Society has changed dramatically over the past fifty years. The days of picking up a phone and calling someone and playing with others outside has been replaced by communication using hand-held technology. We have gone from writing and mailing out letters to loved ones and friends to emailing, texting, SnapChatting, and FaceTiming. We no longer have to leave our house for entertainment. With a click of a button, we can order a movie from Netflix and listen to music on Spotify and Apple music without ever leaving our couch.
Technology and social media have been wonders for society, but have the problems outweighed the benefits?
Nothing comes without a cost and that cost has been our privacy and mental health. Our digital footprint is out there for anyone and everyone to see, but unlike a footprint in the sand, a digital footprint never disappears. Our photos, text messages, and internet presence in general will stay online forever, a digital tattoo.
Technology has changed rather quickly. The technology revolution and the world of social media started for me when I was 12 years old and I received my first iPhone, the iPhone 5s. I will never forget my mom and I waiting in line to buy it for my birthday. I grew up in a technology-driven household, probably due to my parent’s careers. We still have in our possession almost every single iPhone of every single generation, including the first iPhone, as well as one of the first-generation Apple computers and various iPads and iPods. I grew up surrounded by technology. After I received my first iPhone, I downloaded Facebook and Instagram with my parent’s guidance. Later, I added Snapchat, VSCO, and Twitter. At first, holding the iPhone and being able to communicate with friends and relatives all over the world was the most amazing thing ever; then, over the years reality set in. I realized that my generation has become so attached to our devices that we have become isolated from each other. We have become lazy in our one-on-one communication skills, and in the process Big Tech companies have taken over our minds watching and influencing our every move we make daily to make money for advertisers. I admit I still use social media today, to stay in contact with my friends and relatives that are form afar, but not without apprehension.
My digital footprint is large I suppose. My mother took many photos and shared them onto my Facebook of swim meets and practices to cross country events to vacations with my family, for relatives to view. I read the article by Sonia Bokhari in Fast Company and it resonated with me because my youth exists on Facebook too. Luckily, nothing too embarrassing. I posted many photos from swimming as well, from training at the Colorado Olympic Training Center with my swim team, to cross country team photos in high school, friends, boyfriends, family, graduation, and now college. In my opinion, social media makes relationships awkward. With the click of a button or a text, a relationship can suddenly end or come back to haunt you when you least expect it. I have gone off social media at times through my life, but I do choose to stay on at least for now. The pandemic has made me feel disconnected enough. Most people who visit my page will see my story through photos and comments, mostly all positive. From looking at my wall on Facebook or my feed on Instagram, a person would get the feeling that I am sweet, kind, genuine, honest, and highly into sports. I don’t feel that what one views on a person’s wall or feed defines them as a person. A person is so much more than a series of photos posted on a wall.
Today, with so many advanced filters and retouching tools, most photos people post, are not even real. They are highly retouched and filtered. I believe that we have set unreasonable standards for women because of what we see on social media. Social media has taught us to seek perfection. We create filters, post pictures, and create accounts that don’t define who we are. We use social media as a wall to tell the world "This is who I am," when in reality we may be a totally different person. Often when you see a person in real life, they may look totally different than the person that you saw online. We face the pressure for perfection on social media every day and because of it, the limits of what is appropriate to put on social media is being pushed. Many people post inappropriate things online without remembering that it stays on the internet forever. Technology and social media is advancing so quickly and with its advancements come hidden problems. What we watch on the news, what product we tap on, what we look at on a daily basis determines how we live our everyday lives. The problem is, we are being pushed in those directions based on our digital footprint. I watched this Ted Talk by Juan Enriquez who used an analogy of a tattoo for our digital footprint. He states that we all have a digital tattoo of our lives that permanently retains all of our information, photos, and text messages. We see tattoos on a persons body very clearly when we look at them. Our digital tattoo is as clearly seen. We can sum up right off the bat what kind of person they are just by looking at their online presence.
Nothing we do is private. We aren’t even aware that our every action on the internet is being watched. I believe our First Amendment Rights are being tested as censorship is taking over media and apps like Facebook. I feel that most of the time my privacy isn’t truly private. I have actually witnessed my friends get censored on Facebook over the past months for expressing political views and Facebook blocked them because of it. We all may not agree with others’ viewpoints, but it is wrong for Big Tech companies to decide what thoughts are right and which are wrong.
I recently watched a Ted Talk by Fin Lutzow-Holm Myrstad that companies can even track children through dolls, such like Barbies. Children communicate with these dolls via home WIFI. Many internet companies and clothing stores use this type of technology to track us, use our popularity to gain money for their own sake, and use our personal information to hack. They use cameras in the stores, algorithms, SIRI, and cookies to watch our every move and point us in a certain direction to buy a product or even vote. My identity and information is out there for people to see. I don’t publicize my phone number or address, but I still feel it is out there circulating on the internet and which isn’t a good feeling. I believe that the more data we put out there, the more data others can collect about us which is concerning. I am worried about our future generations, in regards to privacy and social media. There are many strangers and predators lurking on the internet that are waiting for young unsuspecting kids.
Social media has influenced decisions I make and although I love the advancements in technology, I admit that social media has taken a toll on my mental health at times growing up. More and more people are suffering from depression, loneliness, and isolation and some have even taken their own life. It is sad to see how cruel people can be on social media. It is sad to see that social media can take such a drastic phycological and physical toll on others. People have become afraid to post pictures because of the decreased amount of likes they have received. Communication has become more than just a face, it has become a photo and a caption. Emotions and feelings have become emojis. Make-up has become filters. All of these apps have become our crutch to life. I believe that technology has helped us gain access to communicate to family members and friends from a far and has allowed us to be able to post pictures and express our feelings, but it also has pushed us into depression, isolation, and the feeling of no self-worth.
Since the Pandemic, I backed off of Facebook and Twitter more and decided to use my social media presence as a means to express the positive things that I am doing in my life to better myself and help others. I established a blog using Wix.com to create positive blog posts every day. My blog is called www.capturinglifedaily.com. I blog to express my positivity, as well as obstacles I have or I am overcoming in my life, so that maybe someday I can help someone else. In fact, during the summer friends reached out to me stating that reading my blog helped uplift their spirits. Starting from the beginning of school on Day 1 in August at HPU, I decided to switch it up a bit and every day for the 101 days I was on campus I listed the three things I was grateful for each day. I mainly did this on the Instagram portion of my blog. I really believe it helped me get through some of the tough times throughout the semester and helps me to look back over the amazing times I did. I have now resumed back to writing on both my WIX and Instagram blog, but will definitely continue the gratitudes for Spring Semester. I also created this WIX blog for my Media Law class, which I have absolutely loved creating as well.
I find I am using face to face applications like Snapchat or FaceTime more today because of my learning difference. I find that text messaging becomes lost and many people misunderstand what I send. As citizens of the United States, we are supposed to be using our Freedom of Assembly to talk and communicate with each other face to face, but instead we are leaning towards in the opposite direction. I do use FaceTime and Snapchat to communicate with others because I am able to see a person’s emotions and reactions, as well as understand what they are saying because I am a more visual person. I believe that my generation has become isolated because of miscommunication and misunderstandings. A text or email will never hold the same power as a phone call or seeing a person in person. I don’t use Facebook that much anymore because I feel that my generation is more about Instagram, Snapchat, and VSCO. I also have started looking at Pinterest because it exemplifies visual content such as recipes, outfits, and exercise workouts.
Each person is unique. We are all born with our own strengths and weaknesses. I believe that if we learn to accept ourselves and our differences, accept the fact that friends can come and go, and know that we can't be liked by everyone, life and our enjoyment of social media can become a lot easier. This is life and what we make of it depends on our decisions, choices, and beliefs.
I believe that in our quest of the Pursuit of Happiness, we must become content with ourselves instead of allowing the internet and social media to control our feelings and everyday lives. What we see on the internet is not always true. What we communicate is not always true. But what we believe, what we make out of life, and what we see in ourselves without any outside influences, is what we need to stay true to.
Technology and social media has changed our world and it is only going to get more advanced. It is important that we are aware that nothing we put out on the internet is private, everything stays online forever once you hit that enter button. It is impossible for us to go backwards, but we can become more aware of the ramifications of our digital footprint for the future. Today, my presence with technology and my use of technology is a big part of my life. I have photos that are funny and many childhood photos on social media. At this time, I don't want to delete them because I do love to look back with my family members and reminisce. I believe that for my future presence with technology I will stay on social media while allowing myself every so often to take breaks because I feel it is necessary for my mental health. I want to learn from my past mistakes, so that I can lead my children in the future down to a good path. The knowledge and information I have grasped from this class has not only helped me better myself for the future, but also become more prepared than ever for the real world and how to handle my future online presence.
I believe that if we use social media in a positive way, post photos that are true to ourselves, captions that have true meaning, and talk more in person, use FaceTime and phone calls to our advantages, we can build a better home, a better community, and a better world that can bring others together instead of tearing us apart.
LET FREEDOM BING.
As you can see, I grew up in a technology-driven household.
My blog www.capturinglifedaily.com on Wix!
The Instagram version of my blog!
An example of when your mom tags you in a photo.
Comments