التشكيل الاجتماعي للتكنولوجيا وفقًا لروبن أ. ويليامز وديفيد إيدج (1996)، «من الأساسي المركزية في التشكيل الاجتماعي للتكنولوجيا هو مفهوم أن هناك خيارات (على الرغم من أنها ليست بالضرورة خيارات واعية) متأصل في كل من تصميم القطع الأثرية والأنظمة للأفرد، وفي اتجاه أو مسار برامج الابتكار». (ar)
According to Robin A. Williams and David Edge (1996), "Central to social shaping of technology (SST) is the concept that there are choices (though not necessarily conscious choices) inherent in both the design of individual artifacts and systems, and in the direction or trajectory of innovation programs." If technology does not emerge from the unfolding of a predetermined logic or a single determinant, then innovation is a 'garden of forking paths'. Different routes are available, potentially leading to different technological outcomes. Significantly, these choices could have differing implications for society and for particular social groups. SST is one of the models of the technology: society relationship which emerged in the 1980s with MacKenzie and Wajcman's influential 1985 collection, alongside Pinch and Bijker's social construction of technology framework and Callon and Latour's actor-network theory. These have a common feature of criticism of the linear model of innovation and technological determinism. It differs from these notably in the attention it pays to the influence of the social and technological context of development which shapes innovation choices. SST is concerned to explore the material consequences of different technical choices, but criticizes technological determinism, which argues that technology follows its own developmental path, outside of human influences, and in turn, influences society. In this way, social shaping theorists conceive the relationship between technology and society as one of 'mutual shaping'. Some versions of this theory state that technology affects society by affordances, constraints, preconditions, and unintended consequences (Baym, 2015). Affordance is the idea that technology makes specific tasks easier in our lives, while constraints make tasks harder to complete. The preconditions of technology are the skills and resources that are vital to using technology to its fullest potential. Finally, the unintended consequences of technology are unanticipated effects and impact of technology. The cell phone is an example of the social shaping of technology (Zulto 2009). The cell phone has evolved over the years to make our lives easier by providing people with handheld computers that can answer calls, answer emails, search for information, and complete numerous other tasks (Zulto, 2009). Yet it has constraints for those that are not technologically savvy, hindering many people in society who do not understand how to utilize these devices. There are preconditions, such as monthly bills and access to electricity. There are also many unintended consequences such as the unintended distraction they cause for many people. Not only does technology affect society, but according to SST, society affects technology by way of economics, politics, and culture (Baym, 2015). For instance, cell phones have spread in poor countries due to cell phones being more affordable than a computer and internet service (economics), government regulations which have made it fairly easy for cell phone providers to build networks (politics), and the small size of cell phones which fit easily into many cultures’ need for mobile communication (culture). (en)
根據罗宾·威廉姆斯（Robin Williams）與（David Edge）（1996），科技的社會形塑（英語：social shaping of technology，SST）的中心思想為一個有著多重選擇的概念（透過不定必要的思想選擇），包含著個人創作的產品與系統上的設計，以及創新程序的方向或軌跡。 假使科技不會有經驗上預測的邏輯或是單一決定因素的展現，創新只是個「分叉路的花園」（garden of forking paths）罷了。不同的路線會是存在的，且潛在通往至不同的科技產出。重要的是，這些選擇可能在對於社會與特定社會群體上會有不同的潛在暗示。 科技的社會形塑是一種科技的模式，其來源從1980年代麥肯尼茲（MacKenize）與沃克曼（Wajcman）的《科技的社會形塑》一書、聘奇（Pinch）與比耶克（Bijker）的技术的社会建构（social construction of technology，SCT）框架，以及卡龍（Callon）與拉圖爾（Latour）的行動者網絡理論而來。他們有共同的爭點，如創新的線性模式以及科技決定論。 科技的社會形塑著重在發現不同科技選擇的結果，但卻是挑戰技术决定论（technological determinism）對於科技會追隨其發展的途徑並非人類的影響而來，相反的卻是科技影響社會。從這個論點來看，社會形塑的理論學者認為科技與社會的關係視為一種各自的形塑。 (zh)