Blog #11 Final Post

Technology: the OG influencer

As this semester comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the various discussions we've had about technology, social media, data-tracking, and the ways in which our lives have been changed forever due to each. I've also been prompted to think about how these topics personally affect me, and the relationship that I've built with my electronic devices as well as the social media apps they give me unlimited access to. 

What is my relationship with technology? 

My dependency on technology has significantly increased since beginning college. Nowadays, if I am not typing on my laptop or scrolling on my phone, something feels off. That wasn't always the case. When I was little, I didn't like watching TV all that much (which is still mostly true). Instead, I always had a pencil or paintbrush in my hand, because I LOVED creating art. While I still have an appreciation for art, I couldn't tell you the last time I painted something just for the fun of it. What changed? Life is so much busier now, and what seems like a less time-consuming activity is picking up my phone to scroll on Tiktok for a few minutes until I move on to the next thing on my to-do list. However, in all honesty, I have become addicted to Tiktok. I don't care all that much about Snapchat, or Instagram, but Tiktok has my full attention. I can stay there easily for an hour or more and suddenly I've completely lost track of time. I use it as a mindless distraction from my day. If I deleted Tiktok right now, would I use my new free time to get back to making art? Probably not, and I think that's a problem. Technology has caused me to forget about the things that I used to enjoy before it was such a central part of my life. It has taken on such a primary role in our society that if the WiFi goes out, or our data is working too slowly, we feel a sense of panic. 

If tomorrow morning we were to wake up and all forms of technology had suddenly disappeared, how would we even function? Remote employees would be unable to work, influencers would be forced to just live life without anyone watching, and worst of all, we would have no way to online shop during class- not that I have ever done that! 

However, I am able to provide myself a false sense of comfort knowing that I am not alone in my dependency on technology, because most people today unfortunately are addicted to their screens to some degree. Even my grandparents enjoy spending time on their iPads now, even though growing up they had no concept of how technology would invade their world later on in life. This demonstrates how powerful technology is, and how quickly it infiltrates our society. If used responsibly, it's great, but of course there are concerns related to how it will continue to impact our society. 

The amount of time we waste using media is not the only problem, but also the content we are exposing ourselves to. The reason I titled this post "Technology: the OG influencer" is because before we attached the term influencer to a certain person, the platform itself was already influencing and shaping the way we think. Push notifications were designed to grab our attention and direct it back to the app that we had just closed. Slowly but surely, technology has found ways to manipulate us and control our behaviors without us even realizing it. Then we get into the issue of actual content: impossible beauty standards that make women of all ages feel inadequate, horrific cyberbullying and harassment that is driving teen suicide rates, and overall "comparison culture" that causes us to compare our normal lives to the exciting, perfect, and highly edited version of someone else's life...which is actually just another normal life made to look perfect. For all of these reasons, we should be mindful of what we allow ourselves to view on social media, and even more so how we allow it to make us feel. Social media itself is not the enemy, but the culture we are allowing to be built through the various platforms, most certainly is a dangerous threat to our society.

Ignorance is Bliss...Right?

I find the story of middle schooler, Sonia Bokhari, fascinating, but not at all shocking. Moms love oversharing on facebook, especially when it comes to their kids- have you seen the HPU Parents Facebook page? We know they have good intentions, and so did Sonia's mom in wanting to document her little girl's childhood. However, I really admire the awareness Sonia had at such a young age that those silly photos and stories of her as a young child could follow her into her adult life as well. Would an employer pass on hiring her because of the tooth fairy letter...well no, but she would probably not want her mom's facebook posts to be the most prominent results for a google search of her name. For a teenager, she has a well-formed concept of responsible media usage, as demonstrated by her decision to make all of her accounts private. She understands that limiting others' access to your information is the best way to control who can know what about you. I think her feelings were absolutely valid, and I'm glad her mom and sister listened and respected her boundaries moving forward. I can definitely relate to this article as well because I have no clue what my mother has posted about me on her Facebook page...maybe I should ask, but frankly, I am a little scared to do so. 

My Blog Post Experience

Lastly, I want to talk about my journey in creating content through my blog posts. While I was always behind in writing my posts, once I got to them, I did thoroughly enjoy responding to the prompts because it caused me to think about topics that aren't typically at the forefront of my mind. Specifically, government surveillance, the power and dangers of AI, and how technology advanced over the years. However, in searching for supporting articles to link in my posts,  I was able to learn a little more about these topics and gain a better understanding of not only how I am impacted, but also society as a whole. I was especially surprised to find out that license plate reading technology is not just used for those actively breaking the law, but for everyone. Additionally, I found it rather disturbing that Alexa and other smart home systems are essentially building a profile for you and your family, learning every detail down to the changes in pitch of your voice. That, to me, is terrifying! In thinking about ways in which the government can limit access to this kind of data, I think they should. I understand that certain data is important for certain industries like advertising, in order to appropriately target marketing plans for specific audiences, but some data should be kept private. In general, I enjoyed forming my own responses to these topics and educating myself further through reading others' blog posts as well. I can confidently say that I am leaving this class more informed about technology, the government, and first amendment rights.