Culture is one of the central concepts in sociology, and it incorporates material and non-material elements. Culture can transform due to social alterations, which can be rapid or slow. For example, intense scientific and technological development is both exciting and frightening for humanity. Three theories that help explain social change are known: evolutionary, functionalist, and conflict (Schaefer, 2019). The evolutionary theory states that society is improving, while functionalists believe the community wants to maintain stability (Schaefer, 2019). Conflict theory claims the importance of change to correct inequality and injustice.
However, social change may be met with resistance because some groups are accustomed to a particular lifestyle and do not want innovations. Such opposition is caused by the gap between the actual change and emotional adjustment of people to it. This gap is known as the cultural lag, which “results when people, groups, organizations, and social structures experience problems in mastering the challenges created by this lag … that occurs between material and non-material culture” (Ruggiero, 2018, p. 2). One of the prominent examples of cultural lag is a refusal of older generations to accept freedom of self-expression in social media.
The appearance of various social media platforms where young people could openly discuss their thoughts and share pictures became disturbing for the older generation. Indeed, the Internet and digitalization’s freedom revolutionized people’s understanding of communication and expression (Schaefer, 2019). For example, my grandparents still cannot understand why youth share every minute of their lives on Instagram and how they create large audiences for culturally empty profiles. Furthermore, my grandparents, born in the late 1940s, are very responsible about posts they make on their Facebook pages which I helped them create.
Although the older generation accepted the comfort of technological advancement, many of them still resist approving online behavior. This response can be considered as culture lag because of the inability of their beliefs and values to adapt to changes (Schaefer, 2019). Three years ago, my grandparents and their peers created a group that offered to introduce parental control over Instagram posts and stories of teenagers and young adults in our city. However, these attempts to convince the municipal government were unsuccessful because, after multiple meetings, they concluded that social media posts became an essential part of modern society.
The social restructuring that came with the invention of social media can be considered as a conflict change. Indeed, social media removed the borders between classes, allowing all people to post their understanding of beauty, share thoughts about political and social issues, and even see the lives of famous public figures. These new privileges were not available to older adults; thus, they perceive them as immoral behavior because transitioning people’s lives to an online mode erased the borders of privacy.
This situation is an example of how cultural change can lead to social change (Schaefer, 2019). However, not all older generations reacted equally to the societal transformation. For example, baby boomers in our neighborhood had an overall positive view of social media development because they are active users of these platforms, too. Moreover, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube opened broader job opportunities for people who want freedom of creative expression, stable income, and a flexible work schedule.
Digitalization has some hidden disadvantages that are not related to cultural degradation that concerns the elderly. According to Schaefer (2019), social platforms simplified violation of people’s confidentiality for criminals, for-profit organizations, and governmental agencies. Specifically, the spread of malware that can retrieve personal data became easier now: “The ever-present cell phone enables the most pervasive and sophisticated attacks on people’s privacy and anonymity” (Schaefer, 2019, p. 313).
Furthermore, censorship of social media profiles is another example of culture lag among countries’ leaders. Considering the fact that most governments consist of older adults, this lag is understandable. Although surveillance is a valuable method for preventing terrorist attacks and other criminal activity, the personal lives of the citizens are affected. Indeed, the Court of Appeals agreed on the lawlessness of the U.S. mass surveillance, exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013 (Satter, 2020). Overall, the need to control people’s thoughts shows that the old generation is still resistant to cultural and social change caused by social media.
In summary, cultural and social transition are interrelated concepts that may elicit a positive or negative response. Specifically, conflict theory of change suggests that societal alterations can cause a disturbance, but they result in eliminating inequality and injustice.
Indeed, rapid technological development removed sharp social boundaries, allowing people of different classes to have equal access to information exchange. However, older generations, our grandparents and lawmakers, appear to remain in cultural lag. For example, many of them want to censor Facebook and Instagram posts to protect people from potential material and non-material threats, which indicates the reluctance to accept these social changes. Still, the digitalization age brought more benefits than disadvantages to humanity because it allowed millions of people to connect their interests and created freedom in people’s lives.
References
Ruggiero, J. A. (2018). Culture, change, and cultural lag: A commentary and a challenge. Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics, 3(1), 1-3.
Satter, R. (2020). U.S. court: Mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden was illegal. Reuters. Web.
Schaefer, R.T. (2019). Social movements, social changes, and technology. In Sociology matters (7th ed., pp. 296-317). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.