Analyzing the Uses and Abuses of Technology and Media: An Essay

This essay delves into the multifaceted relationship between technology and media, examining their beneficial uses alongside the potential for abuse. It highlights the significant impact of smartphones and social media on human behavior, including changes in information processing, increased a...Read More

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THE USES AND ABUSES OF TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA
Technology has brought great benefits to current society however people are indulging
into technology to such an extent that the benefits are now with some pre-accompanied
drawbacks. With the rapid increase in science and technology, it is not only hard but also
meaningless to be the one not using the benefits of it (Andreassen et al. 252). The major problem
is not the improvement of technology, but the things advance in technology makes it possible
and the way it influences. In this paper, the focus is on the abuses and uses of technology and
media. The essay aims to broadly cover the entire aspect of dilemma caused by the digital age in
human life although the primary focus is the solution to the problem.
The new technology and evolving culture have widely raised anxiousness among the
older generation. People in the past have made predictions that can be seen turning into reality.
Scientists in middle age, on the invention of the printing press, had predicted that it would bring
a wave of information that will not only confuse people but also harm their mind (Leary and
Baumeister 60). It is no more a suspicion that smartphones can have a negative impact on the
human brain. It has changed the way one perceives information and also increases anxiety. For
the fact that this small device can have an entirely different virtual world and it is of great
potential, people have come to rely on it blindly. The device is an all-rounder that meet almost

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all the requirements one can possibly need in order to make life easy. Besides, this device has
been proving itself a risk to the current as well as the coming generation.
Although the problem was expected, the researchers also believed that the impacts of the
device were heavily depended on the approach with which people would make use of the
invention. One of the significant issues is the negative impact on the brain. Smartphones have the
capability of changing the way one takes the information (Barr et al. 477). The negative effects
on the brain are also for the rapid pace at which technology is changing. The rapid increase in
technology has resulted in the result of fear and anxiety among people as there is a need among
them to stay current with the latest innovation.
Smartphones are one big reason for the change of interpersonal behaviour of human. The
only reason the device is said to be dangerous is for all the benefits it provides. The device
enables connecting with people across the globe regardless of their location (Pennycook and Barr
125). Any information or news can be delivered to a million people in a fraction of seconds. It
can help in the development of it can work as sabotage. The benefits turn problematic not when
human form technology but when technology form a human being.
It is essential to understand the influence of technology in order to know the limitation
and the boundaries. Mostly the people spending more time on the internet tend to be in the online
world though it interferers reality involving family, friends, work, study, financial well-being,
social functions and related. According to few, it is technology that is the cause of the issue
whereas a few thinks it is the only technology that shows the path to the problem (Endsley 10).
However, it is entirely on individuals to decide the amount of access technology should be
getting in personal life. Some allow technology to interfere in their life or even consider it as the

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whole life while some know the times when technology should be avoided. The first step is
always to identify the aspects technology is making the changes. It is not necessary to use every
digital technology since it is innovated. There are reasons the innovations are made as it is well
known that necessity is the mother of innovation. However until one genuinely needs it, it is not
mandatory to replace the old instruments with the modern instruments (Hanlon 91). For example,
e-books are very popular, and it is essential to understand the benefits of using e-books than
paperback copies. People should realise the actual need of such a device. There is no reason for a
child to use kindle when he does not often travel or read only a few books in a year.
Social networking is not only an addiction today’s days but also have a predisposition to
be narcissistic. Social networking only escalates the tendency (Kanat-Maymon et al. 229). It has
become a platform of self-validation where people count their like and determine their success or
beauty. There is a need to fight social media addiction for the apparent reason, that is, it
sabotages the personal time and has several side-effects. In order to combat the addiction, one
needs to practice focusing on the essential and meaningful factors of life. Limiting the number of
social networking sites is a way of reducing time spending the time of different social
networking sites. Cutting down network really helps in expanding the positive horizons of
thinking. Also, using the social sites for a limited scheduled time is can be an excellent solution
to the entire issue.
As predisposition is a mediating factor, educators need to take the initiative. The learners
can be taught the wise ways of using technology. The device or the technology is made humans,
therefore, it is essential to ensure it does not destroy human social, cognitive ability, emotional
awareness, and ethical values. Although classrooms include learning and educating with internet

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access with unlimited options and no boundaries, the education today requires the creation and
the delivery of instructional content which cannot be done confined in four walls (Datnow and
Hubbard 16). Education is essential in order to make people more human by stimulating
creativity, ethical values and cognitive abilities. Technology on the other hand, if not used
wisely, can be used a tool of distraction and diminish the inquisitive abilities. Therefore, till what
extent the usage of technology is safe for human mental and physical health and behavior should
be taught to the learners.
Humans are only social species who have the urge for communicating and need for
information in order to survive in society. Smartphones have made the process communicating
and access to information incredibly fast and easy. However, the fast process have turned out
having negative impact on human behavior. The importance of digital world has increased more
than the real world with the help of smartphones. Constant interruption by notification of social
networking sites have become a usual habit. People limit the use of resources such as
encyclopedia, books, natural world and such which destroy their ability. In the end, it can be
concluded that education can serve as the way of developing the awareness regarding the issue.
Developing a sense of moral ethics can be the solution as well. It is an issue which depends
majorly on human tendency and with the help of education the problem can be solved.

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Work cited
Andreassen, Cecilie Schou, et al. "The relationship between addictive use of social media and
video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study."
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 30.2 (2016): 252.
Barr, Nathaniel, et al. "The brain in your pocket: Evidence that Smartphones are used to supplant
thinking." Computers in Human Behavior 48 (2015): 473-480.
Datnow, Amanda, and Lea Hubbard. "Teacher capacity for and beliefs about data-driven
decision making: A literature review of international research." Journal of Educational
Change 17.1 (2016): 7-28.
Endsley, Mica R. "Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems." Situational
Awareness. Routledge, 2017. 9-42.
Hanlon, W. Walker. "Necessity is the mother of invention: Input supplies and Directed Technical
Change." Econometrica 83.1 (2015): 67-100.
Kanat-Maymon, Yaniv, et al. "Contingent self-worth and Facebook addiction." Computers in
Human Behavior 88 (2018): 227-235.
Leary, Mark R., and Roy F. Baumeister. "The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal
attachments as a fundamental human motivation." Interpersonal Development.
Routledge, 2017. 57-89.

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Pennycook, Gordon, and Nathaniel Barr. "Why reason matters: Connecting research on human
reason to the challenges of the Anthropocene." The New Reflectionism in Cognitive
Psychology. Routledge, 2018. 125-148.