Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Janet Grigsby

Second Advisor

Mark Walker

Language

English

Keywords

technology, communication, social media

Abstract

Technology and its impacts on society are the subject of constant debate. Technology has been influential in creating a global economy, which has given people more time for leisure activities. However, technology has also produced unintended by-products, including issues such as a dependence on foreign nations for commodities like food. Analyzing both the positive and negative consequences of technology can help people better understand both its regional and global impacts. In turn, this knowledge can help us make more beneficial choices regarding how we use technology moving forward. This thesis explores how technology positively and negatively affects society, and will also examine how people use technology, as well as the things that impact how people perceive technology. The technologies being examined include smartphones, household technology (appliances), genetically modified crops (GMOs), and other technologies such as the Internet and social media. These technologies will be contextualized in several different aspects of life, (such as connectivity, personal privacy, work-family conflict, education and quality of health) to illustrate the extent to which technology has both improved and hindered society, as well as to show that these effects often impact how people view these technologies.

Download

Share

COinS