Reflection Paper Citizenship and Community Leader
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starnleywainaina74Reflection Paper Citizenship and Community Leader
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Reflection paper Citizenship and Community leader
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Technology has risen to be one of the most influential forces determining contemporary
citizenship, community involvement, and civic identity. Due to ever-growing communication
engagement through individualized and digitalized platforms, the essence of social connection
has changed very many times. By analyzing the changes in technology and mass media, Putnam
can explain how changes in media consumption have long been associated with decreased civic
participation and how modern studies demonstrate that social media both empowers and weakens
our shared existence. These trends reflect a main idea: the process of technological change is
reflected profoundly in the ways in which individuals associate as well as participate in
democratic life and comprehend their identity as citizens.
Putnam suggests in Chapter 13 of Bowling Alone that twenties-century technological
changes—in particular television—brought Americans closer to more private, individualized
leisure. He points out that electronic media enables individuals to view entertainment alone as
opposed to watching together in community situations, eliminating chances to interact with
others and undermining social capital (Putnam,n.d.). What he fears is not merely the number of
media that people consume, but rather its location: home turns out to be a kind of protective
bubble in which civic life is easily substituted by inactive entertainment. The view is an
important guide to comprehending why civic engagement has been a challenge in a more
personalized technology era.
Recent studies indicate that the issues raised by Putnam have changed instead of fading.
According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, Americans, who primarily get political
news in social media, are less informed on political issues, and more susceptible to
misinformation (Pew Research Center, 2021). This trend supports the caution given by Putnam
that media usage may undermine being an informed citizen whereby media use replaces the more
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old-fashioned civic education. In contrast to television, the current social media setting includes
algorithmic filtering, echo chambers, viral misinformation, all this may damage political
knowledge. Such trends imply that technological change is still making it more difficult to
remain accurately and meaningfully informed as a citizen.
The latest studies on the war in Ukraine show a different aspect of the impact of
technology on citizenship and the international community. Conflicts are currently being
witnessed, interpreted, and politically mobilized based on social media like Tik Tok and
Telegram (Zeitzoff, 2017). These platforms form real-time communication platforms between
citizens and leaders and the governments seek to regulate or manipulate information streams.
This dynamic depicts how technology can both reinforce the unity of the world and enhance
disinformation at the same time. Although the problem of isolation by older media has been
highlighted by Putnam, contemporary digital networks demonstrate that technology too
generates new types of collective action, though not necessarily those that enhance democratic
trust or truth.
Thus, by reflecting between these readings, it is evident that technology is still changing
the civic life in a complicated, rather contradictory manner. The issues raised by Putnam
concerning privatized media is still relevant, but the emergence of the digital field raises new
risks of misinformation, power of the platforms, and information ecosystem fragmentation.
Meanwhile, technology facilitates new forms of community, activism and global awareness. To
comprehend these trends, a moderate perspective that recognizes the dangers and the
opportunities brought about by digital media is necessary. In conclusion, citizenship in the
twenty-first century rests on how individuals and communities prefer to negotiate the technology
forces that dominate interaction, relationship and community.
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References
Pew Research Center. (2021, February 22). Americans who mainly got news via social media
knew less about politics and current events, heard more about some unproven stories.
Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project.
[Link]
via-social-media-knew-less-about-politics-and-current-events-heard-more-about-some-
unproven-stories/
Putnam, R. D. (n.d.). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. Simon &
Schuster.
Zeitzoff, T. (2017). How social media is Changing Conflict. Journal of Conflict Resolution,
