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Paper short abstract:

The current widespread social interest in technical knowledge contributes to the rise in tech-centrism. People who become attuned to the interpretive flexibility of computing technology will have the coding ‘superpower’ to improvise on future computation projects.

Paper long abstract:

The current widespread social interest in technical knowledge contributes to the rise in tech-centrism. The recurring social motif is that coding—the world's first 'superpower'—promises to give people the ability to become the competitive innovators of tomorrow. Given both the present social proliferation of technological discourse and Google, Inc.'s new role as the sole benefactor of the Turing Award, it is imperative to critically examine the current role of organizations in the production of technological knowledge. Using Google as a case study, I explore the corporation's commitment to promoting computational knowledge. Specially, I undertake content analysis of Google's two interactive projects: 'Google Developers' and 'Made with Code'. In addition, I draw upon the STS theoretical frameworks of Harry Collins and Wanda J. Orlikowski when examining several web pages and Internet message boards in my analysis. The notable themes derived from my content analysis include: 1) Google's two projects encourage society to unlock technological 'black boxes' like computer programs and coding and 2) the projects, which target different population users, cultivate different forms of expertise. Ultimately, I explain how the development of each expertise is crucial in the training of its respective user demographic. People who become attuned to the interpretive flexibility of computing technology will have the coding 'superpower' to improvise on future computation projects.