A theory can suggest a way to understand what is happening on a fundamental level, or to provide a coherent explanation that connects different phenomena. In Unit 4 (How multimedia affects individuals), you came across a few theories that suggest how multimedia technologies are affecting individuals. So for instance, supernormal stimulation theory provides a broad explanation for why individuals get hooked to certain kinds of digital multimedia. Similarly, there are many theories that attempt to describe how multimedia influences people on a social level. You will explore some of these theories in more depth in MMS 102 (Theories in Multimedia). In this module, we will cover just three theories.

In Modules 15 and 16, we covered specific examples of how multimedia technologies are influencing how society functions and how people relate to each other. At the same time humans themselves are responsible for designing technologies and endowing them with the very properties that are changing us, as you discovered for instance in Activity 13.2 (Why digital and social media is addictive: other theories) where you learned that sometimes designers intentionally make media technologies addictive. Activity 17.1 introduces you to two competing theories on the relationship between society and technology: technological determinism and the social construction of technology.

Technological determinism

Technological determinism is a view which holds that technology shapes societies, not just in the way that individuals conduct their lives but in the way that society as a whole is structured. In the narrative presented from Activity 15.1 on the introduction of written text in medieval Europe, the overarching narrative is a technological determinist one, even though there are places in the story where you can argue that social needs, mores, or pressures led to the development of writing technologies and information organizing techniques.

The social construction of technology

An opposing school of thought to technological determinism is the social construction of technology, which proposes that the primary dynamic isn't that of technology shaping society; rather, it is the other way around. That is to say, existing social structures and culture shapes the ways technologies are used, in ways that may not have been anticipated by the inventors of the technology. For example, I doubt if Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, could have predicted that the cellphone would be used to transmit and receive large amounts of money not only in the Philippines but in other places around the world as as well, such as in Kenya, as you read about in Activity 17.2.

In reality, we usually get a dynamic relationship between technology shaping society and society shaping technology. Going back to the example of mobile phone money remittance, the introduction of this technology has endangered existing money transfer services in Kenya; these more traditional services will close down because they are unable to compete with the new technology, unless they find a way to reinvent themselves and the services they offer. Another example of this reciprocal relationship can be observed in social media (Module 16). Social media has shaped the way we build new relationships (just as technological determinists might predict) but we have also used social media in unpredictable ways, such as for coordinating disaster response teams (which proponents of the social construction of technology might have anticipated).

McLuhan's Tetrad (Four Laws of Media)

One way to summarize the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between technology and society process was advanced by the Canadian thinker and media personality, Marshall McLuhan. He came up with a powerful theory about how the invention of a medium affects older, more established media. It suggests a way of understanding past shifts we've observed in the media landscape and predicting future changes. The following activity asks you to read about this theory.

We can apply the Tetrad theory to analyzing the impact of the printing press. It retrieved the practice of duplicating information through writing. It obsolesced forms of managing and sharing information that relied purely on oral communication (e.g., rhyming verses to recall and reproduce practical bits of knowledge). It enhanced the spread of information, enabling it to spread quickly across large geographical distances. However, the reversal of the printing press was the perceived overabundance of information and a pereived drop in the consistency and quality of written work.

Summary

How does digital media influence society? How does society affect the way media technologies are developed? Technological determinism and the social construction of technology are two theories that tell opposing stories about the relationship between technology and society. On the other hand, McLuhan's theory of the Tetrad predicts what could be seen as the inevitable development of the impact of technology on society.