Here’s an essay posted by a student in my Sociology 460 Class at Athabasca University. It is a very insightful view of the disconnecting effect that technology has. If you grew up with social media you might think that it connects in better ways than ever before, but to somebody like me who grew up before computers, it is nothing but an invasive disconnect. Let it in and it fills your life space with triviality and meaningless social soundbites that, because of their hopeless superficiality, can never fulfill our deep, almost spiritual need, for connected, and meaningful social relationships. Technology good for business? Maybe, but as a social lubricant maybe it promises more than it can offer.

This student essay was submitted for Sociology 435 (The Sociology of Social Change) at Athabasca University. It is a critical examination of  the “heinous” way the media treated the aids epidemic, and their absolute disregard for social responsibility or the deleterious impact media messages were having on the public’s understanding of the disease.  The media
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The view propogated by the media companies and sellers of technology is that technology is freedom. From early dishwashers to the recent spate of ads hawking the latest social phones, technology leads to utopia. But does it? Does being connected 24/7 through multiple devices really lead to quality of life, or does it degrade life and provide one other way for us to be monitored, controlled, and over worked?

The scholarly propaganda is simple, technology makes the world a better place. We are moving towards a post-industrial utopia characterized by human care and service, and away from our dark, industrial, and exploitative past. Hogwash says this student who, after familiarizing herself with the debates notes that despite the propaganda of a caring and connected world, the reality is more of the same. Sweatshops, child labour, and the violation of human rights go hand in our with our Western technological fetish.