Response to Taylor
Taylor’s argument that we “grant agency to tools while side stepping the thorny issue of the larger social structures in which we and technologies are embedded” is her attempt to address the fact that we allow technology to take over our daily lives so much so, that we fail to recognize the impact it has on the social structures. For example, it is free to participate in social media sites, however, it is the people and corporations who own these sites that benefit from our online interactions with one another. Their success depends solely on our obsession with sharing personal details about our lives such as where we have been, what we are eating, and what we think.
Taylor attempts to address an issue that is not often thought about as we engage in these social media sites on a daily basis, she brings to light that we are simply working (for free) which results in the powerful remaining powerful. While some people believe that technological advancements have leveled the playing field because people can achieve success without the use of the middle man, for example, self-publishing authors and artists, they discount the fact that the bigger corporations are still able to pay to have their products and services pushed online, in a way that small start-up companies or individuals would never be able to afford. Additionally, those in professions such as photography may be able to push their work on social sites and create an online presence without the use of an agent, however, the social network site owners are still the ones profiting handsomely from every image that is uploaded, and aside from profit, they become the owners of these images once you hit the send. Taylor shows that technology helps maintain the status quo.
Regards,
Natasha Wong
