Even though technology has helped people in a lot of ways, a person must realize its drawbacks and balance the use of technology with the physical interaction with others. It is important to keep in mind that technology is not always error proof, thus reliability is a relative concept.
There are many examples that show how technology has proven to be a negative influence on society, but people still continue its use. From one point of view, it is possible to see that texting and using other features of a cell phone have become detrimental, but at the same time, there are some advantages to the communication that come out of texting.
An article titled “Generation Text” by Mark Bauerlein talks about the number of text messages that are sent everyday by the younger population. It amounts to such quantities that it has become consuming of lives and time. A cell phone and its features have become a form of social status, and peer pressure plays a role in keeping up the standard.
As Bauerlein fairly notes, “Everyone passes through this phase, but this generation’s experience marks a crucial change in the process” (Wilhoit 34). The private information and the communication itself have become a public occurrence where people put their lives out on social viewing without any concern for security or privacy.
Texting in particular, leads to a lack of emotion in the communication. The only way to express emotion is to put pre-set “smiles” beside words, phrases or to use the capital letters and exclamation marks. When people interact face-to-face, they see each other’s facial expressions.
They can hear the tone of voice and maybe hidden emotions that a person does not want others to know but nonetheless has them. All of this is impossible to see and feel through texting. This makes people similar to robots, where the real emotions are not important anymore. Even if a person is sad, they will put a “smile” beside the word and the other person will not even realize that maybe they must offer a helping hand or console their friend. People are slowly becoming emotionally isolated.
Nowadays, individuals focus on the way their facebook page looks, they pay great attention to the amount of pictures they post, number of responses that they receive to certain posts and comments about their status.
The need to go out and do things became not needed. The interaction between people has come down to words on web pages and comments in relation to behavior of others. It is also cheaper and more practical to live in the word of computers, where there is no need to go out, spend money in cafes, different attractions and games that involve physical participation of the person and others.
Also, it is very time consuming, so people simply have no time to go out and enjoy nature and the company of others. The constant checking for the replies and posts of others, especially if there is an extreme amount of friends, takes up a lot of time. Mark Bauerlein’s research confirms that “…the bedroom is not a private space. It’s a social hub” (Wilhoit 35).
The development of technology has drastically changed the world. As people are unable to calculate the rates of progress, it is impossible to determine what changes will be brought about with an even greater increase in technological advancements.
Works Cited
Wilhoit, Stephen. A Brief Guide to Writing from Readings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.