How Technology is Consuming Us

Picture two different scenarios. Imagine you’re invited to a party and you don't know everyone. You walk down the stairs and instantly feel like you’re standing there feeling like a cow with two heads because it seems like no one is even noticing you. After a while, no one seems to notice you to the point where you want to leave. That doesn’t sound too fun, right? Well, here is the next one: you walk down the stairs to the same party, but this time you’re instantly greeted, people actually notice you and you have the night of your life. Now, which situation sounds better? The second. The difference is the way you were approached. In the first scenario, you didn’t feel welcome, where in the second, when in the second, you were approached and the night was instantly better. I will get back to this idea in a second. 

Homecoming for my school was this weekend, and in all honesty it was over hyped. A lot of it is due to people wanting to get funny video to put on our stories at the after party, or the perfect photos to post on Instagram. So, to me, it was actually quite shocking to hear that in the group of one of my friends, they didn't allow cell phones. This was really interesting for me to hear because how could they photos and videos to post the next morning? Well, they didn’t. What they did get was a load of new friendships and a night to remember when they stepped back from their devices. 

The more and more I think about it, the guiltier I feel for only seeing homecoming for the Social media perspective rather than the opportunity to meet new people and having a good time. In fact, beyond the whole idea of Homecoming, this idea of addiction to social media and technology really deprives us of many future opportunities. Many people give up the idea of a good time or opportunity at the expense of their addition to social media and technology. It shocks me to hear that according to, Kari Paul, from Market Watch the average 12th-grader spent approximately two hours a day texting, two hours a day on social media, and two hours a day generally surfing the internet. That amounts to six hours per day online. If you want to read the rest of the article, here is the link (Teens spend all their free time on social media and many don’t read anymore ). To put this all into perspective, 6 hours a day is about a quarter of our entire day. Imagine, if we’re asleep for a lot of the time as well, this would mean we are constantly on our phones. What could be so important or so interesting that we need to be on our phone for a quarter of our day? 

This gets me to the idea of what our values are now compared to what they were. Are we letting technology change our values? Our dependence and mental state of mind that we need technology and social is greatly changing how we communicate around other people and changing our values. In a book, Interpersonal Divide in the Age of the Machine  the author Bugeja says what could potentially be our future if we continue to feed this addiction of technology. Bugeja predicts that because of our need on technology and social media, we will start to develop the “universal principles of technology, such as urgency, a need for constant updates, and a loss of privacy.” In addition, it says that: “we are losing empathy, compassion, and responsibly and replacing them with all these machine values.” This line really got to me because the more we think about it, technology is taking over everyone’s life to an extent. It’s how we deal with it and how we let it affect us. If we adopt the values of being consumed by social media and technology, it will affect our culture and who we are as people. We will be so caught up on what people see of us on social media and addicted to technology we will lack to see what is right in front of us and the opportunities we will be missing. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, and in a way it does, but as our addiction and reliance for social media and technology grows, we are becoming more dehumanized and one with the trap that technology and social media create. 

Getting back to my friends Homecoming group, I was surprised to hear they wouldn’t allow phones. But in a way this was a blessing. Most groups experienced the first scenario. People on their phones, unwilling to notice what is going on around them. However, in my friends group, when they were detached from their phones, they developed friendships and connections that wouldn’t have been formed if people had still been swarmed with their technology. Without phones, they were forced to interact with each other, so it was great to get to know people and actually have a conversation. When there was no pictures, no one felt left out or excluded and no one had to worry about the trap of social media. When technology was taken away, people got closer. So, although people might think that when phones were taken away, the night was ruined, it actually made it better. Unfortunately, not everyone will give up their phone, technology or social media, so people won't be able to see the opportunities that await in front of them. What do you think? How should we get people to see opportunities that await in front of them when they detach from their devices? So much is here in front of us that people don't see because they are so attached to their social media and technology that they can't experience the true beauty that life gives us. Are we really going to let technology change our values?