By Sarah Desciscio

“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” This quote was taken from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of the 20^st century. Due to technological advances, the need for this generation to be in touch with the lives of others is starting become an issue. Slowly but surely people are becoming more and more obsessed with social media, but in all the wrong ways. Unfortunately, relationships have been formed based on the foundation of media. The art of communication has gone from face-to-face to phone-to-phone interaction.

Technologies’ growth directly correlates with the population growth. Social media has started to take over in every possible form; it’s disgusting. “Nowadays we can’t even enjoy a simple meal at a restaurant with out checking twitter for twenty minutes because everyone is so involved with what other people are doing,” says HCC student Priscilla Frayne, sadly, Frayne has a great point. This generation cannot seem to live without having their phone connected to their hand. They can’t help but post their every move on blogs such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even Snap Chat. W. David Gardner      found that “Report reveals 65% of U.S. consumers are spending more time with their computers than with their significant others.” This fact alone should be terrifying to read. Over half of U.S citizens are more engaged in their media lives then their actual lives.

Recent technological improvements have allowed societies to have everything at the tip of their fingers. Working at a local restaurant, I witness teenagers daily who will go an entire meal without speaking a word to each other; instead, they sit on their phones for the duration of their time together. Society has been using technology in an unethical way. They have replaced the value of interpersonal communication with impersonal methods. This change that has been occurring is unsettling to watch. I am not the only one who notices the change in communication taking place. Jonathan Maitland discovered “neuroscientists are finding that over-dependence on devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops could be having a negative impact on our behavior.”

American society is gifted with an abundance of opportunities having to do with technology and social media. These advances are not all negative, but society does need to understand their dependence and reliance on technology could easily fail them. Instead of focusing on a screen, they need to take some time to observe the beautiful world through their own eyes and not a phone.

Although I feel this negative way, there are some benefits to having such an expanding technological and media world. People are able to reconnect with friends that they may not have seen in years. Along with this, social media has also helped the promotion of business and companies. If done in the right way, these technological advances can actually create a positive sphere of influence. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have given opportunities for people to express how they feel. It all becomes a problem when it is over done. People shouldn’t care or want to expose themselves all over a social media website. Unfortunately nowadays it’s the only way to get to know someone, because of the lack of connection between humans. “We can barely hold a conversation with new people because we are so used to it being behind a computer screen or phone” says fellow SPC student Alaina Munoz. Technology can also be used to write this paper, and do homework online, it has opened a door to extreme possibilities it all depends how people use it.

Society should take a step back and look at the way they use these devices. When making this realization they can then help the world reconnect through a physical connection and not a wifi one.

Header photo by Garry Knight (flickr creative commons)