Although it is said by so many of us that technology such as the Internet and television is so bad for us we still constantly use them, even people in the older generation use them such as my dad who uses the Internet all the time(whether they are as good using them or not). Although when my dad uses the Internet he uses it for business emails and all he ever watches on t.v. is the news. I myself still find myself staring at the television no matter how many times teachers say to watch less television and no matter how many times it is said that it "rots your brain". I always find myself flipping through MTV, G4, or whatever cool hip television show is on. I guess the reason being is that teenagers like me always hear and know that its bad for us but we are never known of HOW? But what are ways that technology has benefited us? What are the positives of technology as well as the negatives? In class a junior (I think his name was Conor) stated that "digital communication has it's positives and negatives". This I would agree with. Things like the internet provide ways to keep in contact with long distant family members and friends. I use facebook to keep in contact with my friend from Hong Kong I have know for years and to keep in contact with my brother even though he never responds to me I can still see what he writes on his status on facebook to know what he is doing or how he is doing. The phone can be used for the same reasons as well. My dad uses it for business so it benefits our family because it helps to make a profit for out living. We can use the internet and television to receive information.
I also feel as if social networking is not just a way of socializing but its a way people are able to project an image they may not be able to show in real life.This is another reason why so many teenagers like myself are so attached to the internet. For example people put different "status" on facebook, and depending on whatever status they put, for example "YOO WE OUT TONITE TO PARTY, GONNA GET SHIT FACED" or whatever, they may be trying to project an image that they are "cool" because they party. Some people put up certain pictures on facebook to project specific images as well. For example I put up pictures of my boyfriend and I to show that I am taken or in love. I also have many pictures of me hanging out with friends which is projecting a image that I am social. Many people probably do the same. Some people may put up pictures of their family mainly to show they are family oriented. There are many different ways people depict there image on social networking sites. It is a way to show your social among piers. It is also a way to spread rumors and gossip. It makes me wonder why it is so important for people to ensure others know of their social status or their personal image? Also just like how people may show off how expensive their car is and their new fancy kicks people use how technical and newly upgraded iphone is and how wide screen their television is to maybe show their social class. I wonder if showing social status/class is one of the things that drives people to be so attached to technology devices? These may just be the few ideas I have of why technology takes up so many hours of our lives.
Another reason why teenagers are so obsessed with social networking may be because they are able to express their emotions, ideas, opinions better. For example yesterday I missed the VMA (Video Music Awards), where celebrities are nominated and win depending on which celebrities/ singer has the most votes for their music videos. A lot went on in the VMA that made people twitter and facebook like crazy. For example apparently during the VMA when a singer named Taylor Swift one an award, another arrogant singer name Kanye West rudely went on staged, grabed the microphone and plainly emplied that she should not have won the award. As soon as this happened people on facebook (i don't have a twitter so I do not know if its the same) started to write their opinion of this situation. Some people wrote stuff like "Kanye West is an asshole." and others said stuff like "Kanye West is so cool". I on the other hand missed the VMA so i wrote "Missed the VMA, oh well" to try to show that I didn't care. I feel like people can't wait to express their opinion so the easiest way is to put it up on these social network sites which can be broadcasted to the whole world. So I think that another reason why teenagers love the internet, mainly social networking is not only for their personal image but also for expression of ideas, emotions, and opinions. Although why are people so eager to express themselves so badly?
Also technology is shown to be things that make our lives "easier", less of a hassle. You can see this on a lot of commercials on television, for example when they have commercials for getting insurance online, or getting the latest super vacuum that cleans your whole house faster. Other ways that advanced technology makes lives easier:people use to use CD players but now we have ipods so you can have your whole music selection in one, computers and cellphones keep advancing to be smaller and smaller to be more compact in your lap or pocket. Besides from t.v.s and phones, technology in public keeps advancing as well to make people's lives "easier". For example, sometimes in stores there are automatic door openers, some places even have automatic toiler flusher (as if its that difficult to flush a toilet). You can even get your groceries delivered online and even get a pizza delivered online too (sadly I have tried this before, getting a delivery from Papa Johns. I hate pizza). It makes me think, is it just to make our life easier and more convenient or is advance technology just a way to feed our need to be lazy?
Cloe
ReplyDeleteHey Cloe. Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the way you have everything written so organized. It goes from topic to topic and at the beginning and end of paragraphs you refresh our memory with the idea you were discussing. I feel like in our blogs are ideas were kind of the same in the sense that we both see what we're doing with technology yet cannot help it. Your blog made me further my thinking on the subject so thank you for that.
So what I understood from your blog was that people are addicted to technology and you were explaining the reasons why. Such as social statuses, to vent out emotions, they make life easier, and just because we feel like we can't stop. You gave explanations of all of these and I felt they supported your thesis well.
I agree with you on all of these reasons. I feel like people in general just are so accustomed to living with these digital stimulations that without them we feel at a lost. I, too check my phone constantly and notice myself doing it but cannot stop. I also wrote about how addicting these instruments can be in my blog. From hearing what others say in class I feel like we are not alone in seeing what we do and not being able to stop it.
Reading your blog made me think a little deeper about what the causes of our addiction to ipods, cellphones, computers, etc. may be. I have thought of reasons such as boredom, social needs, and the fact that they make our lives (or so we think) easier. But there has to be more to this. Perhaps for those who are addicted which at this point might mean almost everyone their is an emotional need behind using these things. Like if we use them they make us feel better. I think that's something that we should both look into more and examine.
Your post also made me think about how some benefits come from digital stimulation. I have family all over the world that I can keep in contact through phone or email. If I didn't have these things I would probably never talk to them. It also made me realize how gossip does start through statuses and facebook world. Someone may read something and get a totally different idea than what it was but still spread the word as if it was true. This made me very aware of what I now post.
Well it was fun reading what you had to write. I hope I have helped in some way and I look forward to reading more posts that you write. See you manana.
P.S. Old and wrinkly????
Hey Yazzy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment first off. I appreciate that you actually noticed that I kind of parted each section and showed my ideas of WHY it is so hard for us to break away from hours and hours of digital stimulation.
I feel that I am kind of stuck on my few predictions on why we cannot get away from digital stimulation and you seem to be pushing me more to figure out what else? For example when you wrote "Perhaps for those who are addicted which at this point might mean almost everyone their is an emotional need behind using these things." in the fourth paragraph. I am having a hard time expanding my prediction but I am sure I will be able to think it through and be smart and notice more as these unit progresses.
Something I wonder a lot is if we have been adapted to digital stimulation so much, is there any way we are able to just adapt to living without digital stimulation. Like an experiment in a way. How would we react, feel, physically changes, etc. if we were stripped of our technology, especially the ones that we grow so fond of.
Your emphasis of my blog post seemed to focus more on agreeing and noticing my insights. And the effects of our addictions when you stated that the reason we get so bored and anxious because of social needs and that it makes it easier for ourselves. For me I want to in a way dissect our need for digital stimulation. I want to know why and how but on a deeper level. I want to know what physically about our body changes when we watch t.v, and get on facebook. For some reason I cannot help but relating the movie "super size me" with digital stimulation. Like eating fast foods all the time people feel down and anxious but as soon as they are able to take of that Double Big Mack Attack or whatever its as if endorphins are released into their brains. They feel a sense of closure. I feel as digital stimulation is like fast food, it gives us closure and shields us.
Both of us have the same idea on the effects of digital stimulation and we both want to know why? I feel that if we both think a little deeper and observe the way we react around digital stimulation we will notice a lot more :)
<3
Conor Did not comment on my blog post and just put it on his blog so i copied and pasted his comment:
ReplyDeleteDear Chloe
I think that not only do we never leave all these social networking things because of internet on our phones, but because people talk about it! Like "Hey did you see my status on facebook?" "Yeah it was so funny!" So how can we really walk away from something that's not only in our homes, in our phones, and in our minds? Crazy crazy.
I liked your point, about how is it bad for us. How is it bad for us? It's funny because my Dad always tells me that the television was originally made to educate the mass populace, like rural families that don't have the opportunities to go to school or get a higher education. Now we watch it for all sorts of reasons, like when we're young we watch sesame street and learn songs for counting and we dance with barney but now we watch reality T.V and watch people bring each other down to bring themselves up or we watch the media hype and the news and see bombs and crazy rapists. I think that you should have the option of blocking news channels, because they make my mother paranoid and annoying. She'll see something about a kid, my age or a little older, still in high school who drank to much and fell on a subway track and died. Or some guy who smoked weed got it laced with out knowing smoked to much bugged out and went crazy. Then when I tell my mom I'm going on the train she thinks I'm gonna die. It blows.
I totally agree about images on facebook, we use social networking to make ourselves seem like something, or to grab attention. Like when you see someones status is something like "BUTTFUCKING ZEBRAS BROOO" then I find myself double taking at what people put on the internet. Like I understand that you want people to think your funny, but man buttfucking a zebra? By the way, I do see status's like that a lot. And although they make me giggle, what if the college you were trying to get into saw that? They wouldn't want some kind of crazed zebra fucker at Syracuse. And now some colleges really do check all that, so people should be really careful.
I didn't even watch the VMA's and I know some crazy shit went down because everyone made it their facebook status. And I'm sorry twitter, ima let you finish, but facebook is the greatest social networking site of all time. All time.
Even though Conor you didn't exactly comment on my post directly and I had to copy and paste it for you... I really enjoyed your humor. You are very out there with your comments. "Buttfuck Zebras Broo" was quite funny and ironic because there is a lot of this that i see on social networking sites.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that a lot of people don't consider is that the internet is like a broadcast to anyone. And I mean ANYONE. You never know who is there watching. One thing I thought your post helped was for me to consider why do people broadcast certain things that they know they can get in trouble for. For example I was looking on Esther's page (from a different class then ours) she posted a link of some guy talking about how he got fired because of twitter. I have another friend who has twitter who was followed by her principal. We know the consequences for our actions and our typing but we do not quite notice. By the way like your language in your comments can be a little inappropriate. But what causes you to to write them anyways? Instinct? Lack of knowledge? Personality?
I feel like your dad and my dad are kind of similar maybe. My dad always watches television but he always puts on the news on high blast as if he really REALLY needed to hear the news that badly. Both our views on television are quite similar as we cannot quite figure out the point and the reasoning to our addiction to t.v.