Barbara Jarabik considerations about culture and technology synergy today : For better or worse, we’re living in a technology-driven world. The rapid diffusion of new communications technology and the internet has brought by a drastic global impact on socioculture. Since the internet showed up on the scene in the ’80s and ’90s, it became accessible to the average family in the early 2000s, and eventually began to fit into our pocket with the development of smartphones. Societies around the world have witnessed such a phenomenal proliferation of communication devices that are stimulated by the internet, like computers and smartphones. Most societies are involved in this technological experience, and are very excited about its positive impact.
There exists always a tough competition between technology and tradition in a community. Technology has constrained the world into a global village by globalization. Imagination of today’s life without electricity, transportation, communication, etc. takes us back in time. The advancement in the field of medical science, engineering, economy, etc. is as a result of technology. Industrialization, Urbanization, Modernization, Development of the means of transport and communication is all possible as a result of positive impact of technology. It also helps in networking of the culture, tradition and coherence of the society. The 21st century has been so much forward due to the progress of technology.
Technology, for an example, mobile phones find a very unique integration with culture and the work that an individual does (Palen, 2001, pp. 109- 122), today we see that technologies like mobile phones are being used in various roles , in one culture we see that it is used from the simple function as a torch light to more complex roles like fishermen using it for marketing and weather reports (Mittal, 2010). In another we observe how it changes the way people think and brings about a change in society (Contarello, 2007, pp. 149-163), we also observed that it has also seen applications in businesses like new apps (Butler, 2011), our daily activities. Technology is slowly getting locked with our culture, and becomes a daily necessity in some other cultures.
Socio-Culture is a focus of study in anthropology. The term is a combination of society and their cultural aspects. Every society has a set of values, beliefs, traditions, and habits known as their sociocultural values. These values shape how people engage and interact with their environment in everyday life. They are inherited and passed from a generation to another. Although the sociocultural values are bounded, they can be changed and influenced by the development and creations of each era. Just like the development and use of technology in our modern era has radically influenced our socio-culture. See additional information at https://www.flickr.com/photos/196218272@N05/.
In other scenarios it can be a concept. The earth used to be flat in the mediaeval times, for one culture (Russell, 2007) and the earth used to be round revolving around the sun in other and the earth used to be round with some revolving around the earth in some other culture (Diakidoy, 2001). There used to be a boundary of communication, but today some of the common technologies like communication has got deeply integrated with most of the cultures and this gives a chance for us to share our ideas and thoughts that have been prevailing for centuries. This could add to a concept which I developed which gives importance to a collective conscious C (Abraham, 2014), but here I would call it cultural integration and collaboration by using technology.