News Story Analysis

Posted: December 2nd, 2013

News Story Analysis

Name:

Institution:

Date:

(679 words)

News Story Analysis

Various events that happen in society are usually ignored. These events are captured by the media, which makes the dissemination of information simple and broad. In order to understand the events characterizing the society presently whether consequential or inconsequential, it is valid to incorporate sociological thinking. Sociological thinking allows viewing events and deducing explanations separate from the popular assertions. It allows one to understand the impact of social forces such as culture on events and on a society’s beliefs, stance and opinions. The article, ‘The BlackBerry as Black Sheep’ by Nicole Perlroth is a perfect illustration of the influence of popular culture on people’s behaviors, values and opinions.

The article focuses on the effect of dynamic technology on the society. This is illustrated by the article’s focal point based on people’s opinions on the once popular mobile phone, BlackBerry. In the American society, the BlackBerry at some point was a popular phone that every American wanted to own. However, with the onset of Android smart phones and I phones, the BlackBerry has become unpopular subjecting owners to discrimination (Perlroth 2012). Social Presence theory explains the effects of communication technology on the society. The social impact of the BlackBerry is inconsequential to the impact posed by Android smart phones and I phones. This is because the former does not provide much social presence compared to the smart phones, which provide social presence, based on networking and navigation applications, fast internet and high-resolution photographs. Moreover, the consequence of increased social presence leads to social influence, which sees the BlackBerry owners become segregated since they have not conformed to the change in technology.

The illustrated article depicts the influence of a social force such as technology on the society. The force outlines the society’s opinions and values. Moreover, the sociologist, Robin Williams identified values core values that portray the American society. One of the values is process and progress. Process and progress mainly focuses on the impact of technology on development. This value is shaped by the dynamics of technology. In the article, the shift from BlackBerry phones to smart phones indicates progress, which forces the society to alienate the people who are enemies of progress: BlackBerry owners. Another value influenced by the force is external conformity. The value promotes the conformity of a society to certain ideals. This is illustrated in the article whereby the BlackBerry owners are deemed as non-conformists since most Americans prefer smart phones. The owners are thus deemed as deviant since they do not conform to the society’s informal norm.

Technology as a social force affects my attitudes and opinions. Presently, technology embodies society. It has become a need that the society acknowledges. Moreover, the degree of technology influences the view of the society. This is illustrated by the segregation of societies in terms of development whereby technology is one of the main indicators of the growth and development of a society. Because of this influence, society strives to possess the latest technology in order to indicate one’s mobility in social status. Moreover, technology shapes norms and values of a society, which have a direct influence on personal opinions and attitudes. This is because the force as a societal need affects social norms such that conforming to the dynamic nature of technology determines the level of deviance. In this case, deviance does not apply to crime but to conformity to social norms. Thus, being unable to adapt or acquire technological particulars creates conflict in the society since it labels the have-nots as deviant.

Society is remarkably influenced by various other forces such as culture. These social forces determine particular behaviors and actions among members of the society. With the onset of novel factors in the society, norms will continue to change and the society will no longer have a clear definition of norms. Moreover, the world is characterized by events that have never been witnessed. These events analyzed influence the social structure further creating conflicts among groups.

References

Perlroth, Nicole. 2012. “The BlackBerry as Black Sheep,” New York Times, November 7. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/technology/blackberry-becomes-a-source-of-shame-for-users.html?_r=1&/