Spencer C.

Blackwell
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
March 31th, 2015
A Human Affair With Technology
Today, we live in a world that is rapidly changing and advancing, especially in the field
of technology. We can call the time the Technological Revolution.. No matter where you go,
you will probably find people using a remote control to perform different functions on their
vehicle, they might be talking into a Bluetooth around their ear which is wirelessly connected to
their smart phone, or they may be doing miscellaneous tasks on their tablet. They will probably
be checking their Facebook inbox, scrolling through Instagram, taking selfies on Snapchat,
tweeting on Twitter, or anonymously posting on Yik Yak. However, as you are noticing them
deeply engaged in their electronic device, do they even notice you? Remember when you would
go into the grocery store, walk down the aisles, and have friendly conversations with people,
whether you knew them or not? As you begin to reflect you begin to see how the human race is
having an affair with technology rather than keeping the intimacy between one another. This
question then comes to mind: What happened to the interaction and connection that we had with
one another? Are we allowing social media and mobile technology to cause a division and lack
of unification between us? Are we allowing these inanimate things to take from the ways we
interact with one another? Or are these things actually advancing our interactions?
A few weeks ago, one of my good friends invited me to come and support the youth
conference going on at his church. I am a supportive friend and I love church, so I decided to
attend the event. I ended up really having a good time. The next day, I wrote on his wall and told
him, Thanks for the invite bro! I enjoyed myself at the service last night! As I reflected upon it,

I thought about how I could have wrote him a private inbox message, sent him a text message, or
even called him to tell him that, but instead I wrote it on his wall. Was this another sign of the
way social media is taking away from our personal intimacy with one another?
The issue of human interaction with social media and mobile technology versus the
interaction between human beings with one another mostly deals with our teenage and young
adult generation. A study revealed that college students at the University of California- Santa
Barbara, ages 18 and 19 use social media the most, then students from ages 20 to 24 had the next
highest percentage, and the percentages of students continuously decreased with the next
intervals of ages. This is the generation that is growing up with these advancements and
inventions, so it is expected that they will be the primary consumers of these products. Often
times, as I walk to class I see many people on their mobile devices. Sometimes, to avoid
communication with another person or to avoid eye contact, we quickly look down at our
devices. Recently, I did a small study to see how much communication I could make with my
peers as we walked by each other in the hallway of my dorm. I put my phone in my back pocket
and looked forward as I walked. I passed 5 people. I made quick eye contact with 2 of those
persons and one of them gave a quick smile.
Social media plays a major part in society today. Social media are computermediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and
pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks (Wikipedia.) Mobile social media refers to
the combination of mobile devices and social media. There are positive and negative effects to
social media. Social media allows people to keep up with the latest trends and topics, allows
friends and family to stay up to date with one another, and it can be used as good entertainment.
It can also cause break-ups and divorces in the relationships of couples. It can be used as a

source for people looking for employment to be denied a position on a job or it can be used as
proof for employed persons to become unemployed because theyve been fired due to the finding
of something unprofessional on their social media account(s).
On social media accounts, posts are created about anything and everything. Anything,
from engagements of couples to the death of a loved person to a promotion on the job, the virtual
will know about it. However, the issue is the lack of genuine interaction. For example, someone
might make a post saying that they have been in a car accident. They can post pictures of the
totaled vehicle and maybe even take a picture of them in the hospital. Another person might
comment with a crying face Emoji and say that they are sorry to hear about that and to let me
know if there is anything that I can do to help. That is just not the same as actually going to the
hospital and sitting with that loved one, helping them with any inconvenience that may have
come up due to the accident, and actually just being there for physical and spiritual support.
This not only applies to just youth and young adults in the United States, but this is an
ongoing issue across the world around us. Studies show that face to face interaction provides one
with comfort and offers a sense of well being. Many superstores have added to this problem
through the addition of self checkout lanes. You no longer have to go up to the cashier and have
a brief conversation, but instead you do everything through the specialized computer. Albertsons
LLC is an American grocery company founded by Joe Albertson in 1939 in Boise, Idaho. In the
year of 2011, the store decided to take all the self-checkout lanes out its stores because it created
a strange lack of human contact. Another study showed that too much time on social media and
not enough physical involvement between humans can create a sense of isolation in ones life.
The social, personal, and academic parts of life can mastered through the use of technology, but
the emotional aspect is mastered through the intimacy and presence with one another.

Research done by British anthropologist and psychologist Robin Dunbar revealed that
most people are actually limited to a certain amount of 150 supportive, well-rounded, and stable
connections in their social network. More follow up research was done by Bruno Goncalves of
Cornell University. He used Twitter data to show that regardless of the ability to connect with a
mass amount of people through social websites, a person can really only maintain 100 to 200 real
friends in their social network. I asked my friend Kenneth about his viewpoint on technology. He
has about 4,200 friends on Facebook. He can post a status and get up to 100+ likes easily and
people will comment their opinions and feedback. He can post a picture and get 200+ likes. He
said in actuality he really only interacts with few of his Facebook friends and followers.
On the other hand, one may argue that the advancements in technology are helping the
interaction between humans. We have family, friends, and other loved ones who live far away
from us and there are ones who may move away from us and we would not have the ability to
have that physical interaction with each other, so social media allows us to keep in touch with
each other. The inventions of Skype, Oovoo, and FaceTime have become solutions to this
problem. You may not be in the physical presence of the other person, but you can be face to
face. A lot of the people that I know today are because of social media. There are people who I
considered a stranger a one point and now they are my closet friends.
Another point in the argument is that social media has actually been used as a crutch to
help establish relationships and connections that eventually become personal. Without these
technologies you would not be able to meet people, therefore you would not have anyone to
spend quality, personal time with. Social media has actually been the reason that some couples
are engaged or married now. It is the reason that some people have the connections and
relationships with different people that they have. There are many people who have been

introduced via social websites and met in person and then established a relationship whether it
lasted long or not. Facebook, for example, allows a user to have up to 5,000 friends. If one
reaches that maximum quantity, they may not have a personal relationship with all 5,000 friends,
but it creates and opportunity for that user to establish a connection with that many more people.
Facebook allows you to meet people that you may be related to, go to school with, or live close
to.
There are many more points that can be brought forth in each aspect of this argument.
This topic is significant family members, friends, partners, even potential employers and other
people that make up a part of our everyday society. In the end I stand on the conclusion that there
is no amount of text messages, inbox messages, or social posts that could amount up to the
priceless time spent in the presence of one another. Spending quality time with friends and
family, whether it is at someones home, at the movies, or a restaurant, is the ultimate form of
interaction and intimacy between human beings. There is some valuable, yet intangible about
having that personal connection with another person. We should make the relationships that
count last and not count on technology to handle the job for us. Remember, FaceTime will never
compare to face-time.

Works Cited
Barcelona, Robert, et.al. Dimensions of Leisure for Life: Individuals and Society. Human
Kinetics, 2010. Print. 12 Mar. 2015
Housman, Donna "The Antisocial Effects of Social Media." New York Times 26 Apr. 2012:
A22(L). Science in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Jones, Haley. "Social Media's Affect on Human Interaction." HASTAC. 7 June 2013. Web. 25
Mar. 2015.
Kenechi "Is Social Media Degrading Human Interaction?" Youtube. 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Mar.
2015.
Nilles, Melissa. "Technology Is Destroying the Quality of Human Interaction." The Bottom
Line 24 Jan. 2012, Arts & Entertainment sec. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.