Technology and society

When I watched the Nosedive Nosedive episode from The Black Mirror on Netflix, it may have come to my mind that it is a boring traditional episode. The years have passes, the concept of social media has changed, and the job pyramid has flipped in the world. The “like” button has turned to tool for gaining money, influence, power, fame, and sense of self-importance. Why the likes and comments it is too important for the individual such as to get a job? How has the rating of persons become more important than communication itself? What the communication needs in this digital world?

Attention Economy

In a lecture on a stage of “ TEDx”, Bailey Parnell says that one of the causes of stress due to social networking sites is what she called a “Social Currency”, which is like a dollar, and she says: “it is a currency that you literally use to value a good or service. On social media, these likes, comments and shares become like a picture of the social currency and on this basis, we give things their value, which in marketing is called the attention economy”.

There are a lot of bad imaginations about the future of social media. That our communications will be all about the social media. The number of followers decides who you will be with and talk with, what job you should have and what you should not, etc. All this imagination raises fears within us about the future. What if someone doesn´t good to have followers, but he is the best person to have a specific job, and this job requires a specific number of followers? What we must take into consideration when developing digital modes of communication is that we will try that communication would not be based on the social media.

Universal design

Universal design refers to large-scale ideas aimed at producing buildings, products, and environments that are inherently accessible to the elderly, non-disabled people, and people with disabilities. With rising life expectancy and modern medicine increasing the survival rate for those with major injuries, diseases, and birth defects, there is growing in universal design. There are many industries in which universal design has strong market penetration but there are many others which are not yet largely embraced.

A common example is curbs, which are essential for people in wheelchairs but are also used by everyone. Other, steep sides that help those with visual. During many of public transportation systems, buses with lower decks, that bring their front end to grounds level. Universal design is also applied to the design of technology, education, services, and other products and environments. Definitely the elevator in my building makes my life easier. When I carry a lot of things with me, I find the elevator a very valuable thing. Not only for me, but I am also sure that all the people who use the elevator, they feel like me.

Universal design is also applied to one of my favorite hobbies, which is watching football. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Technology , that has been used to ensure that decisions are made during the match. Which reduces errors in games. “Innovative shoe warns blind people of obstacles” helps blind people in pursuit of their lives, and make their lives easier, something I personally care about.