Pouring our emotions behind a screen. It's not the same as seeing someone in person; hearing their voice, and connecting with them on a personal level. What ever happened to the tone of voice you use when communicating? How are you able to understand the emotion attached to a phrase they text you. Are they intending to be mad? Would they be so angry that they decide to put everything in all caps in text? Or maybe exclamation points and angry emojis. Technology has no emotion. I don't mean to be sarcastic and maybe I come off that way a bit because we're not talking in person. My point is that this is what I have learned after reading Amusing Ourselves to Death.
There was this tv show I watched (Black Mirror) and the very first episode of it was very complex. The main protagonist lived in a dystopian society. They all had rankings for their lives on social media and that was based through how many people liked them; the rankings were based either low because they weren't a likeable person, high and people did like them or in the middle. The main protagonist lived to improve her score and throughout the episode the more she tried to get people to like her; the more unhappy she became. In the end she managed to tear down her near perfect 4.2 ranking to a disappointing 2.6 (I believe it was around there in the scorings). Through all of her work into her ranking, it still managed to fall apart. After watching this I quickly came to a realization that in a weird way that is what technology is for teenagers. When we post on social media many worry about likes, comments and how many people who will genuinely like it. Social media and technology has become so infused with our lives it has basically become apart of our routine. How many of you check your phone in the morning? I don't mean to point fingers, I have become guilty of letting technology take many hours away from my daily life. I'm simply discussing what I've learned. I've learned our world has become one with technology. How do you feel technology has affected your everyday life.
Dominique Diaz
Technology has for sure affected my daily life as it also has with yours and many others. That's just what our world is turning into, and this gradual development isn't something we can deny or change. I totally agree with your statement that our world is becoming one with technology, and soon, our world could turn out like that world in Black Mirror. I actually saw that episode, and I totally see the parallels as you do. I think the buzz for social media mostly stems off the fact that everybody wants to be liked, and everybody wants to feel as though they are a part of something important and popularized. Not long ago, I read an interview from the actress who played Lacie, the episode's protagonist, and she too believes that our world is turning into the world of the character she played. She points out the fact that more and more, people are judging and rating each other on apps like Yelp and Uber, and people are becoming enslaved to their accounts on social media as they are becoming obsessed over their amount of likes or followers. I'll admit that I've also become subject to my own social media, and from watching shows like Black Mirror and reading books like the ones assigned to us for our homework, I am beginning to realize and question the time and effort I put into manipulating my pictures to achieve praise from the people in the virtual world. It is a natural human desire to want to be liked, and it's possible that as that desire in people grows, it may also fuel the popularity of the already-popular social media and cause our world to morph into a dystopian society like that of Brave New World or Lacie's world in Black Mirror.
ReplyDeleteI actually recently watched that Black Mirror episode! Well that's besides the point but technology has always engulfed human's lives forever even if we didn't see it as "technology" because who looks at a shovel and says "Wow! Look at that technology!". Teenagers just look for affirmation and justifications through social media instead of real life (so it actually lessens typical consequences). I myself don't own any social media but it's not a bad thing to be invested in for entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mason's statement about how teenagers use media for justification about their own appearances and images. Even without the help of social media people feel insecure about how they appear towards others, especially in school. Some people are very timid and have a hard time expressing themselves, however, once they are behind a screen they can turn into anyone or hide behind their fake internet persona. Cat fishing and cyber bullying are things that can happen easily because of the opportunity to hide behind a computer or phone screen. Both of these things can make someone feel upset with themselves or believe they do not matter in the world depending on how extreme the situation is. It can also be an attribute to cases of teenagers committing suicide or having depression. Next, many individuals feel that if they keep up with certain trends or are able to get their hand on the latest gadgets, they can be viewed as a part of the popular image. Some examples could be "Pokemon Go" and the "Fidget Spinners" that were popular for a short period of time not too long ago. Yet many people were consumed by the craze which lead to major consequences, such as children accidentally swallowing pieces of the spinners or people dying/getting kidnapped by using the electronic app to find (I think they're called Poke balls, I'm personally not familiar with that game). Technology in our society has been taken too seriously and have caused an extreme result in many different problems or cases.
ReplyDeleteNot that I want to defend the cons of technology, but can we all see the pros of it? Technology makes our lives easier, and as time passes by, it becomes even more easier. I'm pretty sure we all use our phones, tablets, or computers to get help for our homework, call family or relatives who are 5,000 miles away, or ordering food and having it dropped off at your location. Although heading towards the cons now , I do agree that technology has no emotion. I have come across this situation where being sarcastic or being mad at someone does not work in texting (unless we use emojis, haha). Even though there is FaceTime, Skype, Google Hangouts, Tango, Viber, Facebook, Snapchat, and many more to use for video calling, it is still way more different than actually talking to someone in person. In addition, you can also look at it as being lazy. Technology makes us lazy as it is very convenient in our lives. It makes us forget about the old-fashion way of doing things. Instead of going to the library to find information about something, we all just search it up on Google because it is quicker and easier. Instead of handwashing your dishes or clothes, some use the dishwasher or the washer and dryer to clean them. I know there are many of us who do not do these things, but I'm just trying to point out that technology really does affect everyones lives.
ReplyDeleteI have also seen this episode of Black Mirror. Actually, each episode in the show has an underlying message that comments on the effect of technology on people. Anyhow, I do see how the particular episode you're talking about can be geared towards teens and social media. As of now, we live in a world where people act differently than they do online. Many find themselves seeking acceptance from their peers. I feel that this happens unintentionally since the internet is slowly transitioning from being apart of our lives to becoming our life. This episode also shows the protagonist being praised with a higher score and shunned with a lower score. The society we live in right now judges your character based on your follow/follower count. No matter how many times teachers and parents preach to "not judge a book by its cover" children growing up in this era of technology will continue to do so; technology, as you are trying to prove, does NOT show emotion. How are we expected not judge the book by its cover when the cover is all technology provides us?
ReplyDeleteI too have seen that episode of Black Mirror and it was scary to see how similar that world is compared to ours where social media is such a big part of people's lives. On campus, I have noticed how some people are praised for being "twitter famous" or "Instagram famous" based off of the large amount of followers and likes they receive. But how have we allowed ourselves to determine one's worth on a scale of likes, followers, and re-tweets? There have been times where some of my friends have sent me pictures of themselves asking, "should I post this?" as if they needed approval from a peer to get the confidence to post something. There's also been times where I've noticed some of my peers, and myself as well, have deleted a post because it didn't get enough likes in a certain amount of time. We should stop trying to seek validation through notifications and just be happy with who we really are.
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