The Role of Technology in Fostering Community
The social connectedness that has occurred with development in technology in the past decades is an indication of how technology can be used to promote community integration. The community has a notion that members belong together, matters to one another and society as a whole. The community also shares a belief that their needs will be achieved through their commitment to one another. Due to diversity in the community, meeting these objectives appeared difficult in the past. Considering the recent proliferation of technology, this essay highlights how technology can be used to foster community among individuals. The easy employs the concepts from the arguments by Kindley Evan, Hain Mark, and Turkle Sherry to support the views of how technology can be used to foster community.
Provision of Reliable Information
The reliable means of fostering every individual in the community is through the provision of reliable information. The successful passage of information requires proper engagement among people. The problem of participation comes as a result of lack of enough time for people to meet and get engaged. Through technology, it is possible to consider both online and offline engagement mechanisms and link them together. The lower levels of engagements that can foster a community of individuals can be achieved through online engament. Currently, most people have websites, social media accounts and email lists that have made the mechanisms of information more accessible to a larger majority. Consider the scenario placed by E. Kindley about Santa Cruiz Peretti and Chelsea Peretti creating a website, "White People Love Us" (Kindley, 510). The notion of the website went viral and reached many liberal whites as possible. In using technology under such circumstance, it is possible to create a change in attitude among the people in society. The provision of reliable information on various problems affecting the people and allowing every individual to share their view motivates inclusivity among the society members. When every individual feels involved, the community achieves cohesion.
Encouraging Engagement and Participation
The ability of the technology to foster community through growth is another aspect to consider. Through technology, the people in the community easily get involved. It enables people to participate across geographically despite the timing and without physical and psychological barriers. Technology allows individuals to champion their opinions, share diversely with their networks and advocate for changes that were not easily managed in the past. It is relevant to the story by Turkle, Sherry about how frustrated Brad was when he decided to be offline from Facebook (Turkle 589). In the novel, Turkle remembers how Brad became devastated since he could not get the answers he wanted. Based on this concept, through technology, people have become socially interconnected, and it is easy for individuals to share the ideas of what they know for mutual benefits. Brad is concerned about his final senior year; he plans to be committed thinking that through minimizing the level of contact with technology will help him achieve much. Unfortunately, it is the reverse since he cannot get the help he requires the most. It is equally applicable to the concept brought by Turkle about the Lady at the seminar who plans to use Facebook to promote her book which is about to be published. She is afraid due to the few numbers of a friend she has and envies the large number of friends the husband has. The kind of platform created through technology allows individuals to achieve more than they can manage individually. It is possible to transform these business promotions to activities that will help in the community development and bring people together.
Promoting Inclusivity and Overcoming Stereotypes
The ability of technology to foster the community of inclusivity can be highlighted from Hain, Mark’s point of view. It is true that LGBT individuals find it hard to cope in the community peacefully. They are often viewed as outcast individuals with immoral characteristics. The LGBT often lack a physical community to call home, usefully marked with isolation (Hain 528). Through development in technology, the current statistics indicate a change of attitude among the people towards LGBT; the acceptance rate has been increasing over the years. The ability of social media to provide a home for these individuals has helped, they have been able to form activist groups and fight for their rights through various channels. It is through technology that the LGBT no longer have to run and hide. They have created awareness and the community has accepted them as they are. It is therefore clear that technology can be employed to foster a community of inclusivity and overcome stereotype barriers that used to affect the co-existence.
Strength and Shortcoming of Employing Technology to Foster Community
It is said that technology has changed the world to a global village. It is the primary advantage of employing technology to foster a community of among individuals. Technology allows for more extensive audience coverage and broader platform for opinions needed to help in factors affecting the people. For instance, the idea by Kindley shows how to reach many people through technology while promoting good attitudes Kindley (513).
The use of technology to foster community equally has the advantage of reduced barriers. It is convenient and easy to reach people at their disposable time. Technology offers a wide platform for people to choose from. The information will reach individual through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others. Variety of channels reduces barrier and promote broad reach.
Despite having the advantage of reaching many individuals within a short span, the same applies to the negative concept of using this mechanism to reach people for community fostering. It is unbelievable how lousy news spread very fast in social media and other plats like YouTube. Such circumstances may jeopardize the effort individuals have been applying to promote cohesion in the community, for instance, the problem highlighted by Turkle how Brad’s voice was recorded and used across the globe through technology. It is proof that technology cannot be trusted with crucial issues affecting people. Again, Turkle demonstrates the challenges with teenagers who views technology as a way of parents trying to tie them and undermine their capacity to be responsible. It technology takes misconception direction, it harms the community.
Conclusion
In conclusion, development in technology has come with different opportunities that can be employed to make society a better place. The ability to offer a platform for every individual, covering age differences and bringing every individual onboard makes it the best place for people to share in equal terms. The commercial productivity success that has been achieved in online marketing of products is indications that when technology is effectively employed in the society, it will help attain a community of inclusivity. Even though it brings advantages to the people, its limitation to the community’s success is equally notable. For instance, academic achievement which is meant to help communities improve socially has been negatively impacted as teenagers take more time on social media than their school routines.
Works Cited
Hain, Mark. "‘We Are Here for You’: The It Gets Better Project, Queering Rural Space, and Cultivating Queer Media Literacy." Queering the Countryside: New Frontiers in Rural Queer Studies: 161-180.
Turkle, Sherry. "Growing Up Tethered." From Inquiry to Academic Writing
(2015): 428-443.
Kindley, Evan. Questionnaire. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2016.
