing influence the media when compared to other agents of
socialization, which include any social institution that passes along norms,
values, and beliefs (such as peers, family, religious institutions, and the
like).”
Media/Tech: the symbolic interactionist (SI) perspective
• Social media (Facebook/snapchat, etc.) and the front/back stage (Goffman)
• Back stage is your true self; front stage is when you’re performing
• Pg. 179 “Theorists working… media create and spread symbols that become
the basis for our shared understanding of society.”
• Sherry Turkle TED talk
o Connected, but alone?
Homogenization of (mainstream) media (pg.173)
• “Despite the variety of media at hand, the mainstream news and
entertainment you enjoy are increasingly homogenized (all the same)”
• “Research by McManus (1995) suggests that different news outlets all tell
the same stories, using the same sources, resulting in the same message,
presented with only slight variations.”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Vocabulary: planned obsolescence when a company plans for a product to be obsolete (outdated) from the time it"s created (pg. 180: algorithms mathematical formulas; continually refining itself (iv (independent variable) dv (dependent variable)) What function did religion serve: what types of communities & connections are made possible/easier for technology, other possible beneficial function: moral socialization, pg. Media/tech: the symbolic interactionist (si) perspective: social media (facebook/snapchat, etc. ) and the front/back stage (goffman, back stage is your true self; front stage is when you"re performing, pg. 174: on the surface, there is endless opportunity to find diverse media outlets. In 1983, a mere 50 corporations owned the bulk of mass-media outlets. Simply put, students in well-funded schools receive more exposure to technology than students in poorly funded schools. The irrationality of rationality : ritzer: inefficiencies and uncertainties that are often produced by seemingly rational systems , also refers to the dehumanizing effects of rationalization.
