This is a dissertation chapter on information technology:
The Media today has the ability to form and perpetuate stereotypes about every facet of day-to-day life. No lifestyle is spared this process. However, this media should not be blamed for creating these norms, as today’s society has a tendency to be very stereotypical. People have some extreme urge to label every aspect of existence and put it into neat categorical piles, as if this will help them understand the world and allow themselves to be more content.
This is certainly the case with the generalization of people within and pursuing information technology. According to Dictionary.com, information technology encompasses “The development, installation and implementation of computer systems and applications.” The information technology field is portrayed unfairly in the media, thus giving the field a misinformed, somewhat negative reputation in today’s society. Through several television commercials and shows, movies, news and word of mouth, computers and the people who study them have been pigeonholed and looked down upon. These people have been labeled as geeks and nerds or hackers and criminals. A rational middle ground is rarely considered and presented within the media. According to Dictionary.com, a “Computer Geek” is a “pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a cheese grater”.
This is definitely an untrue and unfair stereotype that sinks into the minds of many people when they contemplate their ideas of someone who is in the field of information technology. How did this horrible stereotype come into play? Ask the media, they seem to have an answer to everything. Whether it is true or just an outright lie, they will say just about anything to sell something to their audience. Unbeknownst to many average citizens, the media is bought and sold, and truly is biased. Noam Chomsky, a Canadian linguist and political activist wrote a book in 1988 that was subsequently made into a film, which takes this concept to an extreme, mainly in the direction of news media. He called the concept “manufacturing consent”.
Chomsky delved deeply into this issue and explained how these ‘illusions’ are bolstered. These Excerpts from the transcript of the motion picture Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media will give you a better idea of his research, he states, “And they do this in all sorts of ways: by selection of topics, by distribution of concerns, by emphasis and framing of issues, by filtering of information, by bounding of debate within certain limits. They determine, they select, they shape, they control, they restrict — in order to serve the interests of dominant, elite groups in the society.” Though Chomsky’s main focus was on the press, news media, he quickly summed up his thoughts on alternative forms of media; “Now there are other media too whose basic social role is quite different: it’s diversion. There’s the real mass media-the kinds that are aimed at, you know, Joe Six Pack — that kind. The purpose of those media is just to dull people’s brains.” (same source as last quote) There are several reasons why people unfairly judge or look down upon people who are highly involved in the use and study of computers. As previously mentioned, the media is one of these reasons. The evolution of information technology in the past century is another reason, perhaps with much less impact than the media as a whole. Personal computers were not even widely available until roughly twenty years ago. Many people who were already involved in their careers did not have the time or willingness to learn about computers. Some of these people are generally against technology altogether and have little use for computers in their lives now. This is highly understandable and makes little impact on how computer technology is portrayed to society as a whole. On the other hand, there are many people that directly effect the reputation of those who have compassion and understanding of how important a role computers play in today’s world.
These people are the media and their loyal followers that spread their words to others like a plague. This is how rumors develop and stereotypes are formed. Probably the biggest misconception in the media is that only the male gender is meant to study computers for a living. This is displayed in commercials and ads that only show men working with computers. An example would be the ever so popular Dell “dude” that talks in a teenage surfers accent.
These images are thrown at viewers, consumers, and society in general, which gives fodder for women to believe they do not have the ability to pursue careers and education within the information technology field. Some fear the associated negative connotation of “geek”. The School of IT (Information Technology) at Ryerson University shows how this is true. “To young women concerned with their image, the prospect of being labeled a computer geek is far from welcome. As a result, they shy away from careers in high-tech fields, resulting in a gender gap in the fields of engineering, applied science, and information technology”.
There are also many other forms of media that show this kind of behavior, television programs being a major component. One particular program, which is aimed toward school-aged children, is the cartoon Dexter’s Laboratory. It’s basically about a young kid that messes around with gadgets such as super-computers and acts like a “geek.” Television Shows such as Dexter’s Laboratory reinforce the ever-present stereotype of ‘geek’. There is no proof; no statistics that claim a human being must be socially inept to have the skills to excel in information technology. I have personally experienced these stereotypes; I told a high school friend that I was going to fix an acquaintances desktop computer. My friend was immediately shocked and she gave me a weird look, implying that I would have nothing to do computers because I don’t look or act like a so-called “computer geek.” This is just one more example of how the media has convinced their audiences into believing the negative stereotypes of IT professionals. Probably the most influential form of media that displays the negativity of frequent computer users is the news, namely CNN. I am a frequent reader of CNN news and I constantly keep up to date by reading the technology section. Articles frequently appear about how some “elite” computer connoisseur has illegally broken into, or “hacked,” computers and accessed or changed sensitive data.
These individuals are labeled as big-time criminals and the stories are blown out of proportion to give the impression that they are committing a bigger crime such as manslaughter. This is just outrageous and downright silly. In my eyes and many others, these people are very important to the technology and security field. They show the weaknesses in people’s defense systems and alert the company that their system has vulnerabilities and should be fixed. I don’t see any problem with this, in fact, I would be happy if a “hacker” broke into my system to reveal that it had a weakness.
I do not think people like this should be punished unless they intentionally cause damages to the company or individual. There are people that do cause problems on purpose. These are the individuals who give computer experts a bad name. They compile computer viruses that cause thousands, even millions of dollars in damages to businesses and home users that rely on computers for income and services. It should be made clear that these people are a select few of the computer era as a whole. In contrast to the ‘hackers’ that cause damages, you will find cases where websites are temporarily defaced to send a political or personal message. More often than not, the individuals responsible will save all the original data making it easy for the owner to restore their site.
Labeled as a “hacker” in the title of the article, CNN.com reports that, “A hacker who has acknowledged involvement in computer break-ins at The New York Times, Yahoo! And other large corporations surrendered Tuesday on a federal arrest warrant related to alterations of The Times’ databases.
(Article Summary)
This summary makes this person seem like a repeated felon, especially the use of the term “federal arrest warrant.” It also seems to glorify him at the same time due to the fact that, “Lamo (Adrian) frequently uses public computers at copy stores for his hacking activities as he travels the nation. He has offered to work for free with his hacking victims after each break-in to improve the security of their networks.” (CNN News.com). Last but not least, movies also influence how people think of computers and information technology. One movie in particular comes to my mind. Wargames is a classic 1980’s film that was probably one of the first to portray a computer genius as a so-called “hacker.” This next excerpt from the Internet Movie Database will show you how people might develop an opinion of people that exceed in information technology.
“A young computer whizz kid accidentally connects into a top secret super-computer which has complete control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It challenges him to a game between America and Russia, and he innocently starts the countdown to World War 3. Can he convince the computer he wanted to play a game and not the real thing?”
The majority of media portrays computer technology in a misleading way, but some depict the undeniable importance that computers play in today’s society. I would just like to mention a few of the most important rolls that computers play a part of today. First of all most homes are furnished and a majority of them have Internet access. E-mailing is starting to become more popular, and cheaper for that matter, to send to friends and family all over the world. Also, it can be a necessity for some people. I have a friend whose parents are both deaf and have a computer system in their house where they talk to a live operator via computer, and have a light system that lights up every room when the doorbell rings. There is also the national security issue. We would not be able to be so confident if it wasn’t for computers. Some examples include advanced weaponry, space aviation, and most importantly, communications. There are more good things that come with computers than bad, but the good things rarely show up in the media. This brings us to where being successful in the computer field comes into play. There has to be someone to give this new technology era a direction. Computer experts from all over the world are coming up with new solutions and more elite technology every day. This helps us do things more efficiently which in turn gives us more time to spend with our families and so forth. Who wouldn’t go for that?
Although the media gives Computer Technology both positive and negative stereotypes, society needs to realize the usefulness and importance that come out of this field in the present and in the future. Computers have come a relatively long way, but are still in their “infant” stage. I believe that a lot more things are going to happen in the near future that will be amazingly important to our morals and well-being. This may include the successful cure of fatal diseases such as AIDS and cancer, and also technology that may find a way how to stop global warming and the hole in the ozone that could one day become the death of our existence. So the next time you hear people putting down Computer Information Technology experts, remember what good they have brought us so far, and count on better things to come in the future.
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