Technology has been widely advancing in the recent years and it continues to become even better with each passing year. The society and technology depend on each other. Sherry Turkle states that “Technology doesn’t just do things for us. It does things to us, changing not just what we do but who we are.” The demand for technology keeps on increasing on daily basis. People use technology in communication, traveling, learning, business, and entertainment. In today’s society, however, people are losing sight of more important things in life such as human interaction. Teenagers would not agree with the fact that
technology has had adverse effects on our lives. The society should, therefore, understand that technology has positive and negative effects socially, mentally and physically but the positives outweigh the negatives.
Social Effects
The advancement of technologies that are able to overcome time and space makes people think that these tools would be applied to gain an understanding of other cultures, meet people all over the world, communicate effectively with others, strengthen familiar relationships and assist people in the society to become more socially adept. Many Americans today tend to believe that technology enhances interaction or socialization since it brings interaction efficiency. While some people might argue that their phones have made their lives easy, I disagree as phones have been the main cause of disturbances especially in meetings
Technological equipment causes disturbances and makes people to be isolated (McGrath 4). Therefore, it is essential to have some knowledge of the positive impacts of the technological factors that impact on people’s social matters. Technology brings easy accessibility connections. Use of internet enabled devices such as phones and computers does not only simplify the way individuals keep in touch with the people they care about, but the information is also much accessible to everyone. It is true to say that most of the young people today especially students use social networking sites. Most of the social network users utilize social network platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and, LinkedIn (Drago 7). Recent studies also show that use of these sites is increasing every year and it indicates some favorable impacts on the relationships among people in the household (McGrath 4). Creating strong and meaningful relationships is normally about sharing lives with others, and technology can allow people to do so through, texts, photos, videos, and music. Many people assume that online friendships do not last which is not true as some are genuine. I had always believed so till an online friend came to my rescue when I had lost hope of living due to many life challenges.
In a broader perspective, technology has improved communication particularly broadcasting of news or information to the people in the society. Radios, television, internet and social media platforms have improved the way individuals broadcast news and exchange ideas which can help in developing society. In various nations, television and radios are applied to vice the concerns of the society. Live forums are always organized where the community can make their contributions via text services or call using mobile phones. At the political elections, contestants use radios, television and internet mead to reach people they are aspiring to serve.
On the other hand, however, technology has had negative effects as argued below. Some of the sites contribute to the poor relations among the people in the society; for example, sites such as Facebook, Instagram among other sites have contributed to social issues such as racism and enmity among the diverse social networks users (Elsobeihi 3). Some of the cruel users tend to abuse people via social media networks thus contribute to animosity among the people in the diverse parts of the world since it brings some ideologies that certain communities are not friendly; for instance, the scene where a white person abuses a black person. The whites do not seem to see any problem with this, but I say that it is not acceptable as it is racism. Technology has also contributed to divorces and job loss. I have a friend who lost his job recently as the company adopted the use of computers and therefore his services to the company were no longer needed.
According to Mc Grath, Technology is’ the basis of future social behavior.’ Recent researches show that use of the social networks have highly led to family breakups especially where one of the spouses is not faithful. Most of the communication made between the cheating spouses are done via mobile phones and computers since they can be easily accessed by other parties considering that most of the social sites do not provide sufficient security to the date of the users. I do not advocate for the trend where married people act like they are single on social media with an aim of luring young people. It is unethical. Married people need to be faithful to one another. It has become common today to dismiss the fact that being unfaithful is a sin.
Many employees have been fired because of the contents they post on the social networks that undermined the person’s professional standings. My cousin was fired for this reason. When it comes to the topic of online bullying, most people are guilty hence would try to defend their actions. I, however, agree with the decision to fire online bullies since people seem to take advantage of the fact that people would not trace them. In addition to the negative social impacts brought by social threats is the isolation issue, some of the online communities and virtual worlds feel isolated and outcast due to the criticism that some of the online communities make over others. I would advise the social network users to consider some communication ethics as a way of avoiding adverse impacts of technology to socialization.
Mental Effects
Recent researches indicate that widespread application of digital technology such as computers, smartphones, internet and video games have significant on the development adaptation of the human brain, causing changes in people’s moods, sleep, learning, memory, and concentration as well as behaviors such as aggression and risk-taking. These impacts appear to be more pronounced for the young people in the society. In the general point of view, technology helps people improve diets, track fitness efforts and manage all kinds of health conditions. According to the most researches, being overly connected can lead to psychological issues such as destruction such as depression, distraction, the expectation of gratification and narcissism. Before the widespread of smartphones and internet, students used to have a clear focus and less distraction at school. Currently, most of the students do not feel well without smartphone and internet. Students waste a lot of time browsing the internet, particularly social networks (McGrath 5). I observed that before smartphones and internet era, students used to spend most of their time in libraries and they were always attentive in class and thus their academic performances were good. While it is true that technology can boost academic performance, it can also deteriorate the performance if used irresponsibly.
According to the recent report by researchers at Harvard University, the current students have been found to not be good researchers as compared to the 19th and 20th-century students because internet and computers have made work easier for them especially when carrying out some research due to the availability of the resources in the search engines. Google is one of the famous search engines which help in making research simply because it contains huge information. According to educator, Sutton,’ Computers help students In any way they need, including researching, typing and searching.’ Performing research manually is costly and consumes most of the researcher’s time thus search engines have great importance to all the researchers (Sutton 20). Contrarily, people
who rely on search engines are more likely to be less creative and innovative since accessing information online is simple and does not require one to think critically. I agree with the research but I think technology has made researchers produce high-quality results because of the readily available content. Of course many will probably disagree with me on the grounds that creativity is most important and should not be traded for quality research.
There are disorders that are connected to the digital technologies. During the past decade, online social networking has led to some changes in the way people communicate and interact and thus it has caused certain psychiatric disorders. Many studies have indicated that the prolonged use of the social media networking sites, such as Facebook and Instagram may be related to the signs and symptoms of depression (Jones 13). Jones argues that certain social network sites activities might be connected to low self-esteem, mostly in children and adolescents. Young people tend to desire what they access online thus raising their expectation without understanding that people have different lifestyles (McGrath 6). I advise the young people to always be contented with whatever they have and strive to work for their future instead of admiring peoples’ standards of living.
Spending more time online cause sleeplessness and low memory performance due to the exhaustion considering that most people like spending most of their time on their phones and computers instead of relaxing. For example, many people use their phones while in bed instead of sleeping. The most affected population is the students and people who are working during the day because they are supposed to sleep at night as a way of relaxing their brains. Therefore, people should understand that digital technologies among other advanced technologies are supposed to be applied in the right manner to avoid metal issues that are associated with the technology.
Physical Effects
Contemporary day living is a multifaceted compendium of the rapidly advancing technology and the social media. Communication channels are impacting on every part of the society that it may be complex to adjust. Technology has improved the lives of many individuals, with about half of the adults in the United States unable to think of life without their computers and smartphones. According to Elsobeihi, spending more time on electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers cause physical effects. These physical effects include vision problems, neck strain, and hearing loss (Elsobeihi 21). Most people spend an aggregate of 5 hours daily on the screen of their devices. A good example is that people make calls and before they make a call, they must check the contacts, and when they interact with their friends and family via social media they also face the screen. In my view, however, people have to try and minimize the time they spend on the screens including the phones. I recommend a maximum of thirty minutes in a day.
Televisions also contribute to the vision problems because most of the people watch television especially when watching the news, TV shows among other programs (Jones 4). Neck strains results due to the wrong position of the devices while using. People put their devices at some angles that make one either bend neck down or up. Therefore, due to the reason that people bend their necks down for long, some of the neck pains are experienced especially by those who are addicted to their tablets, smartphones, and computers. I happen to sympathize with the smartphones addicts as they are doing harm to their bodies which they will regret in future.
Hearing loss is caused by noise caused by modern technologies such as music systems. Music systems produce some sound that is always supposed to be regulated, but unfortunately, most of the users prefer high volume. High volume cause damages of the essential ear parts such as eardrums and therefore the evidence suggest that people should stop using earphones with the volume high. It is unfortunate that people
prefer using headphones while listening to music and other entertainments especially when they are in public places.
According to various research analyses, over 50% of the people who frequently use headphones have earing because they do not adjust the volume to the recommended levels. In the ancient era, people had physical exercise culture, but in the contemporary world, people prefer spending their leisure time in social places where they can play video games and drink. Relaxing cause accumulation of calories in the blood vessels and belly thus causing physical disorders such as obesity and heart failure. Watching and relaxing while chatting with friends online is the biggest contribution to the lifestyle diseases; hence it is always recommended for people to develop a physical exercise culture. Finally, governments and non-government organizations are supposed to hold serious campaigns to enlighten the entire society regarding the adverse effects of the current technology as a way of reducing physical issues in the community.
Conclusion
In conclusion, human interaction is important, but it is always essential to consider both positive and negative impacts of the technologies that are being used to interact with the society. Social mental and physical effects are of great concern as far as modern technologies and interaction are concerned thus everyone is supposed to get enlightened regarding the favorable and adverse impacts of the technology. Positive impacts of technology in the society particularly in social, mental and physical perspective outweighs the negative impacts. What this really means is that the use of technology has to be encouraged. It is however important for the society to make some little adjustment to reduce any further harmful effects to save the current and the future generations.
Works Cited
Drago. "The Effect of Technology on Face-to-Face Communication." The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications 6.1 (2015): 7. Document. 19 May 2018. .
Elsobeihi, Naser. "Effects of Mobile Technology on Human Relationships." International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS 1.5 (2017): 16. Document. 19 May 2018. .
Jones. "The Impact of Digital Technologies on Human Wellbeing." Nominel Trust (2011): 98. Document. 19 May 2018. .
McGrath. "The Impact of New Media Technologies on Social interaction in the Household." Third Year Report. National University of Ireland Maynooth, 2012. Document. 19 May 2018. .
Sutton. The Effects of Technolgy in Society and Education. Masters Thesis. The College at Brockport. New York, 2013. Document. 19 May 2018. .
