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Technology is everything around us. It's the man made objects that has been made and improved to make our lives a lot more easy. Social media uses technology to make life easy. They work hand in hand in making our life more easy.

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A steam turbine with the case opened, an example of energy technology

Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge for achieving practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.

Technological advancements have led to significant changes in society. The earliest known technology is the stone tool, used during prehistoric times, followed by the control of fire, which contributed to the growth of the human brain and the development of language during the Ice Age. The invention of the wheel in the Bronze Age allowed greater travel and the creation of more complex machines. More recent technological inventions, including the printing press, telephone, and the Internet, have lowered barriers to communication and ushered in the knowledge economy.

While technology contributes to economic development and improves human prosperity, it can also have negative impacts like pollution and resource depletion, and can cause social harms like technological unemployment resulting from automation. As a result, there are ongoing philosophical and political debates about the role and use of technology, the ethics of technology, and ways to mitigate its downsides.

Technology is a term dating back to the early 17th century that meant 'systematic treatment' (from Greek Τεχνολογία , from the Greek: , tékhnē, 'craft, art' and , 'study, knowledge'). It is predated in use by the Ancient Greek word , used to mean 'knowledge of how to make things', which encompassed activities like architecture.

Starting in the 19th century, continental Europeans started using the terms Technik ( German) or technique ( French) to refer to a 'way of doing', which included all technical arts, such as dancing, navigation, or printing, whether or not they required tools or instruments. At the time, Technologie ( German and French) referred either to the academic discipline studying the "methods of arts and crafts", or to the political discipline "intended to legislate on the functions of the arts and crafts." Since the distinction between Technik and Technologie is absent in English, both were translated as technology. The term was previously uncommon in English and mostly referred to the academic discipline, as in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the 20th century, as a result of scientific progress and the Second Industrial Revolution, technology stopped being considered a distinct academic discipline and took on its current-day meaning: the systemic use of knowledge to practical ends.

Prehistoric

A person holding a hand axe

Tools were initially developed by hominids through observation and trial and error. Around 2 Mya (million years ago), they learned to make the first stone tools by hammering flakes off a pebble, forming a sharp hand axe. This practice was refined 75 kya (thousand years ago) into pressure flaking, enabling much finer work.

The discovery of fire was described by Charles Darwin as "possibly the greatest ever made by man". Archaeological, dietary, and social evidence point to "continuous [human] fire-use" at least 1.5 Mya. Fire, fueled with wood and charcoal, allowed early humans to cook their food to increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient value and broadening the number of foods that could be eaten. The cooking hypothesis proposes that the ability to cook promoted an increase in hominid brain size, though some researchers find the evidence inconclusive. Archaeological evidence of hearths was dated to 790 kya; researchers believe this is likely to have intensified human socialization and may have contributed to the emergence of language.

Other technological advances made during the Paleolithic era include clothing and shelter. No consensus exists on the approximate time of adoption of either technology, but archaeologists have found archaeological evidence of clothing 90-120 kya and shelter 450 kya. As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 380 kya, humans were constructing temporary wood huts. Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to migrate out of Africa around 200 kya, initially moving to Eurasia.

An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools

The Neolithic Revolution (or First Agricultural Revolution) brought about an acceleration of technological innovation, and a consequent increase in social complexity. The invention of the polished stone axe was a major advance that allowed large-scale forest clearance and farming. This use of polished stone axes increased greatly in the Neolithic but was originally used in the preceding Mesolithic in some areas such as Ireland. Agriculture fed larger populations, and the transition to sedentism allowed for the simultaneous raising of more children, as infants no longer needed to be carried around by nomads. Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could participate in hunter-gatherer activities.

With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in labor specialization. What triggered the progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as Uruk, and the first civilizations, such as Sumer, is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly hierarchical social structures and specialized labor, of trade and war amongst adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges such as irrigation, are all thought to have played a role.

The invention of writing led to the spread of cultural knowledge and became the basis for history, libraries, schools, and scientific research.

Continuing improvements led to the furnace and bellows and provided, for the first time, the ability to smelt and forge gold, copper, silver, and lead - native metals found in relatively pure form in nature. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of Neolithic times (about 10 ka). Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of alloys such as bronze and brass (about 4,000 BCE). The first use of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1,800 BCE.

The wheel was invented c. 4,000 BCE.

After harnessing fire, humans discovered other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power is the sailing ship; the earliest record of a ship under sail is that of a Nile boat dating to around 7,000 BCE. From prehistoric times, Egyptians likely used the power of the annual flooding of the Nile to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely built irrigation channels and "catch" basins. The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia used a complex system of canals and levees to divert water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for irrigation.

Archaeologists estimate that the wheel was invented independently and concurrently in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq), the Northern Caucasus ( Maykop culture), and Central Europe. Time estimates range from 5,500 to 3,000 BCE with most experts putting it closer to 4,000 BCE. The oldest artifacts with drawings depicting wheeled carts date from about 3,500 BCE. More recently, the oldest-known wooden wheel in the world was found in the Ljubljana Marsh of Slovenia.

The invention of the wheel revolutionized trade and war. It did not take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads. The ancient Sumerians used a potter's wheel and may have invented it. A stone pottery wheel found in the city-state of Ur dates to around 3,429 BCE, and even older fragments of wheel-thrown pottery have been found in the same area. Fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery, but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources. The first two-wheeled carts were derived from travois and were first used in Mesopotamia and Iran in around 3,000 BCE.

The oldest known constructed roadways are the stone-paved streets of the city-state of Ur, dating to c. 4,000 BCE, and timber roads leading through the swamps of Glastonbury, England, dating to around the same period. The first long-distance road, which came into use around 3,500 BCE, spanned 2,400 km from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, but was not paved and was only partially maintained. In around 2,000 BCE, the Minoans on the Greek island of Crete built a 50 km road leading from the palace of Gortyn on the south side of the island, through the mountains, to the palace of Knossos on the north side of the island. Unlike the earlier road, the Minoan road was completely paved.

Photograph of the Pont du Gard in France, one of the most famous ancient Roman aqueducts[47]

Ancient Minoan private homes had running water. A bathtub virtually identical to modern ones was unearthed at the Palace of Knossos. Several Minoan private homes also had toilets, which could be flushed by pouring water down the drain. The ancient Romans had many public flush toilets, which emptied into an extensive sewage system. The primary sewer in Rome was the Cloaca Maxima; construction began on it in the sixth century BCE and it is still in use today.

The ancient Romans also had a complex system of aqueducts, which were used to transport water across long distances. The first Roman aqueduct was built in 312 BCE. The eleventh and final ancient Roman aqueduct was built in 226 CE. Put together, the Roman aqueducts extended over 450 km, but less than 70 km of this was above ground and supported by arches.

Innovations continued through the Middle Ages with the introduction of silk production (in Asia and later Europe), the horse collar, and horseshoes. Simple machines (such as the lever, the screw, and the pulley) were combined into more complicated tools, such as the wheelbarrow, windmills, and clocks. A system of universities developed and spread scientific ideas and practices, including Oxford and Cambridge.

The Renaissance era produced many innovations, including the introduction of the movable type printing press to Europe, which facilitated the communication of knowledge. Technology became increasingly influenced by science, beginning a cycle of mutual advancement.

The automobile revolutionized personal transportation.

Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, the discovery of steam power set off the Industrial Revolution, which saw wide-ranging technological discoveries, particularly in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, mining, metallurgy, and transport, and the widespread application of the factory system. This was followed a century later by the Second Industrial Revolution which led to rapid scientific discovery, standardization, and mass production. New technologies were developed, including sewage systems, electricity, light bulbs, electric motors, railroads, automobiles, and airplanes. These technological advances led to significant developments in medicine, chemistry, physics, and engineering. They were accompanied by consequential social change, with the introduction of skyscrapers accompanied by rapid urbanization. Communication improved with the invention of the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, and television.

The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission in the Atomic Age led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Computers were invented and later shifted from analog to digital in the Digital Revolution. Information technology, particularly optical fiber and optical amplifiers led to the birth of the Internet, which ushered in the Information Age. The Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, and later the launch of crewed missions to the moon in the 1960s. Organized efforts to search for extraterrestrial intelligence have used radio telescopes to detect signs of technology use, or technosignatures, given off by alien civilizations. In medicine, new technologies were developed for diagnosis ( CT, PET, and MRI scanning), treatment (like the dialysis machine, defibrillator, pacemaker, and a wide array of new pharmaceutical drugs), and research (like interferon cloning and DNA microarrays).

Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are needed to make and maintain more modern technologies, and entire industries have arisen to develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools. Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education - their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require sophisticated general and specific training. Moreover, these technologies have become so complex that entire fields have developed to support them, including engineering, medicine, and computer science; and other fields have become more complex, such as construction, transportation, and architecture.

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Technological change is the largest cause of long-term economic growth. Throughout human history, energy production was the main constraint on economic development, and new technologies allowed humans to significantly increase the amount of available energy. First came fire, which made edible a wider variety of foods, and made it less physically demanding to digest them. Fire also enabled smelting, and the use of tin, copper, and iron tools, used for hunting or tradesmanship. Then came the agricultural revolution: humans no longer needed to hunt or gather to survive, and began to settle in towns and cities, forming more complex societies, with militaries and more organized forms of religion.

Technologies have contributed to human welfare through increased prosperity, improved comfort and quality of life, and medical progress, but they can also disrupt existing social hierarchies, cause pollution, and harm individuals or groups.

Recent years have brought about a rise in social media's cultural prominence, with potential repercussions on democracy, and economic and social life. Early on, the internet was seen as a "liberation technology" that would democratize knowledge, improve access to education, and promote democracy. Modern research has turned to investigate the internet's downsides, including disinformation, polarization, hate speech, and propaganda.

Since the 1970s, technology's impact on the environment has been criticized, leading to a surge in investment in solar, wind, and other forms of clean energy.

Since the invention of the wheel, technologies have helped increase humans' economic output. Past automation has both substituted and complemented labor; machines replaced humans at some lower-paying jobs (for example in agriculture), but this was compensated by the creation of new, higher-paying jobs. Studies have found that computers did not create significant net technological unemployment. Due to artificial intelligence being far more capable than computers, and still being in its infancy, it is not known whether it will follow the same trend; the question has been debated at length among economists and policymakers. A 2017 survey found no clear consensus among economists on whether AI would increase long-term unemployment. According to the World Economic Forum's "The Future of Jobs Report 2020", AI is predicted to replace 85 million jobs worldwide, and create 97 million new jobs by 2025. From 1990 to 2007, a study in the U.S by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu showed that an addition of one robot for every 1,000 workers decreased the employment-to-population ratio by 0.2%, or about 3.3 workers, and lowered wages by 0.42%. Concerns about technology replacing human labor however are long-lasting. As US president Lyndon Johnson said in 1964, "Technology is creating both new opportunities and new obligations for us, opportunity for greater productivity and progress; obligation to be sure that no workingman, no family must pay an unjust price for progress." upon signing the National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress bill.

With the growing reliance of technology, there have been security and privacy concerns along with it. Billions of people use different online payment methods, such as WeChat Pay, PayPal, Alipay, and much more to help transfer money. Although security measures are placed, some criminals are able to bypass them. In March 2022, North Korea used Blender.io, a mixer which helped them to hide their cryptocurrency exchanges, to launder over $20.5 million in cryptocurrency, from Axie Infinity, and steal over $600 million worth of cryptocurrency from the game's owner. Because of this, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Blender.io, which marked the first time it has taken action against a mixer, to try and crack down on North Korean hackers. The privacy of cryptocurrency has been debated. Although many customers like the privacy of cryptocurrency, many also argue that it needs more transparency and stability.

Environmental

Technology has impacted the world with negative and positive environmental impacts, which are usually the reverse of the initial damage, such as; the creation of pollution and the attempt to undo said pollution, deforestation and the reversing of deforestation, and oil spills. All of these have had a significant impact on the environment of the earth. As technology has advanced, so has the negative environmental impact, with the releasing of greenhouse gases, like methane and carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect, gradually heating the earth and causing global warming. All of this has become worse with the advancement of technology.

Pollution, the presence of contaminants in an environment that causes adverse effects, could have been present as early as the Inca empire. They used a lead sulfide flux in the smelting of ores, along with the use of a wind-drafted clay kiln, which released lead into the atmosphere and the sediment of rivers.

Philosophy

Philosophy of technology is a branch of philosophy that studies the "practice of designing and creating artifacts", and the "nature of the things so created." It emerged as a discipline over the past two centuries, and has grown "considerably" since the 1970s. The humanities philosophy of technology is concerned with the "meaning of technology for, and its impact on, society and culture".

Initially, technology was seen as an extension of the human organism that replicated or amplified bodily and mental faculties. Marx framed it as a tool used by capitalists to oppress the proletariat, but believed that technology would be a fundamentally liberating force once it was "freed from societal deformations". Second-wave philosophers like Ortega later shifted their focus from economics and politics to "daily life and living in a techno-material culture," arguing that technology could oppress "even the members of the bourgeoisie who were its ostensible masters and possessors." Third-stage philosophers like Don Ihde and Albert Borgmann represent a turn toward de-generalization and empiricism, and considered how humans can learn to live with technology.[page needed ]

Early scholarship on technology was split between two arguments: technological determinism, and social construction. Technological determinism is the idea that technologies cause unavoidable social changes. It usually encompasses a related argument, technological autonomy, which asserts that technological progress follows a natural progression and cannot be prevented. Social constructivists[who? ] argue that technologies follow no natural progression, and are shaped by cultural values, laws, politics, and economic incentives. Modern scholarship has shifted towards an analysis of sociotechnical systems, "assemblages of things, people, practices, and meanings", looking at the value judgments that shape technology.[page needed ]

Cultural critic Neil Postman distinguished tool-using societies from technological societies and from what he called "technopolies," societies that are dominated by an ideology of technological and scientific progress to the detriment of other cultural practices, values, and world views. Herbert Marcuse and John Zerzan suggest that technological society will inevitably deprive us of our freedom and psychological health.

The ethics of technology is an interdisciplinary subfield of ethics that analyzes technology's ethical implications and explores ways to mitigate the potential negative impacts of new technologies. There is a broad range of ethical issues revolving around technology, from specific areas of focus affecting professionals working with technology to broader social, ethical, and legal issues concerning the role of technology in society and everyday life.

Prominent debates have surrounded genetically modified organisms, the use of robotic soldiers, algorithmic bias, and the issue of aligning AI behavior with human values.

Technology ethics encompasses several key fields. Bioethics looks at ethical issues surrounding biotechnologies and modern medicine, including cloning, human genetic engineering, and stem cell research. Computer ethics focuses on issues related to computing. Cyberethics explores internet-related issues like intellectual property rights, privacy, and censorship. Nanoethics examines issues surrounding the alteration of matter at the atomic and molecular level in various disciplines including computer science, engineering, and biology. And engineering ethics deals with the professional standards of engineers, including software engineers and their moral responsibilities to the public.

A wide branch of technology ethics is concerned with the ethics of artificial intelligence: it includes robot ethics, which deals with ethical issues involved in the design, construction, use, and treatment of robots, as well as machine ethics, which is concerned with ensuring the ethical behavior of artificially intelligent agents. Within the field of AI ethics, significant yet-unsolved research problems include AI alignment (ensuring that AI behaviors are aligned with their creators' intended goals and interests) and the reduction of algorithmic bias. Some researchers have warned against the hypothetical risk of an AI takeover, and have advocated for the use of AI capability control in addition to AI alignment methods.

Other fields of ethics have had to contend with technology-related issues, including military ethics, media ethics, and educational ethics.

Futures studies

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Futures studies is the systematic and interdisciplinary study of social and technological progress. It aims to quantitatively and qualitatively explore the range of plausible futures and to incorporate human values in the development of new technologies. More generally, futures researchers are interested in improving "the freedom and welfare of humankind". It relies on a thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of past and present technological trends, and attempts to rigorously extrapolate them into the future. Science fiction is often used as a source of ideas. Futures research methodologies include survey research, modeling, statistical analysis, and computer simulations.

Existential risk

Existential risk researchers analyze risks that could lead to human extinction or civilizational collapse, and look for ways to build resilience against them. Relevant research centers include the Cambridge Center for the Study of Existential Risk, and the Stanford Existential Risk Initiative. Future technologies may contribute to the risks of artificial general intelligence, biological warfare, nuclear warfare, nanotechnology, anthropogenic climate change, global warming, or stable global totalitarianism, though technologies may also help us mitigate asteroid impacts and gamma-ray bursts. In 2019 philosopher Nick Bostrom introduced the notion of a vulnerable world, "one in which there is some level of technological development at which civilization almost certainly gets devastated by default", citing the risks of a pandemic caused by bioterrorists, or an arms race triggered by the development of novel armaments and the loss of mutual assured destruction. He invites policymakers to question the assumptions that technological progress is always beneficial, that scientific openness is always preferable, or that they can afford to wait until a dangerous technology has been invented before they prepare mitigations.

Emerging technologies

Experimental 3D printing of muscle tissue

Emerging technologies are novel technologies whose development or practical applications are still largely unrealized. They include nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, 3D printing, blockchains, and artificial intelligence.

In 2005, futurist Ray Kurzweil claimed the next technological revolution would rest upon advances in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics, with robotics being the most impactful of the three technologies. Genetic engineering will allow far greater control over human biological nature through a process called directed evolution. Some thinkers believe that this may shatter our sense of self, and have urged for renewed public debate exploring the issue more thoroughly; others fear that directed evolution could lead to eugenics or extreme social inequality. Nanotechnology will grant us the ability to manipulate matter "at the molecular and atomic scale", which could allow us to reshape ourselves and our environment in fundamental ways. Nanobots could be used within the human body to destroy cancer cells or form new body parts, blurring the line between biology and technology. Autonomous robots have undergone rapid progress, and are expected to replace humans at many dangerous tasks, including search and rescue, bomb disposal, firefighting, and war.

Estimates on the advent of artificial general intelligence vary, but half of machine learning experts surveyed in 2018 believe that AI will "accomplish every task better and more cheaply" than humans by 2063, and automate all human jobs by 2140. This expected technological unemployment has led to calls for increased emphasis on computer science education and debates about universal basic income. Political science experts predict that this could lead to a rise in extremism, while others see it as an opportunity to usher in a post-scarcity economy.

Appropriate technology

Some segments of the 1960s hippie counterculture grew to dislike urban living and developed a preference for locally autonomous, sustainable, and decentralized technology, termed appropriate technology. This later influenced hacker culture and technopaganism.

Technological utopianism

Technological utopianism refers to the belief that technological development is a moral good, which can and should bring about a utopia, that is, a society in which laws, governments, and social conditions serve the needs of all its citizens. Examples of techno-utopian goals include post-scarcity economics, life extension, mind uploading, cryonics, and the creation of artificial superintelligence. Major techno-utopian movements include transhumanism and singularitarianism.

The transhumanism movement is founded upon the "continued evolution of human life beyond its current human form" through science and technology, informed by "life-promoting principles and values." The movement gained wider popularity in the early 21st century.

Singularitarians believe that machine superintelligence will "accelerate technological progress" by orders of magnitude and "create even more intelligent entities ever faster", which may lead to a pace of societal and technological change that is "incomprehensible" to us. This event horizon is known as the technological singularity.

Major figures of techno-utopianism include Ray Kurzweil and Nick Bostrom. Techno-utopianism has attracted both praise and criticism from progressive, religious, and conservative thinkers.

Anti-technology backlash

Luddites smashing a power loom in 1812

Technology's central role in our lives has drawn concerns and backlash. The backlash against technology is not a uniform movement and encompasses many heterogeneous ideologies.

The earliest known revolt against technology was Luddism, a pushback against early automation in textile production. Automation had resulted in a need for fewer workers, a process known as technological unemployment.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, American terrorist Ted Kaczynski carried out a series of bombings across America and published the Unabomber Manifesto denouncing technology's negative impacts on nature and human freedom. The essay resonated with a large part of the American public. It was partly inspired by Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society.

Some subcultures, like the off-the-grid movement, advocate a withdrawal from technology and a return to nature. The ecovillage movement seeks to reestablish harmony between technology and nature.

Relation to science and engineering

Antoine Lavoisier experimenting with combustion generated by amplified sunlight

Engineering is the process by which technology is developed. It often requires problem-solving under strict constraints. Technological development is "action-oriented", while scientific knowledge is fundamentally explanatory. Polish philosopher Henryk Skolimowski framed it like so: "science concerns itself with what is, technology with what is to be."

The direction of causality between scientific discovery and technological innovation has been debated by scientists, philosophers and policymakers. Because innovation is often undertaken at the edge of scientific knowledge, most technologies are not derived from scientific knowledge, but instead from engineering, tinkering and chance. For example, in the 1940s and 1950s, when knowledge of turbulent combustion or fluid dynamics was still crude, jet engines were invented through "running the device to destruction, analyzing what broke [...] and repeating the process". Scientific explanations often follow technological developments rather than preceding them. Many discoveries also arose from pure chance, like the discovery of penicillin as a result of accidental lab contamination. Since the 1960s, the assumption that government funding of basic research would lead to the discovery of marketable technologies has lost credibility. Probabilist Nassim Taleb argues that national research programs that implement the notions of serendipity and convexity through frequent trial and error are more likely to lead to useful innovations than research that aims to reach specific outcomes.

Despite this, modern technology is increasingly reliant on deep, domain-specific scientific knowledge. In 1975, there was an average of one citation of scientific literature in every three patents granted in the U.S.; by 1989, this increased to an average of one citation per patent. The average was skewed upwards by patents related to the pharmaceutical industry, chemistry, and electronics. A 2021 analysis shows that patents that are based on scientific discoveries are on average 26% more valuable than equivalent non-science-based patents.

Other animal species

This adult gorilla uses a branch as a walking stick to gauge the water's depth.

The use of basic technology is also a feature of non-human animal species. Tool use was once considered a defining characteristic of the genus Homo. This view was supplanted after discovering evidence of tool use among chimpanzees and other primates, dolphins, and crows. For example, researchers have observed wild chimpanzees using basic foraging tools, pestles, levers, using leaves as sponges, and tree bark or vines as probes to fish termites. West African chimpanzees use stone hammers and anvils for cracking nuts, as do capuchin monkeys of Boa Vista, Brazil. Tool use is not the only form of animal technology use; for example, beaver dams, built with wooden sticks or large stones, are a technology with "dramatic" impacts on river habitats and ecosystems.

Popular culture

The relationship of humanity with technology has been explored in science-fiction literature, for example in Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Isaac Asimov's essays, and movies like Minority Report, Total Recall, , and . It has spawned the dystopian and futuristic cyberpunk genre, which juxtaposes futuristic technology with societal collapse, dystopia or decay. Notable cyberpunk works include William Gibson's Neuromancer novel, and movies like Blade Runner, and .

References

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Bernstein, Jared (7 October 2014). "It's Not a Skills Gap That's Holding Wages Down: It's the Weak Economy, Among Other Things". The American Prospect.

Dietrich, O.; Notroff, J.; Schmidt, J. (2017). "Feasting, Social Complexity, and the Emergence of the Early Neolithic of Upper Mesopotamia: A View from Göbekli Tepe". In Chacon, R. J.; Mendoza, R. G. (eds.). Feast, Famine or Fighting?. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation. Vol. 8. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 91-132. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48402-0_5. ISBN 978-3319484020.

Cohen, Benjamin; Ottinger, Gwen (2011). "Introduction: Environmental Justice and the Transformation of Science and Engineering". In Ottinger, Gwen; Cohen, Benjamin (eds.). Technoscience and Environmental Justice: Expert Cultures in a Grassroots Movement. MIT Press. pp. 1-18. ISBN 978-0262015790.

Heidegger, Martin (1977). "The Question Concerning Technology". The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Translated by Lovitt, W. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 25-26.

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Further reading

Gribbin, John, "Alone in the Milky Way: Why we are probably the only intelligent life in the galaxy", Scientific American, vol. 319, no. 3 (September 2018), pp. 94-99. "Is life likely to exist elsewhere in the [Milky Way] galaxy? Almost certainly yes, given the speed with which it appeared on Earth. Is another technological civilization likely to exist today? Almost certainly no, given the chain of circumstances that led to our existence. These considerations suggest that we are unique not just on our planet but in the whole Milky Way. And if our planet is so special, it becomes all the more important to preserve this unique world for ourselves, our descendants and the many creatures that call Earth home." (p. 99.)

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Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge for achieving practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.

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Social media is a number or application and websites that allows users to share, create and participate in social networking.

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Social media is a series of websites and applications designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time. Most people today define social media as apps on their smartphone or tablet, but the truth is, this communication tool started with computers. This misconception stems from the fact that most social media users access their tools via apps. In fact, 50% of online users never engage social media.

The ability to share photos, opinions, events, etc in real-time has transformed the way we do life and it is also transforming the way we do business. Retailers who engage social media as part of their marketing strategy have seen great results. But the key to success with social media is to treat it with the same care, respect and attention you do all of your marketing.

In the early days of social marketing, there was little competition for the dollar. Today, there is tons. You can spend thousands of dollars on a Facebook ad campaign, for example, and get no return on your investment. Just like competing for space in the newspaper years ago, you are not competing for eyes on social media. And since social media by its very nature is a "short attention span" media, it is 10 times harder to get their attention than it was with a newspaper ad. The ad headlines and copy are harder to write on Twitter or Instagram than in print.

For retailers, most case studies involving social media are either about very large organizations who have very large budgets or a food truck who tells its customers what street corner it will be on. The fact is that for the majority of retailers, social media is a virtual and literal black hole.

One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is to open up an account with every social media platform they think is relevant and then leave them with no activity.

Having an account with social media does not make you "into" social media any more than owning golf clubs makes you ready for the PGA tour. in fact, social media users are turned off by the retailer who opens accounts and does not engage and therefore becomes labeled as a pretender. The truth is, it is better to not have a social media icon on your website if you are not going to actively engage it.

The other big mistake retailers make is by using social media to talk about what is important to them rather than talking about what is important to the customer. As a retailer, you may think it is great to shout that you have a sale going on - and in some regards this would be true. But if that is the reason you are getting involved in social media it will do nothing for you.

Your goal should be to provide content that is relevant to your customer and engages them to the point that they want to share your post to others. If you engage social media, engage your customer. Involve them in a dialogue. Ask them their opinions. Post a picture of two items you are considering to carry in the store and ask your customers which one they like better. It creates a conversation and a dialogue which leads to shared posts which leads to engaged followers.

Plus with the example we just shared, it also leads to enhanced margin because it might prevent you from buying that item that you end up practically giving away to sell it.

Another thing to conside r is that the most commonly shared content on social media involves an image. So always include an image with your post. It dramatically increasing your chances someone will share it with their network. While building up a large network of followers is great, ultimately what you are after is for the followers you do have - however many that is - to share what you are posting with their network. It is the new form of "word of mouth" advertising and it still costs the same - FREE!

Think of it this way, a post or tweet that you put out there might get read, but when it has been shared or forwarded or favorited by someone who got it, it now has that person's endorsement.

And we all listen to our friends a LOT more than we listen to a retail store.

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Social media is a series of websites and applications designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time. Most people today define social media as apps on their smartphone or tablet, but the truth is, this communication tool started with computers.

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People mistake social media and technology for the same thing, but little do they know they are two completely different things that work hand in hand that shift our lives for the better and the worst. If you want to communicate with someone from another country, technology is needed to make it possible. You either need a phone or internet also known to some people as "social media". In order for social media to exist, technology is required, but technology doesn't need social media to exist.

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Technology and social media makes our lives more easy, but also makes our lives more safe. In the picture below you can see where the person would be standing if technology and social media didn't exist. Verses where she is standing because social media and technology does exist.

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The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today ! 
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !
#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing

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The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today ! 
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !
#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing https://t.co/8wm0AECjnu

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The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today !
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing pic.twitter.com/8wm0AECjnu
— Alliance SMMA (@Alliance_SMMA) January 23, 2018

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The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today ! 
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !
#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing https://t.co/8wm0AECjnu

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today ! 
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !
#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing https://t.co/8wm0AECjnu

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The difference between a potential £1 Facebook ad vs a £1000 Tube ad ❗️❗️ ....and yet still business's do not take advantage of the technology we have today ! 
DONT WORRY ! WE can do it for YOU ❗️❗️
Get in touch !
#socialmedia #socialmediamarketing

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How social media affect our daily lives 

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How social media affect our daily lives 

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When were at work or at school we use technology to complete our tasks/ homework/ assignments. It makes more efficient as human beings, making us capable of of accomplishing tasks more faster efficiently.

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Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.
https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn

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Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.
https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn https://t.co/mWKoL2638j

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Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn pic.twitter.com/mWKoL2638j
— Beacon Healthcare (@BeaconHC) February 23, 2018

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Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.
https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn https://t.co/mWKoL2638j

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.
https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn https://t.co/mWKoL2638j

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Millennial Myth vs. Reality
Myth: We're technology-dependent.
Reality: Technology, especially social media, makes us more efficient.
https://t.co/RPXvncOZwn

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Social media and technology is their to make our lives more easy, but it consumes a lot of time in our daily lives. Majority of the times if you were to walk onto a bus or a classroom you would see people on their phones rather the talking to other people in the same area as them. Yes they are probably socially interacting with people thorough their phones, but are lacking face to face interaction.

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social media vs technology - Google Search

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Technology in social media affects our social interaction

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Technology in social media affects our social interaction

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Social media has been improved over the past couple of years. It helps us connect more, but some how manages to make us more anti social.

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How social media makes us unsocial | Allison Graham | TEDxSMU

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Technology has messed with our childhood

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Technology has messed with our childhood

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Technology has already been proved to help us and make our daily lives much more easier, but it has also been proved to take away from daily physical activities. Which has been proven to cause obesity/ unhealthy lifestyles.

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Technology Vs Toys
#social_media 
#games

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Technology Vs Toys
#social_media 
#games https://t.co/azWFrDvOLe

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Technology Vs Toys#social_media #games pic.twitter.com/azWFrDvOLe
— marwa (@marwa_othman97) March 5, 2018

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Technology Vs Toys
#social_media 
#games https://t.co/azWFrDvOLe

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Technology Vs Toys
#social_media 
#games https://t.co/azWFrDvOLe

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Technology Vs Toys
#social_media 
#games

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In the picture below you can see what a computer use to look like vs what he looks like to the present day. The old computer can only do so much where as the new computer is capable of doing way much more and can handle the new social media applications.

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE https://t.co/cG0oHgOKtn

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE pic.twitter.com/cG0oHgOKtn
— Just IT (@weareJIT) March 24, 2018

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE https://t.co/cG0oHgOKtn

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE https://t.co/cG0oHgOKtn

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#Technology and #Social Media: Then Vs Now 💡⏰ https://t.co/5HapaFs7BE

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Out with the old technology and in with the new. Old social networking technology is out dated and is being replaced with the new social networking technology.

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia https://t.co/LQFjnJUaBi

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia pic.twitter.com/LQFjnJUaBi
— Cleaning Services Group (@CleaningServG) March 27, 2018

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia https://t.co/LQFjnJUaBi

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia https://t.co/LQFjnJUaBi

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old social networking vs new social networking! #TCSG #technology #socialmedia

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Social media plays such a huge role in our lives that we don't even think about what or how we could live our lives without it. If social media was to not exist we would pretty much be living in the stone ages. It would be like writing letters and mailing it using birds and other animals. It would be a lot harder to connect with friends and family, but it would improve our face to face social interactions.

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As we have seen from the past technology/social media applications, they have been improved and changed in ways to make our daily lives more easy. For the future ahead of us we can expect to see more additional improvements and changes to continue to make out daily lives more easy. We could even possibly see new inventions that could change the social world entirely. Only time will tell and I am really looking forward on how our world will be shaped and adapt to the new technology that is to come.

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Social media is ever-changing. In 2017, Facebook dominated as the leading social media network with its focus on video and messaging, augmented/virtual reality became more popular with brands and ephemeral content emerged as a leading trend. How will social media continue to evolve next year?

According to Hubspot, "Nearly one-third of the world uses social networks regularly." From Facebook Messenger and Instagram to Snapchat and Twitter, millions of people use social media every day. In 2018, some of the trends that are expected to take over day-to-day include an increased use of chatbots, a growing focus on sharing highly-engaging content and a greater push for mobile.

Take a look at what some industry experts predict for social media in 2018:

What Are Your 2018 Predictions for Social Media?

Brands will exist across news feeds, stories (where possible), and within messenger services. The intention isn't to inundate, but to better integrate into the daily lives of their audience. Bots and virtual assistants for messenger services, or devices such as Amazon's Echo, allows brands to be seamlessly present. This is happening today with Uber's and Domino's availability to take commands on the Echo, and with Harvard Business Review's bot on Slack. It's possible that Facebook will open up its M assistant to work with brands to empower more suggested activities based on the conversations users have on its Messenger app.
2. Natalie Athanasiadis, Head of Digital at Digital Visibility Group Melbourne
Chatbots are going to be one of the biggest things in social media marketing in 2018. They have evolved from inferior robotic responses to now being able to provide personalised and instant meaningful interactions with a brand's audience. Facebook has reported that over 100,000 chatbots are currently using the messenger platform and this number is set to grow. This form of automation means you can spend the extra time working to further expand your business, while still producing a positive overall experience for potential customers.
3. Mark Aselstine, Founder of Uncorked Ventures - @MarkAselstine
We'll see a massive crackdown on fake accounts, starting with Twitter, but moving toward Facebook as well. Platforms will spring up attempting to copy these platforms, but allowing only verified users. More adults will know and use Snapchat. Teenagers will, therefore, move away from the platform because of this, as they did with Instagram.
4. Paige Leidig, CMO of NetBase - @paigeleidig
Launching new consumer products on Social Media first will become the norm. Initially, to early advocates in the testing phase of a product launch. Then followed by the full launch of the product. This will deliver the immediate feedback from advocates and also enable exponential awareness among followers and other like-minded consumers. This year saw Arby's successfully launch their venison sandwich on social media, the sandwich generated plenty of buzz online which lead to it selling out in 15 minutes in Minnesota and 90 minutes at an Arby's in Atlanta.
5. Marissa Heckman, Social Media Project Manager at Power Digital Marketing
With brands increasingly disappearing from news feeds, ephemeral content such as Instagram Stories are key to staying visible and top-of-mind in 2018. By leveraging these features on an ongoing basis, users will continue to see your brand and can then search back to your profile to view more, like, comment, and tag, which will further boost your impressions by putting you back in their newsfeed and in front of the eyes of their following.
6. Sydney Liu, Co-founder of Commaful Prediction 1: Snapchat and Instagram Stories Become Big Traffic Drivers
In 2017, we saw Snapchat and Instagram stories begin getting access to linking. This has already caused a big splash in influencers driving sales through these mediums. I expect marketers and influencers to find new and creative ways to leverage the creative, ephemeral, and highly engaging medium of stories to drive massive sales and traffic.
Prediction 2: More Useful Bots on Social Media
Many popular Facebook pages already have Messenger Bots tied to them. Most have debatable quality experiences. I expect high-quality bots to start rising to the surface and rapid iteration on bot quality as bots provide a DIRECT line of communication to followers in a world where algorithms make reaching followers much harder.
7. Ryan Swift, CEO of MyosMedia
In 2018 you can expect to see a large movement towards building communities. In fact, Facebook has just launched a bunch of new features for group admins and tailored their algorithms to increase the visibility of post within a group. Facebook will also look to add their 360 photo and video options to Instagram at some stage in 2018, as well as, increase focus on Instagram's business options as they try to capitalize on last year's growth and increased audience interest.
8. Frank Strong, Founder & President of Sword and the Script Media, LLC - @Frank_Strong
Organic social media fades as a marketing tactic and the costs rise. All the underlying algorithms have changed. The difference is so stark, I don't think we can call it social media marketing anymore - it's just advertising. All the major platforms are increasingly depressing visibility unless the content is sponsored. Social media sites don't want to send users to visit your website - the goal is to keep them engaged on the platform. No matter how social media savvy you or your brand is, the cost is likely to continue to rise.
9. Brandon Chopp, Digital Marketing Strategist for iHeartRaves and INTO THE AM
As 2018 approaches, I'm predicting that influencer marketing through social media will become more difficult, particularly on Instagram. As more and more users buy likes and followers, it will become more challenging to figure out which accounts are legitimate and which ones are not. With this in mind, we've decided that engagement groups are more work than they are worth. From the perspective of our brands, we try to avoid influencers who are participating in engagement groups, simply because they are not authentic.
10. Danielle Isbell, Marketing Consultant at Odd Dog Media - @odddogmedia
I predict that 2018 will be an even bigger year for paid social. With organic reach at what feels like an all-time low for business pages on Facebook, 2018 will be even more about pay-to-play. Facebook is also removing dark posts, so all posts will be shown on the businesses page, paid campaigns included. This will provide some really interesting competitor analysis for marketers, who will now be able to see all campaigns being run in their niche. I'm really excited to see how this will change the playing field.
11. Meara McNitt, Social Media Strategist for Online Optimism - @OnlineOptimism
Instagram will continue to take over the niche occupied by Snapchat, forcing Snapchat to end as it is and adapt to a noticeably different platform.

Instagram will create "channels" for Stories of current events, including celebrations and emergencies.

Facebook will automatically link Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories, making users opt-out instead of opt-in.

Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube will be forced into user "censorship" to fight "fake news" - account authentications, limited abilities from personal accounts (link editing, page creation, etc).
12. Rachel Blanks, Account Manager for ARPR - @Rachel_Blanks

Social media influencers and advocacy marketing will grow as consumers continue to trust their peers and word-of-mouth over institutions.

Video - an effective way to engage audiences in the shortest time possible - has been a hot trend on social media for a few years now but it will really take over in 2018 on both organic and paid social.

More brands will continue to realize and embrace the power of live streaming as a way to capture the attention of their followers. Collaborative live streaming, like what Instagram released in October, will be the next big iteration of this trend.

13. Caitlin Johnson, Content Editor at Drop Ship Lifestyle and Performance Marketer
One of the big social media marketing trends I'm predicting for 2018 is less focus on posting at "peak times." As the global average of time spent on social media continues to increase, it will be less about posting at the right time, and more about posting highly engaging content.
14. Matt Garrepy, Chief Digital Officer for Solodev - @MattGarrepy

AR/VR will become a new normal on social media platforms thanks to Facebook's AR Studio and Snapchat's ART programs. Movie studios are already tapping into VR, giving users the ability to immerse themselves in the world of the film before it hits theaters. AR/VR will continue to meld the real and digital worlds in unique experiences.

As video marketing expands on social media, marketers need to be more specific on how they use each platform to target an audience. Assuming Snapchat marketing should look the same as Instagram's marketing would be detrimental as both platforms have two very different demographics.

15. Agnieszka Jaśkiewicz, Social Media Specialist at LiveChat- @Aga_Jaskiewicz
Make some space for bots!

2017 was a good year for creating and implementing your bot. 2018 will be a good year for adding some personality to the bot. Your bot is a part of your brand and the two should go together like toast and butter. Play a bit with your bot's design, character and communication style to wow your customers!
16. Katie Espinoza, Growth & Partnership Manager at Rebrandly
In 2018, we believe that companies, brands and individuals are going to make the switch away from generic short URLs (like Google and Bitly links) that are associated with spam and start sharing customized, branded links. When you look at a social media post, there's so much competition for readers' attention- the image, the text, the hashtags and of course, the link. Instead of leaving it up to chance whether or not a link will get clicked or ignored by sharing a generic short URL that people inherently mistrust, marketers will make their links stand out by using a branded link that indicates to readers where they are going. Branded links enable marketers to send a powerful, cohesive brand message with every link!

Social media is getting more cluttered and competitive, with longer tweets and more interactive content. This year, we saw large social campaigns using video, and even AR as platforms added new features to attract users and ad dollars. Engaging content like this will trickle down, as brands and companies of every size will start using these features. The content we use will be even more engaging, as new, more intelligent features come out, like the new Snapchat filters for different photo subjects.

Recommended for You
Webcast, April 18th: How to Use Tools to Maximize Your Influencer Marketing ROI

18. Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO of Mavens & Moguls Rise of Micro Influencers
Less is more, a targeted small audience can be more powerful and effective than blanketing the masses, getting to the right people gives you the best multiplier effect and going viral is still the goal.
More mobile
The world is moving to mobile only, fewer people accessing web on big screens so tailor your message and content accordingly.
More video & rich content
In a mobile-first world, you have less time to grab people, attention spans are shorter than ever so video will be used even more, show don't tell for maximum impact, rich content drives engagement.
Content rules, quality over quantity
Peers command higher trust, original content is at a premium, consumers continue to trust content more than ads.
19. William Gadea, Creative Director and Founder of IdeaRocket LLC - @willgadea
During 2017, vertical video started making serious in-roads, but 2018 is going to be the year when the 16:9 ratio that we are comfortable with from television is going to lose its stranglehold over digital. Already data is showing that vertical video engages more people on mobile and social media. But frankly, just looking at your distribution channels and thinking about what is right for them is not enough. How about the content itself? Think of all the painters that have made portraits in the history of art: how many of them chose a landscape format? Certainly some, but not a majority. So why should we film a talking heads video with big blank spaces on either side? 16:9 is great for many kinds of storytelling, but it's not right for everything.
20. Luke Lynam, Head of Marketing for Haystack Digital
Influencer marketing has grown from being a fad to one of the most used marketing strategies on social media, but not everyone is aware of how effective it is. 2018 will be the year that agencies recognise the potential and acquire an influencer platform, bringing a higher level of professionalism to the concept. Consumer-facing brands will create more genuine connections with influencers, and the trust between consumer and influencer will continue to grow. It will quickly become the most profitable form of social marketing within the next 12 months.
21. Jordan Harling, Chief Digital Strategist at Roman Blinds Direct
Social media is primed to make the most of micro-moments in 2018. These are the seconds when a thought hits and the reflex to reach for a smartphone kicks in. Fully integrated campaigns, across TV, web and social, are going to dominate the landscape. We already see companies upload their TV commercials to YouTube, add a page to your website with descriptions and links to your products, and pre-empt any questions any potential customers may have. 2018 will see this taken further, with social media playing a key role.

Prediction 1: We'll see a greater trend towards using social media to actually engage in discussions.

Prediction 2: Social media users will be more wary of what information they post on social media and how they post it given the recent data breaches.

Prediction 3: We'll see more Citizen Watchmen on social media.

23. Jessica Moreno, Social Media and Brand Account Manager for Active Web Group - @awg
In 2018, Live Video will become more prevalent in social media. Brands that currently utilize live video will learn to better adapt to their user's viewing habits and take steps to maximize overall engagement. Content such as breaking news, online contests, and questionnaires will all transition to live video to appeal to the user's FOMO and desire for inclusion.
24. Gary Nealon, President of Nealon Solutions
In 2018, chatbots are definitely going to be huge. It allows a small business to engage with customers on Facebook, without having a dedicated employee assigned to it at all times. If done properly, you can acquire a lead much more affordably, while also getting these potential customers on multiple platforms. We're also going to see more and more companies and influencers leveraging Facebook Live. Over on Instagram, I foresee them starting to implement a robust ad platform like Facebook.
25. Jenna Mantis, Social Media Marketing Manager at Talent Inc.
As consumers become more savvy and demand a more tailored experience - both in-store and online - social media will need to keep pace. In 2018, I predict that Chatbots will continue to proliferate, enabling brands to build a social experience that directly addresses their followers' needs, which will, in turn, help build brand trust and loyalty. Furthermore, video isn't going anywhere. In fact, I expect to see newsfeeds increasingly inundated with video. As a result, marketers will have to distinguish their video content from the noise and engage viewers in deeper and more meaningful ways.

Gone are the days when text and written content were streamlined, nowadays we people prefer to save our time rather than increasing our complexities, therefore, videos came into the picture because of its easy functionality. Presently, live streaming videos on popular social handles like Facebook or Instagram has won the hearts of people. In 2018, I predict the trend of video chats or content in the form of video is likely to be immense. Creating and uploading content in the form of video in multiple formats at the regular interval will be the hottest trend of 2018.

In 2018, we will continue to see the shift from brand's pushing data to the consumers and peer influence as the key determining factor. Brand's need to participate in the conversation both organically and paid for reputation management and brand growth. Successfully gathering and capitalizing on consumer-generated content will be the differentiation for the upcoming year.
28. Alison Garrison, Senior Director of Creative & Marketing Services for Volusion
Augmented reality is going to play a huge part in social in 2018, especially with the release of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Snapchat got on this train early by adding AR filters in selfie mode and Instagram followed in its footsteps to add these to the Stories feature. Coupled with the rise of live video marketing, AR is a trend that is going to continue to grow. It's no doubt that more social networks and apps will find ways to include AR into their video and photo features in the next year.
29. Olga Andrienko, Head of Global Marketing for SEMrush - @Olgandrienko
There is a widespread talk of how 2018 is the year for Influencer Marketing and personification. Or, that 2018 is also the year when marketers should focus on Gen Z and disregard those millennials. But that's nothing new. By and large, the biggest trend I see going on and flourishing in 2018 is what I call the tendency of "being in the moment", or giving that experience to your users - the rise of live video, the proliferation of chatbots, the arrival of AR into the realm of Social Media, these are all the results of that trend.
30. Bilal Kaiser, Principal at Agency Guacamole - @bilal_kaiser
This year was huge for brands on social. There's the good (helping hurricane victims), the bad (politicians' Twitter feuds) and the ugly (#BoycottUnited).

Here's what I see for 2018:

More sophistication in brands' use of social-really committing to better understanding communities vs. just creating content because it's hip.

The influencer space will continue to grow-but brands will be more thorough in vetting the right influencers. This is something we truly believe in at Agency Guacamole-follower count and cute photos aren't enough. Is there substance behind the account? Does the influencer's community mirror our target customer?

In 2018, marketers will realize more and more that social media is a medium and not a tactic - there is no such thing as social media marketing or doing social media. Those phrases make as much sense as saying television marketing or doing television.

Rather, social media is a collection of mediums and tools that can be incorporated into existing marketing communications roles and functions. Advertisers can do advertising over social media. Direct marketers can do direct marketing over social media. Public relations executives can do PR over social media. Salespeople can do sales over social media. Customer support representatives can do customer service over social media
32. Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation.com - @deborahsweeney

Increased customer service and deeper relationships with customers necessitate marketing that is individualized and customized to meet customer needs and grab customer attention.

Podcast marketing is increasing and expanding.

Native ads: brands market their offerings in a non-disruptive way by blending within the user's environment, creating a seamless experience.

Specific to social media, strong visuals will advance due to the fact most viewers would rather look at an image to tell a story rather than read about it. Additionally, be personable and connect with your audience in order to build on that relationship behind the screen.

What are your predictions for the future of social media in 2018? Sound off in the comments section below!
Responses have been edited for clarity and length

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The Future of Social Media: 32 Experts Share Their 2018 Predictions

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Social media is ever-changing. In 2017, Facebook dominated as the leading social media network with its focus on video and messaging, augmented/virtual reality became more popular with brands and ephemeral content emerged as a leading trend. How will social media continue to evolve next year?