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