FINAL: My Relationship with Technology

Technology has such a huge impact on everyone's everyday lives. Constant innovations and updates progress us further into the future. Media has a big role in my life. When I think of media the first thing I think of is social media. My generation grew up with social media. Social media grew as we aged and matured. Instagram came out when I was a teenager and back then it was something that everyone just played around on. It wasn't serious. Our posts consisted of pictures with no filter, no editing. Now apps like Instagram are used to show the best parts of your life. We take time to capture these moments, tweak the photo to make it perfect, and apply a filter to make it aesthetically pleasing. All of this is just to receive validation from your followers. The difference between these media apps 10 years ago vs today and how they have progressed is wild. Their purposes have completely changed. I personally use Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok daily. Like most users, I am not posting every day but looking at others. These apps play a big role in my life. I am able to keep up with friends and family who I do not see all the time. It keeps my relationships strong. I do also use these apps like others. I post the parts of my life I want people to see. My happy side, who I am with, what I am doing, and with all these photos I use filters, effects, things to make my posts look appealing to others. 

The definition of a digital footprint is the trail of ‘electronic breadcrumbs’ you leave behind when you use the internet. It can include the websites you visit, the photos you upload and your interactions with other people on social networks. Personally, I am very exposed on the internet. My footprint is large. I have always trusted the internet and I think that is one of my flaws. I let websites save my usernames,
passwords, credit card information, addresses, etc. I never think twice before pushing the save button. I believe for me, that is because of convenience. I am a very forgetful person. Saving all this information is easier for me. Not only is your footprint what you save on the internet, it is also what you post and interact with. Everything you do is permanent and out in the public. Websites you visit, ads you click, photos you like or comment on. It is all saved in databases and then content is curated just for you. This class has made me more aware of that and has shown me that I have to be more aware of what I do online.

Technology has changed the world we live in. There are so many things we do and do not even realize that
technology is involved. For example, when the Covid outbreak happened our classes moved online. Applications like zoom and webex made it possible for us to continue to attend our courses and finish out the semester. So many jobs are remote now too. Who would've thought it would be possible to work from home Monday-Friday at a corporate job? Technology is limited to a certain age group. In today's age little kids know how to work a phone or iPad better than the older generations. My eight year old cousin uses her mom's shapchat account to keep in touch with my sister and I, while my seventy year old grandma doesn't even know how to turn her phone flashlight on and off. It is insane to see how tech savvy this children are getting at young ages. In our every day lives we use technology to pretty much do everything. From texting and calling to using online maps to get you where you want to go. It is insane to think about how much we rely on these devices daily.

Sadly there is a darkside of technology. Like anything in the world advantages come with disadvantages.
Technology has been hurtful to a lot of people. Specifically social media. Cyberbulling is something that has occurred since technology has advanced. Many lives are lost to this cruel act. People feel that they can hide behind their cell phones and computers. They find the power to say things they would never say to someones face. Another disadvantage has to do with social media. Most accounts only show the picture perfect parts of user's lives. This causes comparison. Reality is what is lost on social media. We emphasize the best versions of ourselves instead of the real versions.Life can be hard, ugly, and downright depressing at times. But those likely aren’t the adjectives most of us would use to describe the photos we post onto our accounts. Social media users are starting younger and research shows that the impact can be harsh. Who is at fault for this? Is it the app creators? Or the parents of these young, easily influenced kids? Personally, when I have children they will not have social media accounts until they are matured and know how to use them in a positive way. In some ways, the negative effects outway the positive. Users do not know what they are getting into until they are already too deep.