LAYAM, EARL P.

November 6, 2023
BA ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES III-A
ELS 112 COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
Assignment
1. Briefly describe the 3 frameworks for understanding the relationship of
technology and human communication. Fill out the table below.
Framework Proponent Definition Basic Assumptions
Technological Reductionistic – TD
Determinism (TD) is the reduces the relationship
framework for between technology and
understanding the culture to one of
relationship between straightforward cause and
humans and human effect.
communication. It Monistic – Rather than
indicates an extreme being multi-causal, TD
position in explaining the oversimplifies an otherwise
TD Sapir-Whorf relationship between complex relationship to the
technological change and effects of a single factor.
social life. Neutralizing – TD
represents technology a
neutral, value-free and
therefore absolved
responsibility.
Technological Imperative
– TD presents
technological progress as
unstoppable, inevitable,
and irreversible.
Social Constructivism Intellectual biases
argues that technology is (internet and web are
instead entirely coded in English)
SC Neil Postman subordinate to the way it Political biases (the
is used in socio-historical, inequality of access)
culturally specific Sensory biases
contexts. (dependence of internet on
basic physical disabilities
such as sight.
Social Realism suggests As technology becomes
that the relationship more and more pervasive,
SR Thomas between technology, its influence may get
Hughes culture and social stronger and more subtle
interaction as more of a
two-way street.
 2. Choose a video from the 2 video documentaries in our group chat. Give your
reflection about it. Follow this format:

I. Introduction (at least 2 paragraphs) - must contain the following:

 summary of the main idea of the video
 thesis statement of your reflection
II. Body (2-3 paragraphs) – this part must contain your explanations and
examples of your thesis statement
III. Summary

Speak Now: A Reflection of Ramesh Srinivasan’s TED Talk,

“How Culture and Technology Create One Another”
EARL P. LAYAM

“That’s why I say it’s not just technology creating and shaping culture. It’s also culture
creating and shaping technology”. On my end, this line really got me thinking that possibly, this
process here is mutually beneficial to one another - culture and technology. They both can
influence and improve each other when people use this force for good. Sharing messages
around the world and touching souls and lives are now made possible with 5 billion users of this
technology and the Internet. Truly, technology has helped us adjust and navigate our own social
lives by transforming them into something different with the aid of technology and the media,
this is now what we call, “social media”.

The whole speech revolves around us, humans, with different cultures coming together
on a single pedestal, engaging more efficiently by telling our own stories through the use of
technology. People around the world are now able to freely show their own life experiences,
teaching lessons of resiliency, history, science, crafts, and many more. It is important to take
note that these people are not just those who belong in a certain circle. People, regardless of
social status can now afford the demands of the modern time, enjoying and exploring the
pleasures of this breakthrough.

Being adaptive to the newest means of living is a very effective way to fit in, as they say,
and cultures around the globe is evidently and rapidly changing due to the impact of technology
to them. In a serious context, people nowadays often use technology to influence people,
especially the youth, advocate for certain things that matter, people empowerment, and even
raise awareness to certain relevant and timely causes. This has always been seen in our
smartphones, where people communicate across various social media platforms and pages
delivering messages instantly to one another. In fact, as of October 2023, there were 5.3 billion
internet users worldwide, which amounted to 65.7 percent of the global population. Of this
total, 4.95 billion, or 61.4 percent of the world's population, were social media users. And
around 3 billion of these people use social media, which means that 40% of the world uses
social media for communication. This number is quite massive, knowing that these users may
have the potential to change cultures, perspectives, and norms.

Technology creates and shapes culture. This is due to the fact that we tend to be open-
minded and most of the time, adapt to what we’ve seen people are doing and believing on the
screens. When a person adapts the beliefs of others and changes his mind, he could now
possibly do the same thing to another person until that belief reaches many people, and thus, in
the end, it now becomes a norm in a given culture. Here in the Philippines, we view fashion as
more of a women’s thing than men’s. But because of the high usage of technology in the
country, we, mostly the youth, are now being influenced by Western perspectives and norms,
such as men wearing skirts are just fine, men wearing makeup is just as fine as women do so,
and women are free to dress whatever they like and feel free from judgment, insult, and
harassment which are far from what we as Filipinos are accustomed to – modest and simple,
according to the elderlies. This is just one of the numerous examples of the influence we,
people, get from using technology and the Internet that could shape our own perspective and
even our culture. Also, culture creates and shapes technology. The culture of a society
determines the nature, form and content, of technological development and the evolution of
technological culture. Our technology is inspired by our culture. Almost all things that we do
offline can be done online already, we can pay our bills, buy necessities, and for some, even
gossip. Moreover, science, which made the existence of technology possible, is influenced by
the cultural values and beliefs in which it is practiced. For example, a culture that values
material progress may invest more resources in scientific research that can lead to technological
advancements.

This insightful TED Talk talks about something more important than what life would be
like in the future with the help of technology, this talks about the unfiltered narratives of
unreachable voices before that is now reaching out to us to tell their side of the story, hoping to
be heard and spread nothing but awareness and inspiration throughout the world. The changes
in both culture and technology will certainly impact each other. The impact may not be totally
advantageous to us, but when we recalibrate our minds and redirect our steps, we, as an online
community, can do so much to gather voices around the world and speak of what they advocate
for. And these voices will lead us to a better understanding of who we really are as a person
regardless of our differences, and what we can do to contribute in molding a perfect world of
diverse yet equally empowered individuals.