Final Blog

 The rapid advancement of technology may be described as nothing but bittersweet. On one hand, the new age of technology has brought benefits almost beyond what we could have imagined. The creation of the internet along with the creation of smartphones has put the world at our fingertips. A lot of the issues that faced the world in an age of paper and pencil have disappeared, and some things that never were issues, but were able to be approved. It's now easier for us to communicate with each other, purchase things, post things, and so much more. It's hard to find any element of life that hasn't been changed by modern technology. What this really means though, is that the issues of the past have been replaced with newer, more complicated issues. Unfortunately, some of these issues are illustrated within my own relationship with technology. My relationship with technology is admittedly not as healthy as I would like it to be. Apple provides iPhone users with a weekly screen time report. Within this report, the user can see their average daily screen time, the amount of time spent on each app, and even the average number of times they pick up their phone each day. The statistics are certainly eye-opening, and a bit frightening. As it turns out, I spend an average of 5 hours and 21 minutes a day on my phone and pick up my phone about 102 times a day. 

The frightening part is, if I had to take a guess at these statistics, the numbers would be much lower. This means that technology has managed to infiltrate my life to such a degree without me even realizing it. This goes to show the degree to which technology has permeated our lives more and more over the years, without even recognizing its impact. This measure of screen time doesn't account for time spent on my laptop or watching television. There are pros and cons to my relationship with technology. On one hand, technology has made it possible for me to stay connected with people I’ve met in every period of my life. It's also made it possible for me to learn more than I ever could without the creation of the internet. I consider myself lucky to be a student in this generation because laptops and the internet have made information so easy to pinpoint and access. I also feel lucky as a member of this generation because of how connected we all are. Apps like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok make it possible for any of us to comment on current events. These apps allow for a whole new level of citizen journalism. In fact, these apps completely revolutionized the degree to which any given person can impact the world. They have amplified the voice of the everyday American, giving us a power we’ve never quite tasted before. 

In spite of all these benefits, there are of course some pretty serious downsides to such advanced technology. Having all the information in the world at our fingertips seems like it could only be a good thing. Within this vast ocean of information, however, are sources that try to manipulate the truth for personal gain. Disinformation has become far too common, and as a result, we’ve had to adopt a non-believing policy. “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” has become advice as commonly given as “Don’t talk to strangers". We must constantly have our guards up for false information. In addition, while modern technology has allowed us to have a social connection with pretty much anyone we know, another way to look at this is that we can’t escape anyone in our life. When we have social media accounts, there is constant access to our identity. There is always a way to get into contact with us, making it extremely difficult for us to disconnect from the stress of the world. Also, seeing the highlights of others' lives via their social media gives a skewed representation of what their lives are like and thus, what ours should be. This has given rise to cyberbullying and other issues. 

In the end, we have to take all the pros and cons into consideration to determine technologies' overall impact. I think that as a society, we’ve already begun to take this new technology for granted. I believe that overall, our relationship with technology is unhealthy because I think we have reached a point where if we suddenly don't have access, we would be handicapped. As new as all this modern technology is, we have already become dependent on it. I think in order to have a healthy relationship with technology, it must be something that supplements our lives, rather than becoming it. 

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