My Relationship With Technology

    I think my Connection with technology can be seen as healthy and not so healthy depending the perspective you take on it. I use many aspects of technology as a student and for my job. Like anyone in my generation I am somewhat addicted to my phone compared to older generations. But, I think the difference with me is that I am not addicted to scrolling or simply being on my phone. I am truly addicted to just having it with me, my phone is like my safety blanket. When I don't have it around me it feels weird and a sense of being lost. I am on my phone more than I would like to admit. But I think the time in which I live is to blame more than anything. I have grown up around technology and do not remember a time when anything was any different. 

    As early as elementary school I remember utilizing iPads and computers to help learn letters, shapes, and how to type. I am very exposed to the world online, and I think that is affected by my digital footprint greatly. I look now at how technology is being used in schools and jobs and it has only evolved and continues to get bigger. I have a little cousin who is 7 years old and to see how he has already started to grow his digital footprint at that age and comparing it to mine at 20 years old is crazy. But I do believe that is to fault society and our overall relationship with technology and our usage and advancements as a whole. 

    Society has a unique relationship with technology, and this is because society continues to rise the demand for technology and the advancements of it. In class we took time to look at the timeline of technology and how it has advanced over all the years and how things have evolved from one another. Society continues to go on that track as they are needy of the newest and fastest technology. But as we get into recent times technology has become somewhat of a danger and a blessing at the same time. The privacy of users information has become a problem on the horizon recently. This becomes a problem for individuals, families, and organizations. Technology has also become relied on to much by society. For example, last January I had family coming to visit me from home, but their plans took a halt as Microsoft crashed due to an update and it effected airlines and big companies and they were not able to use their Microsoft based applications. Many were out of work for hours as they work for company's that relay on Microsoft Teams and the other sub applications to run their company and have employees working remotely and now have no way to work as they relay on the technology allowing them to work remotely to much. 

Then when you look at my personal connection with technology I have a love hate relationship with technology. I wish I wasn't as connected to my phone and computer but due to the job field of sport I work in I am forced to use it more than I would like. I am using technology as a tool to be able to get prepared
for upcoming games or practices. In my field we use it to watch film and gain information about opponents in order to get prepared and get our team ready to reach our full potential for the upcoming game. Then on the flip side I am a college student who like any other has their phone on them 24/7 but this is more due to having to be able to answer texts and phone calls about work at many hours during the day. When it comes to my personal use of technology I believe that it it social media that is the problem. If you look at my screen time my top three applications being used and taking my screen time is all social media platforms. This is the problem with myself and others as I have had social media since I was about 11 years old, so I don't know any other way the past 9 plus years. Then you look in other countries and there has been recent restriction put in place for kids to have social media and not allowing it till you are 16 and 18 years old. I feel like that would be beneficial for so many, and would help many problems with development, social skills, and addictiveness to social media. 

If I could grow up in the 1980's and in a society where technology wasn't the center of it all, I would in a heartbeat. I feel like I would love this because I know I am on my phone more than I should be and I wish that I wasn't. There are days where I want to just turn my phone off so I can't talk or connect with anyone for a few hours. I think I would be more productive if I grew up in the olden days, and wouldn't have the procrastination problems that I do. I also believe that I would be more confident if it wasn't for today's society and social media. My relationship with technology truly mirrors society's to a certain extent, as I continue to juggle with the benefits and pros of the use of technology in today's day and age, and how it will ultimately effect us as a whole in the future.