Technology is the application of knowledge about how existence works to achieve things we want as intelligent beings. It is not, as many people think, a set of techniques for calculating the efficiency of different means towards an end that has already been determined. It is rather a deliberation about what that end should be in light of what we know of how existence works, aiming to bring the world closer to our wishes.
This aim inevitably prioritizes some paths and neglects others. As digital cameras became commonplace, for example, they displaced the analogue photography pathway, with its inefficient but gratifying workflows and its culture of painstakingly retouching images for hours. The choice of a technology implicitly endorses that path and its associated behaviors as more desirable than others.
Moreover, technology makes certain behaviors more easily available than others. As a result, it tends to exponentially scale them. Televisions and computers have made it easy for people to zonk out in front of screens, hypnotized by endless visual stimulation; social media has made one-way parasocial relationships easier than face-to-face ones.
This aspect of technology makes regulation an important part of the field, with a range of national regulatory approaches in place to try to limit the negative effects of certain technologies and to promote responsible innovation. The international community is also active in this area through bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union and the International Organization for Standardization.