The social shaping of technology does not only blame the
consequences of technology on technology or society. It is seen as the middle
ground as Baym states “People, technologies, and institutions all have power to
influence the development and subsequent use of technology” (52). Therefore it
sees technology and society working together to continually influence one
another.
I chose to focus on this theoretical perspective because I
thought it related best to the way Lilli Hymowitz describes her Instagram fame
in the article The Prom Queen of
Instagram. In the article her friends and her agree that their online
profiles are the best versions of themselves. They are able to pick and choose
which events they want to share on social media and edit them to their liking.
Lilli’s friends also admit that her online profile does not show her true
personality, but it only shows a lifestyle that other people want to live. They
are able to utilize technology to show others what they are interested in and
where the cool places in New York are.
Through her large following on Instagram people look to her
for trends because other people see her as cool. This can bring about many
social anxieties since you are constantly worried about what other people will
think about you. If you do not like something on your online profile you can
delete it, so that people will no longer be able to see it as a part of you. If
you go onto Lilli’s Instagram page now you will discover that since the article
was published, about a week ago, she has deleted many of her original posts.
She claims she deleted these posts because they do not represent her anymore.
This shows that she is able to have control of the content that she puts out
there, thus technology and the user are working together.
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