Technology and Culture Glossary

A theoretical framework developed by Bruno Latour that treats both human and non-human entities as agents in networks that produce social outcomes.

Systematic errors in algorithmic systems that produce unfair outcomes, often reflecting and amplifying existing social inequalities embedded in training data or design choices.

An economic model in which human attention is treated as a scarce resource that technology platforms compete to capture and monetize.

Henry Jenkins' concept describing the flow of content across multiple media platforms driven by the cooperation between media industries and active audiences.

The process by which dominant cultural products and values spread globally through technology, potentially eroding local traditions and diversity.

The period of maladjustment that occurs when technology changes faster than the social norms, laws, and institutions needed to govern it.

The culture and social practices that emerge from and are shaped by internet use, including virtual communities, online identity, and digital creative expression.

The use of digital technology by powerful nations and corporations to exert economic and cultural control over less powerful regions.

The gap between those with and without meaningful access to and ability to use information and communication technologies.

The competencies required to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information using digital technologies, including critical thinking about online content.

A state of intellectual isolation resulting from algorithmic personalization that limits a user's exposure to diverse viewpoints.

The increasing interconnectedness of world economies, cultures, and populations through cross-border trade, communication, and migration, accelerated by technology.

Historical movement of workers who destroyed machines that threatened their livelihoods; in modern usage, skepticism or opposition to unchecked technological advancement.

The process by which social and cultural activities are increasingly shaped by and dependent upon media technologies and their logics.

The study of how the characteristics of communication media shape the cultures that use them, independent of specific content.

Manuel Castells' concept of a social structure organized around digital information networks rather than traditional industrial or agrarian frameworks.

A culture with low barriers to creative expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing, and informal mentorship, enabled by digital tools.

An economic model in which digital platforms serve as intermediaries that extract value from user data, network effects, and coordination of supply and demand.

Bolter and Grusin's concept that new media incorporate and reshape older media forms rather than replacing them entirely.

Social Construction of Technology, a framework arguing that social groups and cultural values shape the design and adoption of technologies.

Shoshana Zuboff's concept of an economic system that extracts and commodifies personal behavioral data for prediction and modification of behavior.

The possibilities for action that a technology's design offers to users, enabling certain behaviors while constraining others.

The process by which users adopt technologies and repurpose them for uses not intended by their original designers.

The theory that technology is the primary autonomous force driving social and cultural change.

Neil Postman's concept of a society in which technology and technical thought dominate all cultural life, subordinating traditional values and ways of knowing.