Technology: Is It Truly Advantageous?

How many text messages do you send a month? In New Jersey a girl named Rachel has sent over 36,000 text messages in one month. Over the last decade technology such as: cell phones, television, and even the Internet has become a big influence in today’s culture. Technology has become so big that it is even an addiction. Some people even believe that it is effecting how we interact with one another. I personally believe that technology has damaged the social skills of our youth today.

A reason for this belief can be found in the article “Is the Internet Affecting the Social Skills of Our Children?” by Bob Affonso. Affonso researched a study done by the American Psychological Association in which 169 people were studied on to see the effects that the Internet had on their lives. “They… reported spending less time talking with their families, experiencing daily stress, and feeling more lonely and depressed” while participating in this experiment (Affonso 1). Another article entitled “Negative Effects on Society” written by Krystle Song states that the “interaction between individuals is slowly diminishing as people turn to their technological devices instead of attempting to make a new acquaintance or simply experience the ‘natural’ sights and sounds around them” (1). Another study which can be found in “The Impact of Internet Use On Sociability: Time- Diary Findings” written by Norman H. Nie and Sunshine Hillygus shows that in average minutes per day Non- Internet users spend 102.4 more minutes a day than Internet users spent with their family and thirty-four point three more minutes spent with friends (1). This is just some of the evidence that show that Technology is hurting our social skills.
Overall there is not just one side to this argument. Some people believe that technology is actually beneficial to our society and that it is not taking over our lives. Kelly Doyle-Mace sides with this side of the argument in which she believes that technology is advantageous for our society. One comment Kelly makes is “I can’t live without walking around campus listening to music” (Harris 1). Is this truly beneficial for her to be listening to music at school? Could she be studying for subject or reading a book rather than listening to her IPod? Another point that this side has made is “ in electronically mediated communication that hides or camouflages physical appearance and social identity, one tends to be more communicative and revealing of personal information. In this respect, the Internet can even be provide opportunities by freeing those who are too depressed to conduct social life in the real world” (Coget, Yutaka 1). Even then would you want some one to know ever little thing about yourself? What if you are not too depressed to conduct social life in the real world would you go to the internet to socialize or get a date with a guy or girl?

Technology was created to make life simpler, but in fact what it is doing is making life more complicated. Now technology is taking over our lives in what we do everyday from brushing our teeth to socializing with our friends. Technology is making our youth in America socially awkward. If we do not stop this now we will have a generation of adults whose only joy in life is to be on a computer or texting. All in all technology has taken over our lives and made us a socially awkward generation.