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| Image taken from Pixabay |
The Positives
For me, one of the main positives of technology is how we can stay connected with people that we may not be geographically in close proximity. As a college student who is eight hours away from home for nine months of the year, the ability to easily communicate with my parents is amazing. I can send a text message and receive an answer in a matter of seconds. I cannot imagine having to wait for a letter in the mail. I obviously am not the only person taking advantage of the fast rate of communication caused by technology. Americans alone send approximately 26 billion, yes billion with a b, text message per day. It is this rapid back and forth that makes technology so amazing.
Another impact of technology is the vast availability of information. I recently watched a TED Talk with Margaret Gould Stewart, where she discussed how the hyperlink has changed the world. One of the things that stood out to me was when she was talking about having to go to a physical library to complete research assignments in college. I really cannot imagine having to go somewhere to complete school assignments, especially in our time of virtual learning. As a college student in the 21st century, I can sit at my laptop in my bedroom, miles away from my educational institution, and complete an in-depth research paper. How is this possible? Easy, technology, and the wide array of information available at our fingertips online.
The Negatives
While the positive impacts of technology are amazing for society, it is necessary to consider the negative impacts. As a society, we have had to come up with new terms to describe the unintentional consequences of increased technology. One of the more prominent issues is cyberbullying. The Pew Research Center published an article in 2007 reporting the rates of cyberbullying. The rates in which young teens, particularly girls, are way too high. As the years have gone on, the numbers have only increased. I believe that the nature of the internet and the ability to essentially be anonymous make bullying a person online easier. It is as if you can detach yourself from the harmful actions of cyberbullying. I often wonder how we can prevent cyberbullying, but it is such a complex issue to solve. I think we need to do a better job of educating our youth on the impact of their actions online.
Above, I discussed how technology allows up to connect with people far away. However, I think this idea of connectedness also falls in the negative category. Radu Ciobanu, in his article Being Connected while Becoming Disconnected, says that he believes that most of his interactions with people occur through social media. I think that we need to be more cognizant of how many of our interactions occur through the use of technology. I am not saying that we should stop interacting virtual. I am just trying to say that we need to make sure that we are getting that human contact as well.
What's Next
Technology has been on a rapid increase. It is hard to imagine how much more technology can improve. I think we all need to make sure that we evaluate how much technology has changed our world, and consider how we want it to shape our future. I hope that we continue to use technology for good, and leave some of the negative impacts behind. For now, I am grateful that I have so many resources available to me because of the increase in technology.
