Assessing the Impact of Sociotechnical Convergence Risks on the Process of Digital Marginalization

The article examines sociotechnical convergence, which causes hybridization of social space, resulting in simultaneous social interaction in both digital and real space. The subject of the study is the influence of this phenomenon on digital marginalization, expressed in the occupation of individuals in a transitional state between these spaces. And people who limit the use of digital services, devices and technologies or refuse to use them may even be excluded from the digital format of society. When studying digital marginalization, it is important to take into account the dangers and risks of socio-technical convergence. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of various risks of socio-technical convergence on the process of marginalization of the population. The methodological basis for the study of digital marginalization is the concept of socio-cultural marginalization and the domestic concept of structural marginalization, adapted to the realities of a hybrid social space. The methodological basis for studying the risks of socio-technical convergence is the concept of convergence of dangers into risks. The method of empirical research was an expert survey of specialists associated in their professional activities with digital transformation. The study found that the main risks of sociotechnical convergence are technical and technological, sociotechnical and social vulnerability risks. According to experts, technical and technological and sociotechnical risks that violate the security of using digital services are becoming critically important: it is the lack of security in the hybrid space that inclines people to either limit the use of digital technologies or abandon them, which contributes to their marginalization. Social vulnerability risks that aggravate the process of marginalization include internal resistance to change, lack of skills and knowledge to use digital devices, technologies and services, as well as the lack of necessary technical means to work with them.

sociotechnical convergence, digital marginalization, hybridization of social space, hazard, risk, expert survey, digital society, marginalization, sociocultural marginalization, structural marginalization