How Technology Affects Us | Teen Ink

How Technology Affects Us MAG

January 9, 2010
By mads942 SILVER, Houston, Texas
mads942 SILVER, Houston, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Everyone has seen the moody, withdrawn kid with music blasting out of his white earbuds, or the girl rapidly texting on her phone. The youth of today are constantly immersed in technological advancements that promote nonstop communication and instant gratification, whether through cell phones, gaming systems, laptops, or MP3 players. But are these technological advancements a good thing? I believe that the growth of technology has negatively influenced the social interactions of today's youth because it isolates individuals from reality, hinders communication, and perpetuates the concept of immediate ­satisfaction.

Technology is a negative influence on us because it separates individuals from reality. The iPod is one example; by putting in your earbuds and immersing yourself in music while in public, you are disconnecting yourself from the real world. “For some people, the main appeal of the iPod is that it preoccupies you so that you do not have to deal with the uncontrollable factors of everyday life,” writes Krystle Song, a University of California, student on her website “Attack of the iZombies.”

The ability for people to surround themselves with the familiar by using their iPod is appealing because it rarely provides the listener with something unexpected or unknown. However, it can be argued that this is a bad thing. By constantly being cut off from personal interactions and new experiences because of a technological device, a generation with substandard social abilities is being groomed. If we do not have to face reality by experiencing new things, making personal relationships, and problem solving, then we will never be able to function as adults.

Technology hinders personal communication, which negatively impacts our age-group. Although “our culture heralds the Internet as a technological wonder, there are suggestions that Internet use has a negative influence on individuals and their social skills,” writes Bob Affonso in his article, “Is the Internet Affecting the Social Skills of Our Children?” Data shows that those who use the Internet frequently spend over 100 minutes less time with friends and family than non-Internet users, according to Norman H. Nie and D. Sunshine Hillygus in their paper “The Impact of Internet Use on Sociability.”

The Internet actually detracts from the communication abilities of society, especially the young. When our communication skills are gradually lessened, we begin “spending less time talking to families, experiencing more daily stress, and feeling more lonely and depressed,” writes Affonso. In our formative teen years, lack of personal communication due to excessive Internet usage can have an overall negative effect on mental and physical health. Communication skills are critical for everyone, yet use of the Internet is undermining this development.

Technology negatively affects us by perpetuating the mindset of immediate satisfaction. The creation of various portable technological devices has slowly ingrained the idea of instant gratification. With gadgets like the PS3 or Nintendo DS, which allow users to play games anywhere, or cell phones that let us keep in touch virtually everywhere and at any time, we grow up learning that whenever we want pleasure or enjoyment, it will automatically be granted to us.

Some argue that the Internet has a positive effect on social interactions because it allows us to form friendships online. However, the capacity to meet “a virtually unlimited number of people through chat rooms, bulletin boards, and other services,” is actually extremely negative, write Jean-Francois Coget and Yamauchi Yutaka in their paper, “Untangling the Social ­Impact of the Internet.” There are dangerous people on the Internet who are a threat to young people. The ability to access anything and everything someone posts without knowing if their intent is malicious is a downside to the open transfer of information available on the Internet. While Coget and Yutaka claim that “the Internet can foster openness, self-confidence, and a greater sense of ease and comfort in dealing with others … the Internet can even provide opportunities by freeing those who are too depressed to conduct a social life in the real world,” it is extremely unhealthy to make and sustain all of your social interactions online. We will not be positively impacted by communicating through a computer screen if we already do not have the self-confidence to socially interact in reality.

I believe the advancement of technology has negatively impacted our social interactions because it detaches us from what is happening around us, obstructs communication, and spreads the concept of instant gratification. Society must be able to utilize technology while not allowing it to impede social interactions, particularly for those who are easily influenced during our formative years. Our world must learn to embrace technology without allowing it to negatively impact the creation of functional adults in society.



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This article has 91 comments.


sunshine said...
on Aug. 16 2013 at 1:13 pm
i agree with you. I think this is a very good comment.

lxxney said...
on Aug. 16 2013 at 9:10 am
i liked it it was really good

DoriAnKai said...
on Apr. 22 2013 at 4:45 pm
i completely and absolutely agree with this article. Despite technolgoy being a driving force which has encouraged a world-wide development and enabled easy and fast communication, the mis uses of technology is costing today's society, specially to the young. Experiencing new things every day is vital for our learning (im 17 years old) and, as others have said in previous comments, technology is ment to make thing easy, and has facilitated everything too much. Try leaving your phone at home while you go out for a whole day... 

Doctor said...
on Apr. 16 2013 at 11:01 pm
Look if you're going to write an article that badmouths' the internet and, new technology in general I think you oughta pay attention to the language you're using. Technology, well... is sort of a broad term. Every single thing you mostly use throughout your lives is a result of technology or, even is a seperate form of technology itself. So when you are trying to write about, how well people are spending too much time in front of a screen rather than, outside with friends and, family think about this. Technology is both good and, bad. It is up to you the users of the technology to decide whether to use it properly or, abuse it like so many today. Be Responsible and, Reasonable... ~The Doctor...

Yours sahil said...
on Apr. 8 2013 at 10:41 am
I agree that do happen to ppl some times technology is good but not alwayz

Slahsberg said...
on Dec. 25 2012 at 1:46 am
It's not just young people. It's everyone. Most everyone that has a smartphone has to have it with them constantly and that really bothers me   

Slahsberg said...
on Dec. 25 2012 at 1:43 am
All they are saying is that technology holds us back from having better social interactions. Technology has great tools for productivity yes - but it is used WAY too much for entertainment if you ask me. We neglect so much... it makes me sad.

on Dec. 3 2012 at 8:06 pm
I'm terribly sorry to burst everyones bubble, but you do realize we wouldn't have even seen this if it wern't for technology.. Just saying.. You contradict yourself when you say to lay off technology..

on Sep. 21 2012 at 9:01 pm
VeggieLoverForever BRONZE, Tarrytown, New York
1 article 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."
-Mae West

Um okay. Technology is good, sometimes. But if your constantly texting or listing to music, it can be harmful. Too much of anything is not good for you, especially when you are developing. Technology is not a nesscessity. When you are excesizing or relaxing, or maybe, even studing having earplugs in is helpful and beneficial, but not all the time.  

on Sep. 21 2012 at 8:54 pm
VeggieLoverForever BRONZE, Tarrytown, New York
1 article 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."
-Mae West

Exactly!!!!!!! Young people need to take their eyes off the screen for a few minutes and see the world in natural view!!!!!!!!!

on Sep. 20 2012 at 7:06 am
ChickenLegHouse BRONZE, Brighton, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 44 comments
Earbuds are good. They come in handy when I listen to music in public because then I can just put in one ear and still hear what people are saying to me. They also fit in my pocket if I need to do something. So I don't think that listening to music is makeing me any more anti-social than I already was.

Winky Zhe said...
on Sep. 20 2012 at 5:56 am
I appreciate this article, for lots of quotations and some datas are shown in the passage to support the author's ideas. However, I think the opinions were a little bit extreme. Apart from some disadvantages, the development of the technology has really brought our human beings many benifits. So I think the author can also give some positive ideas at the beginning and then talk about the weak points of this development.

officekey said...
on Aug. 6 2012 at 10:20 pm
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laiba said...
on Jul. 24 2012 at 1:17 pm
 your essay is well written..it help me alot in my work thanks!

Setizia GOLD said...
on Jul. 16 2012 at 3:19 am
Setizia GOLD, Darnestown, Maryland
13 articles 5 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
The purpose of life is to search eternally for the purpose of life

I'll be perfectly honest with you: so far, your essay is the only I've seen that follows the general 5-paragraph essay format, though each support is split into 2 paragraphs.

Extremely well written, with a strength that is perfectly balanced with formal prose. Great uses of quotes and published sources! I would also compliment the sentence variety and grammar, but that would make me sound like an English teacher.

However, I would also like to mention that, some people swear upon listening to music improving their performance on homework assignments. I am one of those people, and yep I use earbuds.


chesnie said...
on Jun. 26 2012 at 3:16 pm
I would really like to know the full name of the author also so I can use this article in my speech

alexboss said...
on May. 9 2012 at 4:35 pm
I personaly think this is dumb because technology is a good thing it has also helped some people i know stay out of trouble and saying people listening to music means they are trying not to communicate with the world is like saying makeing a building isnot communicateing with out world if it wasnt for technology you would be stupid as !@#$ so makeing assumptions about people who do certain things is dumb just means that s/he wants to listen to music because they like it or it keeps them from doing something or keeps them motivated to excersize but some of the stuff i will agree with.

fabme said...
on Mar. 30 2012 at 6:48 am
i wanna know when was this article published? and i wanna know also the complete name of the author because her article really suits our research.. please reply :) i badly need the information 

Vixenfur said...
on Feb. 14 2012 at 10:04 am
I agree with this article, it is very well written and intelligent. But I will bring up a few points. The entire internet isn't created by fake people. Yes, there are weird people out there who fake their identity. But, if you are an intelligent teenager who uses the internet maturely, you can easily tell the difference between an internet-created person and a real human. I've met some friends in real life that I've met only online before- with hesitation. I make sure I video-chat with this person, talk with them and possibly their parents before I even consider meeting them. I ran into one on accident once- we're close friends in real life now. Others that live across the country I've met, and it was planned and set. I have a girlfriend online that I've had for a year now, and I know very well she is real. I've talked to both her mom and dad, and my family knows her through the internet as well. We will be physically meeting in a month. My point is, the internet is a wonderful tool and a lot of fun if you use it with precaution and really think about what you are doing and saying.

on Feb. 13 2012 at 7:40 pm
Musicalartist, Xxxxx, Other
0 articles 0 photos 144 comments
In my opinion, I think we should go back a couple years where there is no facebook, twitter, or anything like that, but there is this website, some ipods (not ipads), and people still call each other. Techonology makes talking to people face to face awkward. Nowadays, kids aren't used to growing up playing outside and calling people. They are used to play "outside" on a computer game and texting everyone. I totally agree with this, and even though I love my iPod, i think Steve Jobs should have stopped a couple years ago.