My Relationship with Technology

My relationship with technology is very complicated because I could say that it is healthy in a lot of ways but also unhealthy, which I feel is the same for a lot of people right now. The ability to stay connected with all of my family and friends is unparalleled and honestly I could not imagine a world where I wasn't able to just reach out with a phone call at any time. I never go anywhere without my phone and I'm almost always checking it to make sure no one has texted me or I haven't received any other kind of notification. I know that this is unhealthy but at the same time, it has become the standard for my generation and future ones. 

Generational Gap

In the past ten to twenty years, there have been so many changes with technology that the generational gap feels wider every year. My parents and many others did not have to make LinkedIn to get a job, text their friends to set up hangout plans, or have to worry about the internet going out. I have had to stop my grandparents from getting scammed by clicking on a wrong link or going too far down an ad rabbit hole.  This kind of internet awareness is known by some in the older generations but has become like second nature to everyone from my generation. To those of us who grew up with the internet already existing, we have become hyper aware of all the different facets of it. That is not to say that our generation doesn't have other issues with technology, especially with social media. 

Social Media

If I check my phone stats right now, I can see that my daily screen time has an average of three to four hours. That time is spent mostly on the apps: Tiktok, Snapchat, and Instagram. All three are social media apps which does not come as a surprise because I know that I personally like feeling connected to everyone I know. To be able to get a glimpse into the lives of others by seeing what they post on their social media is invigorating but I have also felt very jealous and disconnected. That jealousy stems from being able to see that there are a lot of people you know, or may not even know, experiencing life in a way that you wish you could. Social media feels like a double-edged sword that has allowed us to connect and socialize more online which caused people to become less social with each other in person.

There are times when I have been sitting at lunch or dinner with a group of friends where all of us have our phones out. I could be trying to talk to someone and they are not listening to me because they have their phone pulled out and they might not even realize it. That is when I feel like our relationship with technology has led us towards being more unhealthy. If I had the choice to get rid of our technology though, I would still keep it because I still believe that at the end of the day, it has allowed us to grow as a whole and gave much more opportunities than taken away. For better or worse now, technology is engrained into every part of our society and I don't see it going away.