1. U n i v e r s i t y o f U t a h
The Social Theory of Cyber Technology
Brennan John
Cyberworlds

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Table of Contents
CHAPTERS
I – Society is Going Viral ........................................................................................ 3
II – The Rise of a Technological Giant ..................................................................... 5
III – Customizable Entertainment: Role or Reality?................................................... 9
IV –Video Games: Where Realities Collide ............................................................ 13
V – The Digitalization of Surveillance .................................................................... 16
VI – Digitalized Power .......................................................................................... 20
VII –The Birth of the “E” Clinic............................................................................... 23
VIII –The Social Theorist’s View of Technology ...................................................... 26
Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 28
APPENDICES
Appendix A.......................................................................................................... 30

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I
Society is Going Viral
Communication between people has been a cornerstone in the creation of society, through
interaction individuals develop culture and social norms. The introduction of technology to this process
increases the rate of how society is changed, information began to be transferred from person to person
at such a rapid rate society decided to name the spread of information viral after viruses and the rapid
way they spread. Viral means that something can be unknown today but by tomorrow known by millions
of people, that is the power of cyber technology and the effect it brings to the world around us. Social
theories have the same effect for change and many of the most viral movements started with their ideas.
Social theorists have had a large impact on world history, theorists like Karl Marx or Max Weber
made observations and produced ideas that were powerful enough to change government and political
ideology throughout history. Theorists like Marx and Weber, however, only briefly saw the possibilities
that technology would bring to future generations before their deaths. Social theory is constantly changing
with different thinkers responding to theories and providing their own theories, but it is important to
examine past theories and see how they can apply in a current setting or if it is a theory that does not
apply anymore. The purpose of this micro text is to use social theory as a lens to observe cyber
technology in order to have the reader think about what changing technology means for society and think
about social consequences that arise from integration of cyber technology.
The second chapter of the micro text is a brief overview of the history of cyber technology. This
chapter focuses on the history of Apple Incorporated as a model for business success in a world that
cyber technology is changing at a rapid pace. Social theorist Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of Liquid
Modernity is used to explain why Apple is so successful and how they obtained that success.
The third chapter examines entertainment and how technology has had a role in personalizing
entertainment for individuals. Entertainment no longer has to draw huge crowds to one place but can be
spread all over the face of the world. Social theorist Irving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy is used to
show that entertainment shows that there is an individual separate from the acting roles that are played.

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The fourth chapter focuses on a sector of entertainment in the form of video games. The chapter
uses Jean Baudrillard’s theories to evaluate the differences between reality and virtual reality. The pros
and cons of virtual realities are examined through specific examples of how gaming benefits people and
how it can also hurt in the form of addicting behavior. The chapter shows how Baudrillard’s theories on
reality and imitation can help form a distinction in evaluating if a game is helping or hurting an individual.
The fifth chapter evaluates the government’s response to criminal behavior using Michel
Foucault’s theory of the Panopticon. The Internet changed society by allowing the citizens to become
anonymous online and criminals took advantage of that anonymity in order to hide among the masses to
plan and carry out their crimes. This chapter focuses on Edward Snowden’s release of confidential
documents showing that the National Security Agency was spying on United States citizens in order to
prevent further terrorist attacks. Snowden’s reveal shows that the government had brought the theory of
the panopitcon into the Internet in order to police the masses.
The sixth chapter continues the evaluation of the government and uses C. Wright Mills’ theory of
the Power Elite to show that technology increases the power obtained by the elite instead of taking it from
them. Information technology is used as a specific example to show how increase in technology allows for
the media to return some of the power back to the people but the government takes advantage of the
relationship with the military in order to keep many things secret from the citizens as shown specifically by
Edward Snowden’s reveal of classified documents.
The seventh chapter evaluates the changing medical field as technology begins to integrate itself
into the doctor patient relationship. Michel Foucault’s book The Birth of a Clinic provides a great
comparison to the social changes that healthcare goes through when technology changes the doctor and
patient relationship. Telemedicine and use of YouTube provide great examples of technology changing
healthcare socially.
The reader, after finishing this micro text, should find that though some social theories may be old
they could still be used in current discussions of sociology even in the cutting edge field of technology.
Social interaction is an important place where problems find solutions and should be included in
discussions throughout the world of technological advancement.

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II
The Rise of a Technological Giant
The current digital age has been one of the more productive in all of human history. Arguably
cyber technology has changed society at a much faster pace compared to other eras and a brief overview
of that history is necessary in order to understand their relationship. Much work has been done on the
history of cyber technology and one of the better ones being found from the Computer Hope website.
Using facts from Computer Hope this chapter will outline the creation of Apple Computers and its
contribution to cyber technology. Using Apple as an example this chapter will also explore the way cyber
technology assimilates into society and becomes part of the social fabric. Finally it will briefly discuss the
ideas of the social theorist of Zygmunt Bauman and how they can apply to a technologic dependent
society.
April 1, 1976 was the date that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers after
Wozniak had created their first computer the Apple I. Apple was trailing companies like IBM (The
International Business Machines Corporation) and Microsoft; however, Apple did not let their position
dictate their business operations. Clearly prior to this point, computer technology had been aimed toward
businesses; Apple decided instead to innovate computers for personal use. Integrating both the idea that
computers were not just for work at work but home use as well. Obviously Apple was on to something, in
the next year they became Apple Computers Incorporated and introduced the Apple II the first personal
computer to have color graphics which has since become an industry standard.
Bringing the idea of personal computers to the free market Apple began to see increased
competition from already established companies in the early eighties. IBM, attempting to get into the
personal computer race, hired Microsoft to create an operating system. This operating system, the
program that runs computer functions, became the foundation of what would later be known as Windows.
Windows has since become the primary operating system for the majority of personal computers in
existence. Apple, instead of buying an operating system from another company decided to continue with
their business plan to develop both the hardware and the software for their company. Apple again

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appealed to easy user interface and marketed the first personal computer with a graphical user interface
called Lisa in January 1983.
The graphical user interface or GUI allowed for windows, icons, and menus to direct and carry out
commands such as opening or deleting files and led Apple to become the first computer manufacturer to
reach over one billion dollars in sales. The idea of using the GUI led Apple into developing the Macintosh
which was advertised during the Super Bowl in 1984; the Macintosh and was the first personal computer
for many people and showcased the difference GUI makes in using computers. Within six months, sales
of the computer reached one hundred thousand.
Apple seemed to be on the fast track to success; however, in the late eighties Apple entered into
the darkest part of it’s history. One of Apple’s founders, Steve Wozniack leaves Apple and the other
founder Steve Jobs is fired. Apple believing that Jobs was the person holding them back moved forward
with its business plan trying to renew the excitement that was created from the 1984 release of the
Macintosh. Unfortunately, Apple continued to lose money eventually hitting their lowest point when stock
in the company was only worth 18 dollars per share. Apple Co founder Steve Jobs at this time had
developed a new tech company called NeXT that was quickly gaining popularity, Apple, seeing that
something drastic needed to happen to ensure the companies survival Apple purchased Steve Job’s new
company and brought him back as a consultant only for him to rejoin the company the following year.
Apple remained somewhat aloof in the late nineties; however, at the turn of the century the
decision to bring back Steve Jobs ushered in the golden decade for Apple. This period of time created a
foundation that would push the company to become the second largest information technology company
in the world according to revenue and surpass Coca-Cola on the Omnicom’s Best Global Brands list.
Under the direction of Steve Jobs, Apple decided to expand from computers into other technological
devices. In October of 2001 Apple released something to store a personal music collection called the
IPod. The IPod was revolutionary allowing for digital copies of songs to be located in one thing that could
easily fit in a pocket. The next year Apple launched iTunes, a computer program that allowed for music
purchases on a song-by-song basis instead of buying a whole album. ITunes was supposed to be a
failure for Apple but in conjunction with the iPod became one of the largest commercial successes the
company had ever had.

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Continuing in the twenty first century, Apple continued to develop new operating systems at twice
the speed of Microsoft and perfected the idea of updates to fix problems with released systems instead of
releasing new operating systems to address issues. In 2007 Apple changed its name from Apple
Computers Inc. to Apple Inc. to illustrate that it was not just a computer company anymore; later in the
year in June Apple Inc. released the iPhone along with touch screen interface basically creating a pocket-
sized computer. Coming a long way from $18 a share, Apple Inc. stock is now worth $587.12.
Steve Jobs and Apple recognized something that changed the company and has brought them to
the forefront of the digital age. Apple quit looking at technology as a tool but began looking at technology
as an integrated part of our social structure. Apple pushed computer technology into places that society
did not even imagine, even when the critics told them that it was useless to do so. Apple Inc. is a definite
trailblazer that many of the current tech companies look to as an example and inspiration. Apple has
become a perfect example of a theory called liquid modernity developed by Zygmunt Bauman.
Zygmunt Bauman is a social theorist that was born in 1925, still alive today Bauman has lived to
see the massive change of digital technology from 1940 to the present. Bauman, as a post modernist,
evaluated a changing modern society away from structuralism and in the year 2000 Bauman published a
book entitled Liquid Modernity. Obviously influenced by the speed that society was being changed by
digital technology, Bauman centered his theory on this change and the idea that institutions change at
such a rapid pace that they change faster than individuals can adapt to them. Essentially Bauman
theorized that in order to keep pace with the changes an individual must become like liquid, which can
change its form instantly, in order to survive in this rapidly changing environment. Could there be any
more appropriate way to then describe the millennial generation? Growing up in the age of cyber
technology their entire life has been nothing but moving with the changes and adapting their lifestyle in
order to better utilize these advancements. Companies like Apple have taken full advantage of these
definitions of society by moving with society in this liquid fashion.
Apple Inc.’s history is an interesting one, because though it shares many commonalities with
other cyber technology companies it changed the fabric of what we viewed as possible in technological
integration. Throughout Apple’s history, they took ideas and innovated them driving the hardware and
software industries to seek what the actual users of the technology wanted. Apple has become the most

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recognizable brand in the world and one of the most successful companies according to revenue. Apple
can be used as a template for many different technologies and their relationship to our social structure.
As technology continues to change society at a blinding pace we must study how it affects us and
develop theories of how to keep up with it like Bauman’s liquid modernity theory. As shown by the iPod, a
vital connection that we experience through technology is the form we are entertained by it. Entertainment
was how Apple got turned around and that is what needs to be examined next.

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III
Customizable Entertainment: Role or Reality?
In 2003 Apple Computers Inc. introduced iTunes allowing for music to be downloaded directly
from the Internet. The release of iTunes not only revolutionized the music retail industry; but also changed
the social fabric of our society and how cyber technology is used for entertainment. This chapter will
explain the role that person to person file sharing had in the creation of iTunes and how iTunes has taken
control of the retail music market. Using 2014 Grammy album of the year Random Access Memories, this
chapter will explore the use of the Internet in music production and how the online consumer has
changed production styles. Finally, the chapter will evaluate the work of Erving Goffman and how our
entertainment choices can give insight on whether we have a true self underneath our many social roles.
The Internet forever changed the music industry in both how music was made and consumed. In
the past, music was sold with broad generalizations that only appealed to majorities. The record labels
decided which artist to promote while the rest of the music community was waiting in line for their shot in
the limelight. The introduction of digital technology changed the music industry in a drastic way; record
labels began to lose their power as the Internet brought exposure to many undiscovered artists. Record
labels were scrambling to regain control when the ability to copy music exploded into existence.
David Ardidti explains in his article iTunes: Breaking Barriers and Building Walls defined copying
music as person-to-person file sharing (p2p). Person to person file sharing developed from the discovery
that you could rip music files from compact discs and store them as digital files on your computer. The
digital files could then be shared online from one person to another. (Ardidti 6) This practice was the next
step in the practice of creating mix tapes and sharing them with each other in the 1960s and 1970s.
Record labels had ignored mix tape making, however, person to person file sharing created better exact
digital copies and this began to cut into profit margins. (Ardidti 6) The music industry took their complaints
to the courts and the United States Federal Courts found that file sharing was harming musicians more
than helping them and made it illegal to participate in person-to-person file sharing.
Apple Inc. entered the picture in 2001 through the creation of the iPod. The iPod used the digital
copies of songs to produce a listening device with your entire music library at your fingertips. Apple

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realized that society was in a flexible position; Compact Discs were still a major way music was
purchased and person to person file sharing was gaining momentum even though it was being combated
by the court system. Apple decided to meld the benefits of both styles and opened their online music
store named iTunes in 2003. The crackdown by the Federal Courts on file sharing sites caused many to
turn to iTunes as an alternative to purchase music legally in order to have the benefits of digital copies.
Apple sold songs for 99 cents, which could be bought individually or in an album as the musician had
released it originally. The music industry had found its champion in the battle against person-to-person
file sharing and heavily supported iTunes use. ITunes since it’s release has become the leader in retail
music sales; in 2011 it held 38% of the retail music market outperforming both Wal-Mart and Best Buy
combined. (Ardidti 10) By allowing the customer to pick and choose his or her music; on a song-by-song
basis, it created a musical fingerprint unique to each individual. The iPod and iTunes were the foundation
that has propelled Apple Inc. to its identity as a technological innovator today.
ITunes was scratching an itch society had been trying to scratch since the 1960s and 1970s with
mix tapes. Society did not want albums created by musicians to be listened from start to finish. Society
wanted to pick and choose the songs and make lists, called playlists, of songs for certain occasions and
then listen to them in randomized order. This individualization of the music industry was only magnified by
the globalization of society created through the Internet. Internet sites like YouTube led to discovery of all
kinds of artists from around the globe and pulling them into popular culture good examples are Justin
Bieber a Canadian boy who was transformed into an international superstar or Psy a South Korean pop
star made world famous by his music video Gagnum Style that obtained one billion views on YouTube. In
the music industry in order to become profitable you no longer had to sell entire albums, with a simple
thirty seconds of Internet fame and a catchy tune that would sell on iTunes any artist could become a
superstar.
The music industry in response began using the Internet to create collaborations between artists
to match this individualized demand. Allan Watson a specialist in geography mapped the urban networks
that were used in the urban production of music by using information he found on iTunes. Watson found
that ties between record companies; musicians, producers and other creative individuals reach out to
many different cities in the world resulting in the creation of essentially international social networks

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between the music industry. (Watson 463) Through these social networks, albums are now created to
meet the demand for the different tastes that music lovers have around the globe. The music industry
crated the idea of collaborations where two different musicians release songs to expand the audience of
each artist. For example by matching a hip hop artist from the United States and a DJ from Europe it
gives the different artists exposure on two continents and fulfills the individual wants in todays consumer.
No better example exists of this practice than the Grammy’s album of the year for 2014: Random Access
Memories created by the musical group Daft Punk.
Daft Punk is a French duo famous for their electronic sound and has been popular since the
1990s in the electronic dance circuit. Daft Punk surprised everyone in 2013 with their release of their
album Random Access Memories, which reached number one not only in electronic album charts but
reached number one for total album sales in many countries. Random Access Memories was different
because it contained thirteen tracks that had a completely different sound due to the many collaborations
that were on the album. Daft Punk had obtained nine other artists to co write or co perform the songs for
the album creating tracks that were unique in their sound. Some sounded like pure electronic music while
others sounded like funky disco tracks from the 1970s. The album debuted as the number one selling
record in many countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. Daft Punk had found the
winning recipe by pulling from as many places as possible creating the most hybrid album of the year
which resulted in what the music industry deemed as the most desirable style for 2014, awarding them
with the Grammy. Random Access Memories is a template not only for music but also for all
entertainment as society becomes more and more integrated with technology that allows for connections
all over the world.
Entertainment in the Internet age can become our identity; much like the music industry is
changing in order to give the consumer more freedom, other forms of entertainment are becoming flexible
to allow the consumers to choose their own experience. In 2013 a study of Facebook found that the
frequency of topics discussed on The Rachel Maddow Show by Facebook users had a positive
correlation between what the users discussed and what was presented in the news program. (Jacobsen
349) Entertainment is not solely based on ratings or sales anymore, though those things are still
important consumers are active participants in the creation of entertainment more than ever before.

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Social theorist Erving Goffman developed a theory called dramaturgy in order to explain why
people behaved differently according to different situations. Dramaturgical theory used drama productions
as an analogy to social interaction and Goffman believed that social interaction was a production and that
each individual had a role that they were trying to portray. (Goffman 22) Each role needs preparation and
a separation where the acting is taking place, which Goffman called the front stage, and where the actor
is preparing for the role where Goffman called the back stage. (Goffman 107) Entertainment through
cyber technology gives us certain anonymity which calls into question are we always playing roles or do
we have a true distinct self underneath it all? Technology allows individuals to purchase things according
to what they desire and entertainment is increasingly available on an individual level instead of social
settings helping Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy show that there is indeed a separation from the true self
and the roles that are played in front of others.
In conclusion, technology is changing entertainment at a rapid pace. The music industry showed
that in order to survive the changes that it too needed to change how it produced and sold music.
Societies move at such a rapid pace that the entertainment industry has decided to pay more attention to
the comments of individuals in deciding how to market and produce entertainment. Customizable
entertainment proves Goffman’s theory that there are times when individuals are off stage not acting for
anyone and that can not be any clearer than the increase in the usage of video games as entertainment.

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IV
Video Games: Where Realities Collide
Video games continue to make leaps and strides becoming more and more realistic to actual life.
This chapter briefly discusses the works of Jean Baudrillard as they apply to the understanding of reality.
Citing certain the examples of Leonard Reinecke’s study about video games at work and The University
of Alabama’s alternate reality game to teach students about the available library tools to help in their
education show that video games can be beneficial in life. This chapter also examines the negative side
to video games by evaluating video game addiction, Baudrillard’s theory can be used in order to develop
guidelines for video game use that maximize their benefits and minimize the negative side effects.
Reality is a word used to describe our state of being, by stating something is real it is agreed that
it exists. Reality can be claimed usually with the five physical senses; food is real because it can be seen,
smelt, touched, and tasted. Real, however, becomes more difficult to define when evaluating things that
cannot be measured by the five senses; for example an idea is something that most would agree is real
and immeasurable by the senses. The definition of reality becomes even more complicated as copies are
made of real things as both can be measured by the senses, yet a difference still seems to exist between
the two. Jean Baudrillard was a social theorist who attempted to better explain the relationship between
reality and it’s imitations. Baudrillard focused on how post modern society is shifting from the common
conception of what is real to acceptance of the imitations in its place. Baudrillard called this shift
simulacra or something that has been imitated so many times that the imitation becomes the new reality.
Video games and the imitations of reality they portray are one of the better examples of Baudrillard’s
theory.
Baudrillard found societies entrance into the digital age fascinating and found that digital
technologies, including video games, helped solidify his theory. Baudrillard found that appearances and
imitations already existed and video games were just one more step into imitation away from reality.
Baudrillard argued that socially we hide behind appearances in the real world and if the real world was so
great, why do we build virtual worlds and our own virtual personas to be a part of them? (Coulter 362.

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Examination of Baudrillard’s theory helps us to examine the importance virtual reality holds in our society
and how integrating it in our lives can be beneficial or detrimental.
In 2009 Leonard Reinecke completed a study of employed individuals using a survey to
determine if any of them played video games during work hours. The results showed that 46.7 % of those
surveyed had admitted to playing video games during work hours. (Reinecke 463) The reasons that
these players listed were job fatigue, social support, and having high job control. The study of video
games at work seemed to suggest that use of casual video games led to what Reinecke called recovery
experiences. (Reinecke 464) Recovery experiences are methods by which individuals relieve stress that
inhibits their abilities to perform. As a result, casual gaming seemed to be actually helping in productivity
at work by refreshing the workers mind and inspiring them. (Reinecke 464) Another study at the
University of Alabama followed an alternate reality game (ARG) that was developed by the library in order
to familiarize students with library systems that would be helpful in their collage careers. (Battles 122) The
University of Alabama, instead of using graphics to control a character, decided to write a story across
social media sites and integrate library systems that the player would investigate in order to solve a
mystery. The library game had a low number of participants, but in surveys about the game showed that
almost every player learned about the library systems that would help them as they continued their
studies at the university. (Battles 127) Video games continue to integrate into our society as shown by the
above examples; however, they can quickly make the transition from beneficial to detrimental. A
supervisor may accept using break time to play casual Internet games but have a problem with someone
using extensive work time to progress in a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)
like World of Warcraft. Reinecke verifies that if more in depth games were used at work it could cause you
to become more stressed and possibly strain relationships in the work place, forfeiting any benefits that
video games may give. (Reinecke 464) A person unable to distinguish what is appropriate video game
behavior like leaving MMORPGs at home may suffer from video game addiction.
Video game addiction over the last decade seems to have increased in both how many people
are addicted and how deeply the addiction goes into lives. (Cuss 133) The American Psychiatric
Association has placed Internet gaming disorder in the 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental
Disorders and placed it above other behavior addictions like exercise, shopping, and work. Korea has

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reported up to 50 percent of teenagers have Internet gaming addiction, along with other countries like
Japan where Internet game addiction has led to the creation of fasting camps where those suffering with
the addiction are cut off from technology in order to help in treatment. (Cuss 127) Addiction seems to
present itself when the video game player is unsuccessful in the different aspects of life such as creating
relationships, and the video game takes the place of those relationships. The problem with this behavior
is that though the video game will temporarily relieve the pain the virtual world will eventually end. Part of
the reason that MMORPGs are called out for video game addiction is because they more and more
expansions in the series continuing the illusion over decades instead of ending like most created virtual
worlds eventually do.
Baudrillard’s theory seems to address the idea that video games are imitating reality in order to
correct the disappointment we feel when we see or experience the real thing. Baudrillard seemed to
believe that in life is a game we play according to the rules of those who are winning and if we can get
pleasure from gaming then it is better for us than jogging. (Coulter 359) Baudrillard seems to miss that
this virtual reality can end at any time; a loss of electricity for example, forces the individual to forget
about the desired reality and live in the actual one. Video games can be powerful tools in our life, before
participating in them the individual who recognizes that they are just imitation of reality are better off than
the participants who have left the physical world in favor of the digital one. Maximum benefit seems to
come through integration of the virtual world with the reality that we know allowing for video games to
patch gaps in the desired reality but never take over as the only reality.
In conclusion Baudrillard’s theory explains that reality is being imitated at an increasing rate and
society can either use that to its benefit or suffer its consequences. Video games show that there is a
good an bad side to imitating reality allowing some to increase productivity while others can become lost
in a virtual reality world. This chapter showed the difference by comparing the studies completed by
Reinecke and Battles helping individuals increase in learning and productivity to the study done by Cuss
showing that addiction removes all benefits received by video games. Video games are not the only
technology to have a bad side, the next chapter will show how technology can be used in crime and the
governments battle in order to stop it.

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V
The Digitalization of Surveillance
Law enforcement is changing as more and more of its battles are fought online instead of in the
streets. This chapter will focus on the debate between online privacy and online protection by first
examining Thomas Hobbes’ understanding of the social contract and creation of government. This
chapter will then focus on Michel Foucault’s theories of punishment and surveillance and how the
government has begun to integrate them into everyday life regardless of wrongdoing. Through creation of
the Internet, citizens become anonymous to the government and create illegal Internet sites. The
government continues to fight against Internet crime through its various agencies and in doing so opens
the debate of online privacy and what the government should and should not have access too, this
debate explodes when whistle blower Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the National
Security Agency.
Law is the mutual agreement of members in society to respect the boundaries that have been put
forward in the social contract. Thomas Hobbes defined the natural man’s primal instinct as self-
preservation; Hobbes argued that in reality if two different individuals desired the same limited resource it
would end in war. Hobbes’ book Leviathan explains that it was in the interest of self-preservation for
individuals to give up some freedom in order to make a social contract and create government. The
government would gain power from the sacrificed freedom and in return promise protection through law
and enforcement of that law. The law placed pressure on individuals to live their lives in certain ways
avoiding conflicts with other individuals; however, the existence of the law did not terminate the brutal and
nasty individualism that Hobbes believed rested in each person. Social deviance and criminal activity
came forward and has been the plague of the social contract combating the government throughout
history (Lloyd 1).
Crime ignores the existence of the social contracts that were created to protect, in fact many
forms of crime relies on the trust the individual has in the law system in order to take advantage of them.
Society, in order to address crime, developed systems of surveillance and punishment to control crime.
Michel Foucault in his book Discipline and Punish examined the different ways society’s punishment

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strategy has evolved. Foucault opens his book with a brutal explanation of the execution of Robert
François Damiens, who attempted to assassinate the King of France Louis XV. This type of punishment
was brutal and symbolic to try and control the pre-modern societies’ large populations with fear showing
that breaking the law only resulted in brutality. Society, however, less than a century later had thrown
away this style of punishment to implement the prison (Mathiesen 216). Prison was developed as an
alternative to physically punishing the body through pain and death, instead choosing to help the
perpetrators reform their behavior through structure. Foucault chose to focus on a certain type of prison
that was developed by Samuel Bentham called the Panopticon (See Appendix 1). The panopticon shown
in this picture is a design where the cells of the prisoner are circling a guard tower in the middle. The
lights on the tower make it impossible for prisoners to see if the guard is looking at them or not causing
the prisoners to discipline themselves. Foucault argued that the panopticon used surveillance to prevent
behavior before it was committed; essentially punishing the prisoner before any additional crime had been
committed. Foucault saw that this idea did not stay in the prison but entered into society making
surveillance not something just for prisoners who had broken laws but something for everyone
(Mathiesen 217).
Bentham’s design was put into practice because it allowed for a small number to watch a large
number of people and was practical though the ideology of the panopticon pushed itself society. Crime
could be prevented before it happened, but sacrificed privacy in order to make such a society possible.
Hobbes’ theory shows in order to make the enforcer of law more powerful the individuals must give up
more and more freedom. The panopticon of society began in national registries for criminals which keep
track of arrest information and keep a bank of finger prints in order to link future crimes to them but was
quickly integrated into every part of a citizen’s life, there is registration for cars, guns, school, work, and
many other things that allow the government to know more about the private lives of the citizens. As
technology grew the government continued to create registries of new occupations and organizations, but
hit a snag in implementing surveillance through the integration of the Internet in society.
The Internet introduced an opportunity for many people to become anonymous, by changing a
picture and creation of user names on certain sites the majority of the public does not have the
capabilities to find out who the person at the keyboard is. Unidentified individuals began using this to their

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advantage and cyber crime was created; hackers break down fire walls and attack government and
business websites, illegal pornographic sites have been created, drug sales moved from the streets to the
online avenue, and even bullying has moved from a physical world to a digital one. Silk Road is the most
well known digital marketplace for drugs and other black list items and is a good example how cybercrime
appeals to those who wish to keep their participation secret (Van Hout 524).
Silk Road exists in what is called the Deep Web, which is a collection of Internet sites used for
illegal activity. To access the Deep Web an individual must mask their Internet Protocol (IP) Address and
does so using an encrypting program called Tor. Once the IP address is encrypted the individual seeking
drugs can enter Silk Road and purchase any type of drug that they would also find on the street. Silk
Road uses Bit coin, a digital currency that is hard to trace and eliminates money trails that police would
use to find connections and bring down the illegal drug ring. (Van Hout 527) The existence of Silk Road
and Internet sites like it show the difficulty that law enforcement has in trying to find and shut down illegal
operations over the Internet. Law enforcement can set up Internet stings to catch unsuspecting
individuals in person, but this mostly requires someone leaving the anonymity of their computer in order
to be connected to the crime. Law enforcement is only scratching the surface of cyber crime but
organizations like the National Security Agency (NSA) began developing programs in order to monitor
terrorism but began to apply it to all forms of Internet crime and they could do this because they were
monitoring ordinary citizens as well.
Harry S. Truman created the NSA from a unit that deciphered code in World War II in order to
protect the United States citizens through information collection. (Burns 91) The NSA uses surveillance in
order to inform the President of the United States of potential threats to the country or it’s people. This
surveillance was kept classified and was justified by the right of the government to protect the people. In
June of 2013 Edward Snowden released classified documents revealing that the NSA was not just
collecting data on threats outside the United States, but had been collecting data on domestic Internet
communications. (Landau 54) The media exploded as the government scrambled to justify its practices
and quickly targeted Snowden calling him a spy and a traitor. The government had been returning to
Foucault’s’ panopticon, the small number of government officials were keeping watch on the many
millions of Americans in the name of justice. The classified documents revealed disturbing information, in

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March the NSA director was asked if the NSA was collecting data on private citizens to which he replied
no. (Landau 55) Snowden’s revealed documents showed that the director of the NSA was lying when he
said that and in June when questioned again the NSA director justified his lie stating that their invasion of
citizen privacy helped prevent 50 terrorist attacks since 9/11. (Landau 59) The American people now saw
that in order to receive protection in this digital world more privacy must be sacrificed, that may be ok for
some citizens but Snowden’s argument that the decision rested with the citizens in the first place and not
to be taken advantage of by the government.
Hobbes’ theory of government shows that an individual cannot have complete privacy and still be
protected, a sacrifice of privacy or freedom must be made in order to receive that protection. The
government in response to this idea began justifying laws, surveillance, and punishments essentially to
protect the citizens from themselves. This chapter has shown that Michel Foucault’s theory of the
panopticon explains how the government attempted to integrate surveillance into the Internet and other
cyber technology in order to integrate society into disciplining itself. Edward Snowden’s release of
classified documents showed the American people that this surveillance was taking place and brought
privacy versus protection to the forefront of the American debate. The government is a major player in the
advancing of cyber technology and the next chapter will focus specifically on how the government and the
military use technology to increase their own power.

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VI
Digitalized Power
Government surveillance is proof that government power has increased to an unforeseen amount
due to technology. In this chapter the idea of surveillance will continue to be examined as it pertains
directly to the power the government has obtained through technological advancement. The American
government will be the focus as C. Wright Mills’ theory of the Power Elite is used to explain how the
government is the most powerful institution in society through the support of the military and industry.
Using information technology as an example it can be seen that the government utilizes technology to
gain more power regardless of media revelations of clear violation of individual rights agreed upon by the
social contract.
Social contracts are vital to society, as was explained in the previous chapter Thomas Hobbes
claimed the social contracts as vital parts of the creation of government. The government created varies
from society to society, but the types of governments that survive are the ones that learn to adapt to
changes as they happen. On the American continent the US constitution created the federal government
and has lasted for over two centuries and arguably has adapted to the changes throughout history to
become one of the world’s most powerful governments. The Constitution was the embodiment of the
social contract between the citizens of the American Colonies to accept a ruling power in order to unite
themselves as the new United States of America. The colonists sought a separation of powers that led to
the creation of the democratic republic that exists today. This new federal government was supposed to
be inferior to the state governments but over the years through war and advancement the federal
government began to grow stronger in power and has come a long way from the envisioned body of the
founding fathers. The federal government today has become not only the driving force in the United
States but its power has become a major player in world politics. The sociologist C. Wright Mills examined
the reasons behind the expansion of power obtained by the government and proposed his theory in his
work The Power Elite
The Power Elite was an examination of the distribution of power within the institutions that existed
in the United States. (Domhoff 547) Power meant that an institution would be able to realize its goals in

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spite of opposition. Mills found that the most powerful institutions had formed interlocking groups of power
that he called the power elite; the most elite of these groups were the government, the military, and
industry. The government that the American citizens had worried might obtain too much power had
created a military devoted to protection of both the Americans citizens and the republic and a free market
system where business has a heavy hand in the creation of law. The power elite is an iron triangle in the
sense that each point on the triangle is helped by and supports the other points. Though industry and
business play an important role in Mill’s theory, this chapter will focus on the relationship between
government and military. Mills viewed that the military was on equal footing with the government but
critics have argued that the military is subject to the government (Domhoff 548) The reality is that the
government and the military whether equal or one the subordinate of the other they support and empower
each other and military service is something valued in many politicians past as shown by the many
presidents that had first served in the military before politics. The purpose of the power elite is to keep the
power over other institutions and one of the tools used is technology.
The governments use of technology to increase its power is a common practice and has spread
over the majority of major institutions; whether it is through direct creation of a technology that has been
adapted for general use like the militaries creation of the internet, through regulation of created
technologies by federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or by funding the creation
of new technology like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The government has
not left a single area untouched as the majority of major technological advancements will need to pass
through the government in order to move to the public. Arguments about whether these practices are
ethical or in the best interest of the American citizens, as examined in the last chapter the government
was not opposed to surveillance of United States citizens by the National Security Agency as long as it
protected its interests. The argument that the government is using technology in order to protect itself
instead of the citizens is irrelevant to this discussion, regardless of the governments intentions it is using
technology to increase it’s power in both cases. An example of this increase in government power is the
relationship the government has with the media as technology makes news available instantaneously.
The difference between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center on September eleventh show a major difference advanced technology that has become available.

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Hours past before anyone in the United States knew about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government
had that time to plan how they would reveal it to the public and their position on it. When the World Trade
Centers were attacked with hijacked commercial flights the world watched it unfold on live television,
technology had advanced to the point that news could be passed across the world instantaneously.
Jennifer Whittten-Woodring argues that the media has the capabilities to be a power check to the
government with this new technology and play a part as watchdogs to government activity as well as
organize the public in protest to the government’s actions. (Whitten-Woodring 117) Whitten, however,
also points out that the government has many overt and covert ways of silencing media. The media deals
with overt licensing laws, taxation, and laws barring from certain forms of reporting such as showing
graphic images on television etc. Whitten also finds that the relationships between the media and
government officials can cause media representatives to self-censor their stories. (Whitten-Woodring 115)
The government then also deals covertly with the media by keeping things secret from the media as well
as the public as was the case with the surveillance of the American people by the NSA. The time period is
often called the information age, supposedly due to the freedom of information but more and more the
government has inserted itself into the flow of information and strengthens its standing as a power elite.
In Conclusion, the revelations of John Snowden about the surveillance of the US government
provided the media with a rare opportunity to return some of the power back to the people; however,
Zygmunt Bauman found that instead of protest the surveillance the majority of the American public found
it acceptable. (Bauman 142) Bauman, a social theorist that was covered earlier in this micro text, studied
the fall out after Snowden’s reveal and found that the majority of people went back to regular activity
accepting the invasion of privacy for different reasons but one of the most interesting ones being self
surveillance through social media being enjoyable to the masses. (Bauman 142) Evaluation of this
attitude can be looked at through sociological lenses whether this type of social behavior is beneficial for
humanity or not certainly schools of thought like the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory would say it
negatively affects society, but it certainly shows that information technology has put more power into the
hands of the power elite and not the citizens that they rule.

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VII
The Birth of the “E” Clinic
Medical technology is responsible for a majority of major changes to society and continues to
advance at a rapid pace. This chapter is focused on Michel Foucault’s work The Birth of the Clinic;
specifically on the question: will technology replace the doctor in the life of an ordinary citizen like the
doctor replaced the priest? This chapter will evaluate Telemedicine and clinical YouTube videos as
examples that technology is not a good replacement for physicians at this time and in order to receive
maximum benefit from medical technology one should do so under the guidance of a personal physician.
One of Michel Foucault’s first works is called The Birth of the Clinic, which provided an exposition
on the transformation of healthcare in France. Foucault maps the change of medical practice as doctors
began to use in what Foucault coined the Medical Gaze. Medical Gaze is the distinction of the body of the
person and the person themselves, what some would refer to as a soul. Physicians began to touch the
body and learned to map the body, the organs, and developed a language for explaining the problems
found. Physicians had found a way to see the body as a human atlas providing a map of the body’s exact
problems (Burlein 121). Foucault found that physicians had discovered the art of diagnosing and in doing
so had opened the door for the praise of society. Doctors replaced priests and were placed on pedestals
as individuals that would solve all of humanities problems, the masses would go to the doctor in times of
need instead of the priest for salvation from death. (Burlein 121) The romanticizing of the doctor has
continued into the current period where tests, labs, and pharmaceuticals rule in diagnosis and treatment.
The progress of society has brought healthcare and doctors again to the crossroads of change.
With the technologic advancements of technology that exist, patients can be seen, diagnosed, and
prescribed medication all without ever seeing a doctor or the doctor having to touch the body. Machines
could replace doctors, in theory, just as priests were replaced by doctors as explained in Foucault’s The
Birth of the Clinic. The doctor, however, is no stranger to the interference of third parties in the delivery of
healthcare. Foucault showed that the doctor’s relationship with their patients as personal and intimate, it
allowed the doctor to familiarize themselves with their patient’s body and immediately find problems when
they arose. Today’s doctor has much interference with developing this type of relationship in a modern

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society. In the United States, healthcare is highly privatized the country views healthcare as a commodity
and not a natural right resulting in the doctor and patient relationship being besieged with third parties all
trying to get a piece of the pie. Third parties can come in many shapes and sizes, a common one is the
insurance company telling the patient what doctor they can see and how many times a year the patient
can see them. Pharmaceutical companies are another type of third party involved in healthcare, they do
not personally know the patient they just manufacture the medicine and charge the patient and their
insurance company for the medicines utilization. Finally medical technology companies are also third
parties, most medical professionals do not have the time to develop new technology and as a result that
is outsourced to the business sector. An example of a medical technology that has been outsourced is
Telemedicine.
Telemedicine is the term used to describe the use of communication technology to connect two
people, usually a doctor and a patient, for a clinical visit or other healthcare need. Telemedicine’s
existence is to overcome geographical boundaries that often prevent rural patients or those with little time
from visiting the doctor on a regular basis. (Gattoni 264) Telemedicine is not an alternative to a doctor by
diagnosing a patient based on symptoms entered into the system, rather only a connecting tool used to
bring the doctor and patient together in cases where physical visit s are not possible. Promoters of
telemedicine will focus on the positives, clinics using telemedicine are more efficient, more patients can
be seen in clinics that use telemedicine, and many other great things result from a clinic deciding to adopt
telemedicine practices. Promoters do not want clinics to see the social negatives like low Internet access
for some or technologic illiteracy that would bar the patients who would benefit the most from it’s
utilization. (Gattoni 267) Ali Gattoni’s study on Telemedicine found that if telemedicine was to succeed the
doctor and patient relationship would actually need to be strengthened in order for the technology to
properly serve it's purpose, often if a patient resisted learning about telemedicine and adopting it then the
doctor would also be more resistant to implement it into their clinics. (Gattoni 268) Medical technology
seems to work best when under the guidance of a physician; the same applies to YouTube videos.
YouTube is a web site that allows anyone the opportunity to post short or long videos allowing for
anyone in the world to watch. Many videos are spam, but there is a thriving do it yourself network on
YouTube. Do it yourself videos can range from learning how to tie a necktie to proper ways to pour a

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foundation for building a house, surprisingly YouTube also contains many videos devoted to medicine
several of which claim to help with clinical skills. Ian Duncan’s study titled YouTube as a Source of
Clinical Skills Education found that there were many different clinical skills videos throughout YouTube,
through use of coders, Duncan found that out of 100 YouTube videos only one was good and the majority
of others deemed as merely sufficient (Duncan 1576) Duncan concluded that in order for YouTube videos
to be beneficial in any way they must be evaluated and monitored in order to ensure the proper
information is being taken away from them.
In conclusion, medical technology seems to be rather far from actual technology taking the
primary role in healthcare and seems to be playing more of an assisting role behind physicians. The
doctor though they have many more obstacles in today’s society, seems to have moved toward relying on
technology in order to find what is wrong with their patients instead of examination of the body. The clinic
then takes on a different form than Foucault’s explanation in The Birth of a Clinic. Technology may not be
a valid replacement for the physician at this time, but the physician’s reliance on technology has removed
the close relationship with their patients in favor of safe tests and short visits.

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VII
The Social Theorist’s View of Technology
Cyber technology changes at a rapid pace, certainly the technologies talked about in this micro
text will have become obsolete within the next ten years and all part of the history of cyber technology.
This micro text was a brief glimpse of technology’s influence in our societies as there is a never-ending
amount of knowledge and advancement that happens on a yearly basis. The goal of this micro text was to
leave the reader with an understanding that social theory is important in every piece of technologic
advancement no matter how impersonal it may seem. The social theories presented came from several
different men, different countries, and different time periods but each seemed to fit in well and was
relevant to this time period in the United States of America.
Bauman respects technology and its ability to change structure the history of technology shows
that technology will continue to develop at a quicker and quicker pace. Bauman knows that those who will
succeed will learn to adapt with the flow of change. Goffman who saw every social interaction would look
at the Internet as the opportunity to act out whatever part was wished, his theory could be used in
discovering why people lie on the Internet or pretend to be something that they are not. Baudrillard loved
imitations and found that as technology continues to advance fewer and fewer things will be authentic, in
order to be happy society must learn to embrace the fake things and appreciate them as if they are real.
Baudrillard’s understanding of the benefit of accepting the imitation helps society deal with problems like
video game addiction and help society gain maximum benefits from their use and eliminate the
detriments. Foucault examined power struggles between ordinary citizens and the greater powers of the
world. Foucault would praise technology for the ability it gives the average citizens to learn truth and
develop their own thought process to what is true and what is not. C. Wright Mills would see how
technology can be used to integrate the masses into the system of business and government pulling
power away from the power elite and put it back into the people’s hands.
Social theory is not limited to just these theorists, just like technology theory is constantly moving
and changing and building on the foundations set by the previous generation of theorists. This micro text
showed the similarities of technology and social theory, but also found the amount of theories to work with

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and the amount of technologies to apply them too to be staggering. Additional work in the application of
theory to technology is needed and will always be needed in order to help society better adapt to the
changes, at least until a new technology changes it again.

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Appendix 1
Source: tracesofreality.com