Digital Age

Digital Age: Meaning

It's important to understand what we mean by the Digital Age, as it has other names and overlaps. Let's examine the meaning of the Digital Age!

A Digital Age Timeline

There have been many technological developments that led to the era that we currently live in. As we cannot explore all of them here, below is a timeline of the major developments in almost every decade of the Digital Age.

• 1940s: this was the beginning of the discipline of information science.

• Late 1940s: universities, the military, and companies created computer systems to digitally copy and automate previously done mathematical operations by hand.

• 1970s: the Altair Microcomputer Kit, the first home computer, was released. The video game console, the first coin-operated video games, and the heyday of arcade video games all came into existence.

• 1980s: computers entered semi-ubiquity (almost everywhere) as people brought them into homes, businesses, and industries.

• Late 1980s - 1990s: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, which became publicly accessible. The Internet quickly spread, entered popular culture, and many companies mentioned websites in their advertisements. Despite their invention, phones were not widely used.

• 2000s: cell phones outpaced phones of the 90s in terms of technological advancement and became as commonplace as computers. Text messaging exploded in popularity. The developing world became heavily involved in the digital revolution.

• 2010s to the present: both smartphone use and console ownership increased in popularity. The number of individuals using the Internet expanded dramatically over time, reaching 63.5% of the global population today.¹ The use of cloud computing became widespread.

Fig. 1 - Computers have gone through many transformations throughout the Digital Age.

Culture and Technology in the Digital Age

There are two broad forms of culture in sociology: material and nonmaterial culture.

Objects or possessions belonging to a group of people are referred to as material culture. In contrast, nonmaterial culture refers to a society's ideas, attitudes, and values.

Language, gestures, morals, customs, and values are examples of nonmaterial or symbolic culture. However, culture also has a tangible component: a group's possessions, from their houses and cars to their clothing. Technology is at the heart of a group's material culture. In its most basic form, technology is comparable to tools. In a broader sense, technology also refers to the abilities or methods required to create and employ those tools.

Technology's sociological impact extends well beyond the tool itself - it shapes the nonmaterial culture of a people. How individuals think and interact with one another changes along with the technological advancements within a group.

Take gender relations as an example. Men have traditionally dominated women throughout history and in all parts of the world (nonmaterial culture). However, the worldwide communications (material culture) of today make it more challenging to uphold patriarchy.

Cultural Lag in the Digital Age

The phrase 'cultural lag' was first used by sociologist William Ogburn (1922). Ogburn intended this to convey the idea that not all aspects of a culture evolve at the same rate. Other aspects of a culture lag behind when one aspect changes.

According to Ogburn, the nonmaterial culture of a group typically changes after the material culture. That is, the nonmaterial (or symbolic) culture is forced to play catch-up. For instance, we now have advanced genetic engineering technology that would enable people to select the sex and/or traits of their potential children. However, this has not become a common practice because most people believe this is unnatural or immoral.

Technology and Cultural Diffusion

Although contact with other groups and tribes has usually been limited, people throughout history have always shared knowledge and adopted ideas they deemed desirable.

This process is known as cultural diffusion, and, in contemporary society, it has been occurring at an unprecedented rate thanks to modern travel and communications. People can travel worldwide and access international media and different cultures that they would never have otherwise.

This means that societies are now more culturally diverse than they have ever been. For instance, you can watch a French-language film, attend the world tour of a Korean pop group, eat at a Mexican restaurant, and join a friend's Diwali celebration, all while living in the US.

Features of the Digital Age

The Digital Age has many features, many of which you will be familiar with yourself. Let's start by looking at one of the primary features before diving into other defining characteristics.

New Technology and Society

One of the central features of the digital age is referred to as new technology.

Every day, people create new, small-scale technology. The majority are minor upgrades to already-developed technologies. However, they occasionally create a technology that has a significant impact on human life. The phrase "new technology" mostly refers to these advances. The printing press was a novel invention in the year 500. Computers, satellites, and the Internet are the three main components of modern technology for us.

Other features of the Digital Age that have arisen as a result of new technology are as follows:

New Technological Networks

The internet and other networks enable communication and interaction between numerous machines and people, all over the world.

This is the result of the dramatic evolution of communications. Face-to-face speaking or written notes passed from person to person used to be some of the only means of communication. Today, we can message, call, learn about world events in real time, and access all forms of media in a matter of moments.

Mobility Due to New Technology

Digital tools and the internet have allowed us to carry out activities such as employment or social engagement from any location while remaining mobile, e.g., remote working. Where international travel used to be extremely difficult and/or inaccessible, it is now possible for almost anyone to travel the entire world in a few hours, thanks to affordable and widely available air travel.

Knowledge and Research Due to New Technology

Over six billion people currently use smartphones worldwide.² Almost everyone now has the option to look up any topic and obtain a response within a matter of minutes. This level of knowledge accessibility is unheard of in human history.

Digitization Due to New Technology

This is the conversion of objects that once had a physical form into abstract digital data. Take the design of architecture, which was traditionally done on paper and using models but is now entirely computerized.

Consumerization Due to New Technology

In the past, businesses typically purchased equipment that was unreachable for the average customer. For instance, the first computers were extremely expensive mainframes and supercomputers.

As the years passed, consumer-level computers improved to the point where businesses stopped using specialized business computers in favor of consumer models. Numerous businesses are likely to experience this consumerization process.

Misinformation and Disinformation Due to New Technology

The internet enables everyone to take part in the global exchange of information and opinion. This offers a significant alternative to the domination of big media firms but also permits the quick spread of false and misleading information.

New Technology and Globalization

Globalization is the blending of systems, economies, communities, and politics beyond geographical boundaries. As a medium for communication and shared experience, the internet significantly speeds up this lengthy process.

The result of this is not only cultural diffusion but cultural leveling, which is the process by which cultures become increasingly similar to each other. Globalized capitalism brings Western culture as well as technology to other parts of the world. For instance, Japan has incorporated elements of both Western and Eastern traditions into its culture by embracing capitalism and Western fashion and music.

Security Concerns Due to New Technology

Information security is becoming almost as crucial as physical security as economies, society, companies, and people grow more and more reliant on technology. The rapid speed of progress in information technology also tends to expose technologies to cybercrime and cyber warfare.

Fig. 2 - The Digital Age has a range of defining features, such as digitization.

Privacy in the Digital Age

The right to privacy is seen by many as a fundamental human right, but how much privacy can we actually have when so much of our personal information and activity is "out there" in cyberspace?

As we have discussed, digital technology can do a lot of good. It can act as an effective tool for enhancing human development and significantly contribute to the promotion and defense of human rights.

However, while technology and data-sharing have greatly facilitated our progress, maintaining our fundamental right to privacy is a new and formidable challenge in the Digital Age.

Data is everywhere, and its growth is exponential due to increased internet usage, the development of cloud technologies, and our increasing reliance on smart devices (not just smartphones - cars and watches, for example). Data-intensive technologies help to create a digital environment where states and businesses can increasingly follow, analyze, forecast, and even affect people's behavior to a previously unheard-of degree.

If used without adequate protections, these technological advancements pose serious hazards to individual autonomy, dignity, and privacy, as well as the exercise of rights generally. Cybercriminals, who are particularly interested in gaining access to personally identifiable information (PII) they can easily sell and use for fraudulent reasons, are a particular threat.