Chapter 3 Review Questions

Short Answer Questions

1. Using the example discussed in Box 3.2 on the hashtag #50dollarsnot50shades, briefly explain into which category Twitter falls: neutral or value-laden.

2. Explain the differences between technological determinism and social determinism.

3. Outline the key assumptions made in substantivism.

4. Briefly describe how ideal play is conceptualized in video games and discuss why this is problematic.

5. Give an example of how a technological object can acquire different uses and values according to the social context it is placed in.

6. ANT can be applied to contemporary analysis of spatial phenomena. What types of spatiality does ANT usually examine in these analyses?

7. Discuss the key critiques of the affordances concept.

Essay Questions

1. Explain the key characteristics of science and technology studies (STS) and how these allows scholars to obtain a better understanding of technology and its role in society.

2. Identify key social affordances of Instagram and explain how they affect the ways teenagers socialize. Specifically address how features of Instagram like hashtags, group messaging, and location tagging can increase or decrease sociability.