Our Relationship with Technology (Final)

Technology is arguably a blessing and a curse. For some people, it is a tool for them to search for information that they did not know prior or communicate with family, friends, and peers. For others, it can be viewed as a dark concept that presents comparison, mental health issues, and a portal into cyberbullying. As technology has evolved and updated tremendously in the last decade, the impacts of technology have been revealed and continue to be uncovered.

As the use of social media has skyrocketed over the past decade, studies have shown a correlation between the growth of technology and anxiety and depression with young women and men. Despite not meaning that social media directly caused anxiety and depression, it is known that social media has the ability to cause mental health issues. For some shy young women, as they scroll through Instagram and see others go on luxurious looking vacations, it may be overwhelming viewing these as they get lost to the idea of comparison.

In addition, the use of technology has also opened up the idea of cyberbullying, which is when someone ridicules another online. For those that have been cyberbullied, it can cause tremendous mental health issues as the ridicule comes from behind a screen.

What is my relationship with technology as a 20-year-old girl that has grown up with technology in reach? In all honesty, as many people could agree within themselves, it is not healthy. I use technology almost all day every day. For the majority of the day, I am attached to my phone. Before, cell phones were for calling family members and friends, but now it is used for so much more. With my cell phone, I have used social media, played games, and watched videos through streaming platforms, which is much more the main use of technology.

(not my screen time)

Also, it can even allow people to search for information online. However, the content that is searched online is very insubstantial compared to knowledge that holds weight. However, technology has replaced work that has been utilized and trusted. For example, instead of searching a thesaurus for synonyms to a word, people can easily search online for synonyms under less than fifteen seconds. In this case, technology can be healthy with uses to benefit you as a user, but if there is an excessive use of it, it can be detrimental to your health.

Moving forward, what does the world look like with the use of technology? That is something that everyone wonders – will social media ever get “too much?” Does technology help more than hurt?

Reference: https://elemental.medium.com/kids-are-staring-at-screens-all-day-is-this-really-a-problem-10ffdeef35f5

The Internet During Coronavirus

Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has sent everyone into the safety of their homes with non-essential businesses closing. In public, people are wearing masks and gloves to cover their mouths from potential contamination. People are told to stay 6 feet apart from each other to lower interaction between people.

In return, the use of the internet has increased during this time. While people are unable to interact face-to-face, instead, social networking platforms have been utilized to interact. From constant use of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, people are able to keep up with each other’s lives.

In an article called “The Virus Changed the Way we Internet” by Ella Kpeze and Nathaniel Popper, certain statistics were shown regarding the increase of use with certain applications. For Facebook, there was a 1.1% increase using an application, however, for those searching Facebook.com as a website, there was a 27% increase.

Not only have social media platforms been utilized more due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the use of streaming platforms has been utilized more. Therefore, the applications and websites of Netflix and YouTube have also seen an increase.

Something that emerged that thousands of people have had to learn was that schooling and higher education is possible online. With the utilization of platforms such as Zoom, Cisco Webex, and other ways to connect through video conferencing, students are able to see that it is possible to gain an education remotely.

During this time of adjustment, many people are struggling to adjust to this weird new way of “normal,” but the use of internet has made this adjustment not as hard as everyone expected.

Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/07/technology/coronavirus-internet-use.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap