Lots of change gets attributed to technology companies. Facebook changed the way we communicate. Google changed the way we search for information. Instagram changed the way we brag about ourselves.
The reality is none of those companies changed anything. All they did was write an app or make a website. Many other people have done that, and nothing really happened. What really changed things was individual people deciding to use these websites or apps instead of something else. There was no government mandate threatening to throw people in jail if they didn't sign up for Facebook. No holy decree came down demanding Google replace encyclopedias. No one made your post that vintage filter selfie of you on the beach with some totally hot guy/girl/man-eating bear on the beach.
To say that any of those companies changed people would be giving them way too much credit. They merely created a tool for doing something people were already doing. To say otherwise takes away the agency from the people actually performing the verbs.
After all, you are the one who is ineptly trying to flirt with people through text rather than in a sketchy alcohol service establishment. You are the one sitting on your butt Googling the best brand of butt plug rather than asking all your friends and neighbors. You are the one passive-aggressively showing your friends you're a better person than they are. None of those companies made you do any of those things. That was you. Active voice.
So the next time you want to blame some tech company for changing the way society works, realize that a company is just a small group of people. The only way change actually happened was that other people, not in the company, thought it was a good idea and started using the product. The next time you share a post to Facebook about how technology is ruining everything, realize that it couldn't have happened without your cooperation.
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