It is conspicuous that over a fifty year time period, a significant amount of things have changed in this world. For instance; showing someone pictures through the click of a button is feasible, getting in contact with someone does not require any face to face meetings whatsoever, and allows more people say things when they use technology as a medium for connecting with others, hiding behind whatever technological device they are using. That brings up the question, what exactly is technology doing? Sure, it’s making things a lot more convenient by making the time of how long we wish to speak to someone while doing something else more efficient, but technology is also causing bad things to occur. Technology is not only harming us, it is taking away all of the proper manners that used to be common in our everyday lives. Technology is not bad, on the contrary, when used improperly, it can be harmful.
Pictures nowadays are what make the world go round. Advertisement agencies use creative images to entice customers. All of over the internet with social networking sites such as, Facebook, people post up pictures of an exciting night or just to get an excessive amount of ‘likes.” Even many cameras are comprised with apps that directly send an image you take to Twitter, Facebook, or Myspace. The days of taking pictures and having to mail them to people are gone. Taking pictures has become part of our everyday lives, it is good to have them but there is a downside to this effective piece of technology. For instance, paparazzi often use cameras to sneak peeks at celebrities doing embarrassing things, and then post these images online or worse, make it a cover of a well-known magazine or newspaper. People abuse the power of having camera phones by sending explicit pictures of themselves which sometimes end up circulated, also due to technology. The power of having a camera allows people to take advantage of one another, using pictures of evidence to blackmail someone, or embarrassing them by posting pictures online. Once something is online, it’s there for eternity and a reputation cannot be easily reconstructed. Cameras capture moments we wish would last forever, but when used to exploit others, it can become a catastrophe.
Another positive thing technology allows us to do is get in contact with people without having to see them in person. There is texting, chatting on the phone, e-mailing, and even instant messaging. With the help of social networking sites one could write on a friend’s wall or tweet them. Nowadays laptops are built in with webcams which can also be a means of communication without being face to face with someone. This takes away the sweet gestures that people used to be able to make. Of course it’s not impossible to drive up to a friend’s house and check on them, but of course if texting or calling them is more convenient, most people will choose to do so. In an article titled How Text Messaging Can Ruin a Relationship the author Vanessa Love says, “It is too hard to tell the tone of someone’s voice in a text message and it can often be misinterpreted…I don’t know about you guys, but I text with people I hardly ever talk to in “real life” as I’ll call it. When I say “real life” I am including on the phone. Why? Because then you can hear expressions, tones, laughs, tears. It’s just more personal, making it possible to actually carry on a relationship with someone. Clacking away on an impossibly small keypad as your main means of communication with your SO? Yeah, not exactly a bonding experience.” In her very verbose rant on how she despises texting, she states that it tends to ruin relationships. Instead of speaking to someone through technological means, it’s better to be face to face, looking at each other, hearing each other’s voices, looking into each other’s eyes. However, I’m of two minds about Love’s claims. On the one hand, I agree that she is correct, a lot of things such as sarcasm, does not transfer well over text. On the other hand, I’m not sure if texting is all really bad. If a significant other was in a meeting and couldn’t make a phone call they might text their loved one, “Hey honey I can’t make it tonight, shall we take a rain check?” As opposed to not notifying them at all. There are pros and cons of communicating through the internet not just with loved ones, but with anyone. It ruins the experience of being with someone in real-time as opposed to texting, e-mailing, or calling them.
In my opinion the most significant con that technology brings is allowing people to hide behind the mask of a computer screen or a phone. With the internet, anyone can say or do whatever they want. Not many people seem to have a filter, if they know they won’t get caught they’ll say any aspersions they please. For instance, on bullystatistics.org they state “Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying” At first glance, teenagers might say that they should be given more credit than that and be credited as good people. But on a closer inspection, it is mainly the teens doing the bullying, causing suicides, trashing reputations, and tearing down self-esteems. Common sense seems to dictate that we have the power to control what we do and say, but others still seem to misuse this part of their conscience. The site goes on to say, “Over 80 percent of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyber bullying.” The reason this is so is because they have the gadgets to cause this destruction and they do so. I wholeheartedly endorse what they call aggressive cyber bullying. Another alarming quote is stated when they say, “Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.” This is due to the availability of technology. Again, I am not saying that technology is bad. I am simply stating that it is causing certain aspects of society to lose its common courtesy.
In conclusion, technology is not bad, but it does cause bad things to happen. There are many inventions that were made for good purposes but are exploited and used in bad ways. For example, guns were once used to hunt animals and allow families to eat, and in 2006 studies show that there were 30,896 deaths in the United States due to guns. Technology has its ups and downs just as every new invention does. Sure technology isn’t always the best way to communicate but it can come in handy for someone running short on time. Yes, cameras can be used for bad purposes, but they capture moments that last lifetimes. Lastly, it is bad that people can hide behind a computer screen, but to that person out there afraid to speak their mind, afraid of risking getting beaten up, it is a savior. Technology is not bad, people make it bad, if people could learn how to use it for good instead of evil, it’d be a better way to connect in our everyday lives.
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