Final Blog Post: Relationship to Technology

The 1964 World's Fair in New York FutuRama video talks about how the growth of technology would be a future no one could ever imagine. The world of technology is a great expansion to the digital realm. However, I would be remiss if I did not also recognize that technology can be detrimental. I feel that the second video of a remix of the Mad World Remix of Moby shows the potential detrimental effects. 

The main points I would like to talk about is society’s relationship with technology and how it can be helpful, but also addicting. Technology was created to aid in the advancement of human development and knowledge and it will continue to do that. However, research shows that  technology now-a-days is used to aid an addiction. 

Research from Youth Statistics Internet and Social Media states that “Smartphones are becoming a core component of young people's daily lives. According to Common Sense Media, half of adolescents (age 11-17) use their smartphones for over 4.5 hours a day. The median number of times that adolescents pick up their smartphones is 51 times per day, with 44% of older adolescents (age 16-17) picking up their smartphones more than 100 times per day.”

The statistics of teenagers using their phones for over 4 hours a day is similar to myself and my personal screen time of 5 hours and 55 minutes a day. As my parents would say, technology should be used as a tool, and it should not be something that I constantly use for personal leisure for half of my day. I would like to say that I have a decent relationship with technology, but my parents would disagree. My parents believe that my negative relationship with technology stems from my constant use of Instagram and TikTok.

My relationship with TikTok is okay. I say my relationship with TikTok is just okay, because I have noticed times where I’ll have some free time and I’ll immediately open TikTok and scroll for hours without paying attention. Whereas my relationship with Instagram is more complicated, because I believe it ties into the conversation of social media and self-esteem. My constant use of Instagram became unhealthy, because I would scroll for hours and constantly compare myself to other girls my age and critique myself, because I felt that I did not fit the typical beauty standard. 

In summation, technology can be a great tool as well as an escape from your day to day life. But it can also be your personal hell if you let it. I can now say my relationship with technology as a whole is getting better. I can also say that my relationship with social media is also something that I have gotten better at because I have realized that social media is just a glimpse into someone’s life, and not always the whole picture.