Technology and Social Change: Impact on Society

Technology and Social Change

Ever since prehistoric eras, technology has played a role in the lives of human beings. Mankind has invented and perfected means of communicating, traveling, manufacturing goods, curing ailments, growing food, constructing edifices, and meeting other needs using technology. Thus, one may claim that through technology, we have transformed our world (ITEA, 1996; ITEA, 2006). At present, all human activities are reliant on different machines, with technological dominance at a record level in the current era. For instance, automobiles have transformed how and where individuals live, and a colossal infrastructure encompassing roads, service stations, bridges, regulations, and insurance policies has developed around them. Technology impacts individual participation in the democratic process and, in turn, shapes what must be considered when preparing students to actively participate in democratic societies (Crowe, 2006).

Social change, most specifically, implies the involvement of a large number of individuals in group dealings and tasks that differ from the interactions and activities their parents — or even they themselves — participated in earlier (Vago, 1992). The word "society" may be used to describe a multifaceted network of relationship patterns wherein every member participates to different extents. Social relationships and behaviors undergo simultaneous modification. People encounter novel scenarios to which they must react. Such scenarios reflect factors like the introduction of new methods, new means of earning a livelihood, shifts in residence, novel inventions, social norms, and evolving concepts (Mutekwe, 2012).

Technology, in its most rudimentary sense, may be likened to social change. Technology's sociological importance lies in the fact that its value transcends the tool by a great degree. The forms of technology adopted by groups set the foundation for their respective non-material cultures. Indeed, technology even affects how individuals think and connect with one another (Stromquist, 2005).

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