The Influence of Technology in our Everyday Lives


   
As technology develops it becomes a more significant part of our lives. We are becoming increasingly dependant on it to finish our work, stay organized, keep in touch with friends and family, and go about simple, everyday tasks. However, as useful as technology can be, just like anything else, it has multiple negative effects. From cyberbullying to phishing, the internet can be a dangerous place. Not to mention that it can often be a distraction, isn't reliable, and is the reason that face to face communication is becoming much less common.

Pros:

It cannot be denied that technology has proven to be very useful and as it continues to develop, it becomes more helpful and more common. One example of how useful technology can be is that it allows us to stay in touch with our friends and family who live farther away or that we don't get to see that often. Different apps and social websites allow us to video chat, instant message (or text) and send photos and videos. Social media also allows us to meet new people from all over the world, making new connections, as well as to get a message across to a wider audience. Additionally, it makes communication at work or for school projects much easier as group chats, instant messages and websites such as google docs/slides allow us to work on group assignments, papers and presentations and gives everyone in the group access to the document.

In addition to making communication easier, technology also allows us to have easy access to information, whether it be world news or a source for school research. There are numerous resrources online that we can access in seconds including online newspapers, research pages, company or class websites,etc. The up side to this is that the news is constantly being updated keeping the information current and it is much cheaper to read multiple newspapers online than constantly buying a hard copy newspaper and much more efficient than having to look through several books at the library for an assignment. (5).

Finally, one of the biggest changes that technology has brought upon society is that many new jobs have been created in past years and continue being created. It's in the past ten years that technology has mostly evolved and created a lot of new industries and job opportunities.(1) A few examples of these new job options are uber drivers, social media managers, cloud service specialists, app creators, youtube content creators ("youtubers"), digital marketing specialists and many more(2). Many people believe that the jobs that will soon be in highest demand will be computer programmers, data analysts and web designers(3). Not only has technology generated new jobs but it has also made existing jobs much easier and more efficient in sectors such as medicine, education and professional services. Although some people believe that technology is only destroying jobs, studies done in England and Wales shows that technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed(1).

Cons:

Although the advance of technology has helped us in many ways, it is important to acknowledge that there are many negative impacts that come with our increasing dependance on technology. One of the biggest dangers on the internet is cyberbullying, which is when bullying is experienced online through social media or messaging. Studies show that 1 in 3 (33%) adolescents have experienced cyberthreats online and only 1 in 10 (10%) tell their parents if they experience cyberbullying. Additionally, more than 50% of teens have experienced cyberbullying and a similar percentage have been the bullies themselves. (4) Another danger of the internet is phishing, which is when cyber criminals send an email or instant message using a fake account/email (account that appears to be trustworthy and safe). They often send a link in the message and if someone clicks on the link, their login information could get extracted.(6) Cyber criminals do this hoping to retrieve personal information and money. Some ways to recognize a phishing email is if there are multiple spelling errors, if it contains a link, or if it contains "threats" (your account will be blocked, deleted, etc.) (7) In addition to these dangers, internet is often a distraction and a lot of time is spent going online and on social media. Certain studies show that adolescents between the ages of 16 and 24, spend more than 27 hours a week on the internet. The time spent online has doubled over the past ten years as tablet and smartphone use has increased drastically. (8)

Review Questions

  1. What are 3 ways to identify a phishing email?
  2. What are some advantages of online newspapers over print?
  3. Name at least 4 jobs created by technology in the past 10 years.
    4. Check your answers here

    Bibliography

    (1) The Guardian, Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/17/technology-created-more-jobs-than-destroyed-140-years-data-census, 2015
    (2) The Nasstarian, 10 Jobs Created by Tech That Didn't Exist 10 Years Ago http://blog.nasstar.com/10-jobs-created-by-tech-that-didnt-exist-10-years-ago/, 2017
    (3) Fortune, 25 Million New Jobs Coming to America, Thanks to Technology http://fortune.com/2016/01/15/new-jobs-technology/> , 2016
    (4) Bullying Statistics- Anti-Bullying Help, Facts and More,Cyber Bullying Statistics http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html
    (5) Honor Society, Print Newspapers vs. Online Editions: The Pros and Cons,https://www.honorsociety.org/articles/print-newspapers-vs-online-editions-pros-and-cons, 2015
    (6) Tech Target, What is Phishing?, http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/phishing, 2017
    (7) Microsoft, How to Recognize Phishing Email Messages, Links, or Phone Calls,https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/safety/online-privacy/phishing-symptoms.aspx
    (8) The Telegraph, Teenagers spend 27 hours a week online: how internet use has ballooned in the last decade, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11597743/Teenagers-spend-27-hours-a-week-online-how-internet-use-has-ballooned-in-the-last-decade.html
    (9) Image 1 https://solutionsreview.com/mobile-device-management/files/2015/12/technology-devices.jpeg
    (10) Image2 http://ipaqabilities.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/communication-technology-dependence.png
    (11)Image 3 http://strengdesign.com/media/1608/socialmedia_icons.png
    (12)Image 4 http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/onlinepapers.jpg