Social Impacts of Information Technology
                     SOCIAL IMPACTS OF 
INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
Computing technologies, like most 
other forms of technology, are not 
socially neutral. They affect and are 
themselves affected by society.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Impact of Technology
Technology have changed the way 
people relate to one another and 
their living environment, as well as 
how humans organize their work, 
their communities, and their time. 
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Social informatics
Society, in turn, has influenced the 
development of computers through 
the needs people have for processing 
information. The study of these 
relationships has come to be known 
as "social informatics."
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Means of solving 
specific problems
Computing technology has evolved 
as a means of solving specific 
problems in human society. 
The earliest kinds of computational 
devices were the mechanical 
calculators developed by Blaise 
Pascal in 1645 and Gottfried Leibniz 
in 1694 for solving the navigational 
and scientific problems that began to 
arise as Europe entered a new and 
heightened period of scientific 
development and international 
commerce. 
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Machine Automate the 
weaving of cloth
In 1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard 
invented perhaps the first type of 
programmed machine, called 
Jacquard's Loom, in order to 
automate the weaving of cloth with 
patterns. 
Jacquard was motivated by the 
desire of capitalists in the early 
Industrial Age who wanted to reduce 
the cost of producing their goods 
through mass production in factories.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Urgent military needs
The twentieth century saw the 
development of scientific research 
and engineering applications that 
required increasingly complex 
computations. 
Urgent military needs created by 
World War II spurred the 
development of the first electronic 
computers; the devices in use today 
are the descendants of these room-
sized early efforts to streamline 
military planning and calculation.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Development of Super 
Computer to cater 
needs and desires of 
society
The needs and desires of society 
have subsequently influenced the 
development of a vast array of 
computing technologies, including 
supercomputers , graphics 
processors, games, digital video and 
audio, mobile computing devices, 
and telephones.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Impact of Computers 
on Work
One of the ways that computers 
have made an impact on society is in 
how people have organized 
themselves in workplace groups in 
relationship to computers. 
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
Better Communication
The advent of e-mail, the World Wide 
Web, and other Internet technologies 
has perhaps made the most 
significant impact on the social fabric 
of American society. 
People can now communicate with 
others in remote places, easily, 
affordably, and often anonymously.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com
The impact of 
computers on lifestyle
The impact of computers on 
lifestyles has largely paralleled the 
impact of computing on social 
organization, work, and personal 
communication. 
The effect has become more 
pronounced as personal computing 
devices become increasingly more 
commonplace in American society.
Source: www.encyclopedia.com