As for everyone else living in today's world, I am sure they could share their own personal experiences of how technology shaped their lives. Personally, the form of technology that has significantly infiltrated my life would be social media. A few months prior to the Covid pandemic in the spring of 2020, I was going through a rather challenging time in my life. I was struggling with my mental health and was in the middle of transferring to a new high school in the midst of my junior year. During this same time, there was a social media platform that was growing rapidly, known as TikTok. I decided to create a profile and partake in this app, as most 16-year-olds my age were also doing. Little did I know that posting videos with my friends would lead to me gaining over 100,000 followers. My decision in downloading an app helped me gain confidence and an entirely new mindset. Despite my life transitions during that time, there were also people out there who actually cared about me and were fascinated by my life. I also built connections and gained opportunities in modeling for clothing brands I would have never imagined possible. From my perspective, I view technology as a blessing, in that we have this powerful tool right at the tip of our fingers. Although I am not ignorant of the curses that also come alongside it, I would like to focus on the positives first.
Humans have been communicating since we were placed on this planet. As humans evolved, so did communication, from letters to landlines to emails to text messages. Today, there is a world of communication accessible to us. A simple device small enough to slip into our pockets allows us to connect with others anywhere in the world. Today, 5 billion people in the world own
a mobile device. Texting has allowed us to get in touch with friends or family in a matter of seconds. We are able to send short direct messages, whether it's delivering news, making business deals, or just checking in on a friend. In 2020, texting became the most widely used method of communication, with nearly 23 billion texts being sent each day. Other communication features, such as Facetime, have been able to bring people even closer together. During the pandemic, nearly everyone was isolated from friends, close family, classmates, and co-workers. Facetime allowed us to speak to one another face-to-face, even if it was not in person.
Not only has technology changed communication within our world today, but it has also changed education immensely. Everyone has experienced education through technology when the world was put on pause during the pandemic. Yet, technology has shaped education more than just Zoom meetings and online assignments. Technology has opened horizons for extensive amounts of information. A simple Google search can lead to thousands of documents, information, and answers. Technology even helps educators venture further with teaching techniques. They can enhance their students' learning experience simply with the incorporation of technology.
Technology has clearly enhanced our lives, and mostly in beneficial ways. Yet, despite all the improvements, there are also equally as many concerns. One of the most detrimental effects of technology, that many may not even question, is its impact on our physical health. Different aspects of technology can actually harm our health. We have become very reliant on technology, which has led us to use forms of it for extended periods of time. Viewing a screen can lead to serious eyestrain. It is predicted that 2 out of 3 Americans will experience eyestrain from excessive phone use. There are various factors of phones that cause this eyestrain, from the brightness to glare to time used. Just as we have adapted to the integration of technology within our lives, doctors have already come up with remedies for these technology-related problems. They have created the 20-20-20 rule, which states that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Overuse of phones has also led to an increase in back pain and poor posture. While looking down at your phone, you are likely to hunch your shoulders, which over time, may result in poor posture. This motion of constantly looking down at a phone is not only bad for posture, but can also lead to arthritis, nerve pain, headaches, and various other negative impacts on our health. It is clear there is plenty of research that proves technology affects our physical health, but it is not the only thing it impacts.
Within recent years, it has become more evident that technology has begun to take a toll on mental health. Technology has become something so prevalent in all of our lives. In fact, a survey from Pew Research Center showed roughly 4 out of 10 teenagers feel anxious when they do not have their cell phones with them. Thus, cell phone use can cause even more feelings of anxiety. It actually seems to be a vicious cycle, where phone use keeps us in a constant state of anxiety, and yet the only relief is to go on your phone. Technology has become a second lifeline within our lives which never stops, unlike humans. Knowing this creates a significant level of anxiety in everyone's lives, trying to keep up with this vast new era. Cell phone use also heightens symptoms of depression. An NPR article included research that showed that teens who spend five or more hours per day on their devices are 71% more likely to have one risk factor for suicide. Whether it is social media use or communicating through a phone, any extended amount of technology use has risks of causing feelings of depression. Now, the question asked is why? The answer is quite simple, being that technology is an alternative version of reality. Essentially, we are able to do almost everything in real life, yet through a screen.
Technology has allowed communication to become accessible and efficient, essentially being able to communicate with anyone nearly anywhere or anytime. Yet this accessibility has opened the door to isolation. Having constant access to technology has created a strain on our ability to make personal connections. Communicating virtually in such a casual manner has left many generations with improper social etiquette, which is a leading cause of why relationships are so much harder to build. A 2017 study showed that young adults aged 19–32 years found that people with higher social media use were more than three times as likely to feel socially isolated than those who did not use social media as often. The feeling of isolation from social media may have been a result of viewing others’ lives. Seeing what others may be doing can lead to feelings of missing out and loneliness, which can be linked to further self-isolation and poor self-esteem. It is important to take a step back and check our own reality, to make sure technology is not controlling our lives.
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