Many inventions have created entirely new social situations; two examples that come to mind are telephones and elevators. Both devices led to new social conventions and new types of encounters that were previously nonexistant or incredibly. What other such inventions can you think of?
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The Internet?
The urinal? (Sorry - just couldn't resist!)
Laundromats.
Telexes, faxes, internet chat rooms, instant messaging, text messaging.
Good ones, except I'm not so sure about faxes.
How about cell phones, as opposed to refular phones, and the etiquette surrounding their use?
Airplanes.
refrigeration/AC changed a huge number of things. Assembly line technology is another great example.
TML: elaborate on the refrigeration/AC and the assembly line thing. Do you mean these had indirect effects on social interactions, or direct? I don't quite follow.
The telegraph in its time revolutionized society, as it was the first form of instant long distance communication. News was, for the first time ever, reported as it happened.
Bicycles. First opportunity many (particularly women) had of travelling any notable distance whenever and to wherever they wished.
The railroads, in addition to opening up new areas of the country for development, standardized time. Before railroads, there was no consistency of the time of day from one city to another.
And, of course, the automobile.
Yes yes, I know that all those inventions changed society, but I'm thinking about inventions that created new social situations. Telegraphs don't count, because although they're instant, the etiquette involved is basically the same as that used when writing a letter. Automobiles might count, but the dynamics inside a car are probably pretty similar to that experienced inside a horse-drawn carriage.
Submarines and space stations - humans living in enclosed spaces for extremely long periods of time.
Unisex bathrooms?
"Submarines and space stations - humans living in enclosed spaces for extremely long periods of time."
People were doing that aboard practically every sailing vessel in history.
But you can't get claustrophobic on a clipper ship.
"But you can't get claustrophobic on a clipper ship."
Try that line after 6 months at sea with a full crew packed into as little space as possible. Your either thinking of cruise linners or pleasure yachts, in clipper ships (as in any merchant vessel or warship ever) space/person was at a minimum.
Recorded sound and video changed social situations, suddenly the source was not a person who could react to the audience (this went farther with radio and television, but recorded sound and video were the start)
Interesting observation about the relation between TV/radio and audiences; that is a pretty new social phenonenon.
How about Wal-Mart supercenter? Food, clothing, tires, and pet food. Oh, and video games. You can't really buy 'shelter' there but they do sell furniture.
I was wondering if anyone was willing to touch on the subject of Social Mores as mentioned in the title of this thread...
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