The Role Of Technology In Changing Social Relations In Gowa Regency Society

Abstract

This research study assesses the relationship between change in social relation and use of technology within Gowa Regency Indonesia, specifically the impact of mobile phones, social media and other related technologies on communication, social networks, as well as culture. Semi structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation were conducted with 32 participants from the local community, community leaders, and technology users within the young adult population and elder generation. It becomes clear from the study that technology has changed social relationships’ patterns with conventional face-to-face exchanges being substituted by remote, but still, keeping social interaction engaging across distances. It also captures shifts in social culture where there are issues of; privacy, Gender, and interactions as well as the community. Thus, whereas the younger participants adopt the new media technologies for subverting conventional morality and asserting individual voice and freedom, the older participants identify new media as threatening their ―privacy, and the decay of culture. The research also notes how technology has enhanced bond among the social relations, especially the family and local community ties, as much as it revolutionizes the conventional social relations. The outcomes advance a knowledge on technology effects on social relations by offering a situated view of how the adoption of technologies differ within eras and demographics. Thus, this study helps to fill a gap in previous literature that very often does not pay sufficient attention to the rural scenario.