Looking back, I believe my parents made the right call in making us wait because of massive data breaches in 2019 and 2021. I have seen several of my peers in high school and college consistently post on Instagram and Snapchat. While there is nothing wrong with posting, especially with a news account like Pubity or an art account, it slowly builds your online footprint over time, which others can look up.
I have a Snapchat account with a Snapscore of 575 and an Instagram account with 40 followers and one post. Additionally, I rarely post anything, and I share my name with an American actor. The only way I can find one of my social media accounts is by looking up my LinkedIn account, where I am usually the fifth or sixth result.
Social media allows people to connect with peers and other like-minded people on the internet, but it also has some negative side effects. Some include an increased risk for depression and anxiety the longer social media is used, enabling our fight or flight instinct by being on the lookout for notifications, and trying to look perfect to others.
Technology used to get in the way of me and my brother's schoolwork back in elementary school. So much so that our parents had to prevent both of us from using any technology until the weekends. I will admit I was worse at this than my brother, especially because I have focused on games like Temple Run, Angry Birds, and DragonVale more than going out and socializing. So much so that my mom was worried about me and my future.
At first, I did not understand why she was so concerned about me, but after seeing more iPad kids as I grew up, she was right to worry. Not much was known about these devices when I was growing up, but researchers refer to these devices as "electronic cocaine and digital heroin".
Even though I went through the same phase as some of these iPad kids, I never took my devices outside of my house. I was also focused on playing my games, contrary to some of these kids who were given these devices to calm them down. This has nothing to do with the technology itself, but it is concerning to see how careless some people can be.
Speaking of which, clout chasing is another unintended consequence I thought of. There have been countless examples I have seen while I was growing up like someone disrespecting a graveyard and a "prank" costing someone their life. While looking up other examples, there are recent examples of someone driving a "free candy" van and an intentional hit-and-run incident.
Technology and social media are not all bad, despite these noticeable side effects. They have helped to improve society from the development of the first smartphone to other communication technologies like the emoticon and email. Social media allows users to keep in touch with their friends and connect with new people. It is how my brother and my family keep in touch with their friends, whether it is through Facebook or Snapchat.
All these technologies and the Internet make blogs like this, our texts and Facetime calls, our emails, and our social media accounts possible. The Internet is not pulling people away from public spaces, but it may be the opposite. The Internet and technology hampered my social life when I was young, but I turned out okay by the time I graduated high school.
Technology is more of an amplifier than the sole reason we do stupid things. If we learn to be mindful of what we post and start to control our screen time, these technologies will serve to benefit us instead of trapping our attention for hours. At the same time, we need to be mindful of the depression, anxiety, and addiction these technologies can cause and frequently check for data breaches. Technology is our future, so we must use it well!
No comments:
Post a Comment