Twenty years on: A second look at 10 important social impact characteristics of computer technology

Abstract

Twenty years ago, Liffick [38] explored 10 characteristics of computer technology that contributed to their impact on societal issues of that era. The purpose of this exploration was to “anticipate the social consequences of a new product and mitigate any potential negative effects it may have on society.” Furthermore, “the intent of developing a list of these characteristics is that it could lead to a better understanding of the nature of the social impact of computers. In this way, it might be possible to examine a new computer project at the time of its design … to determine its potential impacts as a social change agent”. The purpose of this current paper is to review the characteristics originally proposed to determine whether they are more or less relevant, given the enormous changes in computer technology (CT) in the last 20 years.