The changes brought by the new technologies are profound. Particularly, the proliferation of the internet and mobile devices is causing a widespread societal transformation. Survey shows, in Australia, the internet has a penetration rate of 87%, while mobile subscriptions have reached 130%. the popularity of mobile phones and internet help the growth of social networking technologies, which is the main feature of web 2.0 technologies (techno terms). unlike the web 1.0, which is mainly one-way communication, Web 2.0 encourages two-way or three-way communications. Next-generation of technologies may focus on connecting the online and offline world.
Lupac (2018) points out that Internet has a fundamental impact on our society. It has to lead to a transformation of society. it revolutionises the way everyone communicates, works, and even thinks.
According to Lupac (2018), the transformation is reflected in three areas, the transformation of mass communication, the transformation of sociability, and the transformation of a civic and social movement.
The internet and social networking change the ways people communicate with each other. Accordingly, it creates the “sharing economy”, where people do business and sharing information online at a much lower cost and increased convenience, compared with the traditional offline intermediaries(Van Dick,2018). At the same time, it puts pressure on the society balancing the private benefit and public interest. Although it brings many positive changes in a society, it has there are some concerns, especially privacy and unequal access to the internet or “digital divide”. The difference between being connected and unconnected is a social inclusion issue, which is often a telling sign of the difference of the social status. (Lupac, 2018)
For any organization, they need to monitor the changes in the technologies and adjust their business models accordingly. Failing to adapt to the changes can be alive or die situation for business. the best example of this is Blockbuster or other video rental business, which are replaced by video streaming services (Adner, 2016).
photo credit: Jeff1186 Blockbuster via flickr (license)
On the other hand, new technology will generate needs and demand that never existed before. A business which can identify the needs and cater for it will be able to thrive in this digital age. For example, Amazon’s success story.
Reference
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2016). Right tech, wrong time. Harvard Business Review, 94(11), 61-67. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/
Lupac, P. (2018). Beyond the digital divide : contextualizing the information society. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=f47e6e21-7d85-492a-88ef-f2c3abf1c667%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=1746442&db=nlebk
We Are Social Ltd. (2019). Digital 2019 in Australia. Retrieved from https://wearesocial.com/au/digital-2019-australia?mc_cid=2627112634&mc_eid=632bbf90f7
Web 2.0. (2008). Retrieved January 2, 2020, from https://techterms.com/definition/web20
Van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The Platform Society. DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001