Using systems thinking means examining digital society as a set of interacting, interdependent elements rather than treating a digital system as an isolated technology. You analyse how people, institutions, data, algorithms, infrastructure and rules influence one another, producing intended and unintended consequences.
This concept is shared by SL and HL students under syllabus topic 2.6 Systems. A system contains connected elements, so a change to one element can affect the entire system through relationships, dependencies and feedback loops.
For example, consider Strava's 2018 global heatmap:
System: Strava's fitness platform collected GPS data from users' wearable devices and aggregated it into a visual map of popular exercise routes.
Example specifics: The published heatmap unintentionally revealed activity patterns around military bases, including facilities in remote locations. The example involved users, Strava, military personnel and security authorities.
Impacts and implications: An impact was that publicly visible route patterns exposed information about the locations and routines of some military personnel. An implication was the future security risk created when apparently anonymous data could be combined with location knowledge. The visualization was useful for athletes, but the same feature created risks for other communities.
Concepts: Systems thinking reveals that the outcome did not result from GPS data alone. It emerged from connections among wearable devices, data collection, aggregation, default privacy settings, user behaviour and public access. The heatmap therefore illustrates how a change within an interconnected system can generate an unintended consequence.
A common misconception is that systems thinking simply means describing how a digital device works. In Digital Society, the focus is broader: explain relationships between technical and social elements, identify affected people and communities, and distinguish actual impacts from possible future implications.
In an exam response, do not merely list system components. For an Analyse question, break down their relationships and show how they produce an outcome. For an Evaluate question, weigh benefits and limitations for at least two stakeholder groups using a specific, explained real-world example.
