Technology and Social Problems

Abstract

William Ogburn believed that technology changes societies, guiding them through invention, discovery, and diffusion. Cultures lag behind the changes but eventually respond by adapting to them, mostly going along willingly due to the progress resulting from the technology. If Ogburn is correct, then the technological changes that have already occurred in the Global North may provide a social forecast for what will happen in the Global South as nations there become technologically sophisticated, joining the United States on the global stage and even surpassing it on selected adaptations of how technology is applied to daily life. In the North, end users of technology have discovered a laundry list of unexpected problems and headaches, from physical illnesses to worries that money will be stolen from bank accounts by malicious hackers. In addition, advocates of free speech believe that moderation of social media sites may infringe upon the rights of citizens to express themselves freely; the South is now getting acquainted with these thorny issues, the most contentious of which end up in the courts. Ultimately, though, in the end, the adaptations to technology are cultural, with each culture, depending upon its history, social structure, political framework, and cultural practices finding a way forward with the technology it adopts.