One Last Time
If you were to ask me a few years ago, what my digital footprint was, I would honestly barely have an answer for you. I didn’t have any type of social media account. I didn’t have a computer. Heck, I didn’t even have a phone. Technology was never an important aspect to me or my family. The closest thing I had to a social media account was my Miiverse account on the Nintendo Wii. Which at the time, was pretty ground breaking for me.
So going from no footprint whatsoever, to having a phone and a computer and all these online accounts was very scary too me. I felt like I was immediately plunging into the deep end of the pool without knowing how deep it was. But due to me being born in this technological era I needed to learn how to swim fast. In this new digital age of social media and the internet, society has begun to truly depend and rely on technology to a point where it has begun dictating many of our livelihoods.
From checking our emails for work to sitting down on the couch watching tiktok, technology has very much taken a presence in our day to day lives. I always knew this about technology, but it wasn’t until I partook in the class “Media Law and Literacy”, where I realized the true effect of technology on everyone. I earned myself a more complex understanding of technology through this class. It has provided me with a lot of insightful information such as how sites such as YouTube or Instagram monitor what you search, according to Wired “Instagram…uses your personal information to show you ads that it believes you’ll be mostly likely to click on. This information comes from what you do within the app and Facebook, your phone, and your behavior as you move around parts of the web that Facebook doesn’t own.” Absolutely everything you do on these websites is tracked and monitored to make your time on that site as “enjoyable” and “relaxing” as possible.
While in very few cases this can be beneficial because it can expedite the process of finding an item that the user is looking for, but in most cases the tracking of your data can be stored and safely kept on unknown databases. To a much scarier extent things like your computer and or phones technical configurations, addresses of previous sites you’ve visited, and even the location of the phone via GPS. Really think about this. Absolutely everything you do on the internet is recorded and stored for later. It can be a very scary place that is open to all individuals.
Moving away from this aspect of the internet and onward towards a more positive outlook. Technology has also given this generation and the one before it a way to connect everyone across the planet. It is crazy to think that when I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan I could message and even face time friends in the United States. To view it in a more recent perspective, when Covid-19 hit we were all stuck in our homes unable to leave them, jobs, social relationships, and simply our livelihoods suffered because of it. But technology kept us standing. It provided us with the possibility to work from the safety of our homes, to keep up with what was happening via the news, and it provided us the ability to call with anyone in the world. Really it was all we needed to keep us sane through these difficult times. But because of this internet connection, it has come with a negative effect. The ability to communicate in person.
Sending texts and emails is a very different interaction compared to walking up to a person and introducing themselves. I didn’t believe it until I came to college. I would do my best to walk up to someone and introduce myself and they acted as if it was a completely random gesture, and I should have just given them my number and walked away. It brought up a concept that was mentioned in class. Virtual distance.
According to brainspire, virtual distance is the phenomenon where people are physically together but detached from each other due to being completely absorbed with their technological device. One day after class I decided to sit outside and mark down how many people I saw on their phones. Out of 45 people I noted 32 of them walking with their phones out. This was interesting to me, because I would have expected that it would have been less due to how beautiful this campus is and how nice of weather it was outside. While I wanted to act all proper in the sense that I don’t look at my phone while walking outside, I too fall into this trap of being absorbed into my phone while walking around. This realization made me force myself to leave my phone in my backpack or in a place not so easily accessible so I can enjoy the surroundings I am currently in rather than just be glued to my phone.
Technology has both positive and negative aspects to it. There is no denying the importance that it has on our society and no denying how vital it is. A hope that I have for the future is that they dial back on technology at least in terms of using it. While I know that this will not happen, I wish kids were not open to technology and all of its baggage at such a young age. I believe a few restrictions should be placed in order to protect our future generation from losing their connection to others in a social aspect.
Media Law and Literacy has completely redefined the way I view technology. There is a balance of dangers and benefits in the use of technology. I have certainly been more causes when using the internet and will always make sure to check what I am searching, have many different passwords and I have even begun to create different email accounts that I can avoid spam mail with. Funnily enough I even bought a book that I wrote down all my passwords and usernames with so I don’t get confused and forget, which is something that often happens.
With this being my last blog post I wanted to say a few last things before signing off for good. It has been such an interesting experience creating and posting my thoughts on the internet for others to see. I have never been a part of such an interesting activity before and it always excited me to write my next blog post. To feel like my voice is heard despite my age and in-experience in certain areas is an amazing feeling to have. I hope others allow their voices to be heard on the internet and hopefully it is those people that will work on creating a balance between technology and their social life. Avoiding the addiction that comes with social media and overall protecting themselves digitally.
So, this is Me, Barrett Odom. Signing off! Thank you for hearing what I had to say.
Allons-y!
No comments:
Post a Comment