Social Media and Social Life Winter 2024

  Blog Post #2      AVERY MISA  Good afternoon fellow students, as we have all enjoyed the film ‘Eighth Grade’ most of us weirdly related to most of the experiences that Kayla went through. We previously believed our experiences were unique and personal, however w ith the domestication of technology, all of these issues of technology become universal. Thus, technologies become so woven into the fabric of everyday life that the issues of their positive or negative effects become banal and ordinary. Using the Lens of Domestication of Technology will help us clearly illustrate how the anxiety of interactivity of new digital media is evidenced in  Eighth Grade.               Unlike most movies,  Eight Grade  displays the reality of the alienation and abuse of technology through its detailed scenes of Instagram messaging and stalking, YouTube addiction, BuzzFeed quizzes, and snapchat filters....

  The “social shaping of technology” is an interesting perspective because it takes into account both technological determinism, and social constructivism. It combines the causes of people and technology, rather than focusing on one perspective. (Baym, 28). This means that the negative effects of technology are caused by the technology itself, and the people engaging in the use of the technology. In The Guardian article, Facebook aware of Instagram’s harmful effect on teenage girls, leak reveals, the author highlights that Facebook had been hiding Instagram research that demonstrates the negative effects that the app has on teenage girl’s body image. (Gayle, 2021). It is obvious that the unrealistic ideals of what women’s bodies should look like is prominent on Instagram and can seriously affect the mental health of young girls being exposed to this. I believe that the social shaping of technology essentially demonstrates that the app is most definitely one of the causes for the de...

     In the film Eighth Grade, Kayla's journey through adolescence mirrors the anxieties surrounding the interactivity of new digital media. Through a lens of social construction, we observe how digital platforms shape and reflect societal norms, identity construction, and interpersonal relationships. The theory of social construction looks at how technologies emerge from social processes (Baym).      Kayla's immersion in digital media incorporates the contemporary adolescent experience. Her pursuit of online validation highlights the pressure to conform to idealized standards and the anxiety provoked by the interactivity of these digital platforms. The film underscores the anxiety inherent in seeking validation through likes, comments, and virtual connections. Kayla's struggles reflect the pervasive influence of digital media on self-esteem and social identity formation. Kayla's constant comparison to curated online personas exacerbates feelings of inad...

Technological Determinism Kayla, the main character featured in the film Eighth Grade , encounters a dramatic, yet common experience with digital media technologies, and shapes her life through this medium. As Kayla experiences severe social anxiety with face-to-face encounters, she turns to social media, as a way to experience discourse and converse with her online peers. Technological determinism is a perspective that is extremely relevant in the case of Kayla in Eighth Grade . It creates the notion that digital media, in this case, determines and shapes the reality in which Kayla exists. Kayla's social presence would not exist if it were not for digital media platforms such as YouTube, and Instagram. Let's turn to anxiety. With the introduction of digital media platforms also emerged an additional external layer of anxiety for individuals who utilize these platforms. Especially in Kayla’s situation, the interactivity of these digital platforms created a chaotic and harmful e...

  I find it really interesting how connected social media and the internet are. One stat was that there are 36 million internet users and 33 million people use social media.  I always thought that the internet would have a lot of users as everyone or mostly everyone is connected to the internet now.  But the amount of those people on social media surprised me.   I would always assume social media was for younger people and I am half right as 24-35 years olds is the largest group on social media.  As the numbers show there are only 3 million Canadians from the stats that don’t use social media.  Meaning that older and even younger people as in kids are on social media of some sort.  Learning about how many people use and are on social media definitely surprised me as I thought such a much smaller percentage of our population used social media. 

From the domestication of technology perspective, Kayla’s experience in the film Eighth Grade shows the anxiety about the interactivity of new digital media. The portion of the film that we watched in class demonstrates how “new technologies move from being fringe (wild) objects to everyday (tame) objects embedded deeply in the practices of daily life” (Baym, 28). For example, the scene in which Kayla is on her phone at the dinner table with her dad illustrates the extent of new technology’s presence in daily life. During an activity as standard and personal as a family dinner, Kayla is engrossed by the world inside her phone. This reflects how for many users, “life without [new technologies] can become unimaginable” (Baym, 28). Another scene that shows this is when Kayla tries to converse with the popular girls and they are glued to their phones. This is an example of how technology is commonly used as a crutch in social situations where people wish to avoid others. Without the availa...

      In the movie Eighth grade it follows a young girl by the name of Kayla who is having a hard time not only fitting in with her peers at school, but also has trouble fitting in online as well. Kayla demonstrates a high degree of social anxiety, and it is very evident she just wants people to like her. Kayla, with limited people to talk too and virtually no friends, leans on creating YouTube videos in order to connect with others. Kayla's videos consist of her providing advice to her viewers, such as how to always be confident, and tips on how to socialize to others, things that she has no real experience in. These videos give Kayla a way to connect to not only her peers but other people around the world, and also give her something to feel good about as she's helping others. Kayla also adds to her anxiety by constantly scrolling though social media, and ignoring things such as her father trying to talk to her. Scrolling through social media has Kayla compar...

According to the Guardian report, the mental health impact of Facebook and Instagram on teenagers, especially girls, reflects the social shaping of technology. The social shaping of technological perspectives represents a two-way influence between technology and society, reflecting the reciprocal relationship between the two. For Instagram, concerns about body image and social values of perfection shape the platform’s functionality and design. Examples include algorithmically recommended content, filters, and photo editing features on Instagram. These technical features prompt users to focus more on themselves and aspire to achieve an ideal appearance, leading to anxiety. At the same time, Instagram influences social norms and behaviours, perpetuating and reinforcing standards of 'beauty.' Especially vulnerable groups such as teenagers will begin to internalize these standards, which can affect their physical and mental health. A cycle exists between society and technology, whe...

  Hey everyone,   In this blog post I’ll be analyzing the scene from Eighth Grade through Nancy Baym’s concept of ‘the social shaping of technology’ to arrive at a conclusion about our ‘individual and collective anxieties ’ surrounding our interaction with technology. In the scene in question, Kayla sits on her bed scrolling through an impressive bracket of social media apps and sites. I most want to f ocus on the end of the scene, in which Kayla arrives at the Instagra m page of Aiden, her crush. As she looks at one of Aiden’s pos ts, she beings kiss her hand, presumably pretending to be kissing him. Her dad then ‘barges in ’ , causing Kayla to start and throw her phone across the room in embarrassment.   I think th is latter part of the scene is the most interesting , especially when viewed from a ‘social shaping of technology’ lens. When Kayla arrives at Aiden’s profile, she does something unexpected with the app. As she kisses her hand, she is using the a...

     For this week's post, I will focus on Technological Determinism as it relates to Kayla in the Eighth Grade  clip we watched in class. We have previously discussed Technological Determinism as the way technology shapes—or plays a role in shaping—and develops a society and culture. Furthermore, it explains how technology influences the way people work, live, and interact with the world around them.     For Kayla, technology has been a huge influence on how she interacts with the world around her. In this scene specifically, Kayla is seen scrolling through a series of different apps and websites. After receiving an invite to a party on Instagram, her attention shifts to her phone and I would argue this is where the biggest example of Technological Determinism can be seen. Her phone acts as a portal into the lives of others, thus changing her interactions with the world and her peers in a completely different way. In terms of the anxiety that comes with th...

  In the film Eighth Grade , Kayla's character and her experiences as a young teenager in the digital age represent the struggles many teenagers face today as they try to make sense of a life dominated by digital media. The younger generations of society today are raised in a world where advanced digital technology and a large online presence are prevalent. Many teenagers feel the pressure to live up to the social norms and expectations of popular culture within new media. Kayla's character is represented in a way that highlights many of the struggles that come alongside this pressure. Teens in the digital age often struggle with a lack of face-to-face interaction instead of interacting via screens or other technology, causing more people to struggle with social anxiety. This battle can be seen in the pool party scene where Kayla deals with social anxiety and feels out of place around the 'popular girls.' The online presence of Kayla makes her appear outgoing and confid...

The Wall Street Journal did a report explaining that the Instagram app is very harmful to teenagers. We have technology so integrated into our daily lives that, as Baym says, we trivialize the consequences it can have, whether positive or negative. The social context in which we live determines the ways in which creators and users use technology, and the current social context in which we live leads to the inability to protect children on platforms such as Instagram. The article exposes that although boys are also affected by the standards and stereotypes perpetuated by Instagram, the most affected and vulnerable are girls, who claim that they still feel bad about their bodies and that the social network only makes it worse. Instagram users only upload to the platform their best photos, where they look their best or making the best plan in the world, this added to the likes, comments or the number of followers, only perpetuates the tireless desire of wanting to reach an unattainable re...

 Baym's discussion of technological determinism describes "technology as an external agent that acts upon and changes society".  This in turn means that people view social media as casual agents that change humans who do not resist the media. We abuse social media in this way, as Nick Carr explains that "Google is making us stupid" in his Atlantic essay (Baym, 27). Connecting this to the film "Eighth Grade", social media plays a primary role in shaping Kayla's life and her anxiety toward the world by the immense scrolling she does on her platforms. Kayla's own self image and perception is altered by social media, as she acts like a confident individual online when filming her videos but struggles with social anxiety in person. This duality shows the means in which teenage individuals in particular deal with the pressure to conform to online trends that have been created due to the new digital media that exists. Kayla's constant need to be o...

Baym defines social shaping of technology as a combination of affordances and the unexpected and emergent ways that people use those affordances, asking us to consider how societal circumstances give rise to technologies, and the practices of use as possibilities and constraints that are taken up and reworked in daily life . After reading the Guardian article, I reflected on how the Instagram creates a specific type of sociality, which is then reinforced by the user throughout their activity, resulting in negative effects on self-esteem issues, particularly among teenage girls. The choices that people make when it comes to uploading appear to have glorifying elements where they represent a perfect lifestyle and image for their followers. This in turn affects those viewing these posts and can cause anxiety from the platform's interactive nature. In some cases, users often upload items that don’t authentically demonstrate their lives or how they're feeling. This type of fa...