Mampouya B.

Muriel Mampouya
Professor Boyd
English 101-008T
11/11/16
Technology and society
For centuries, generations have seen technology change the way people live and
work. This change made the life of many generations different. When my mother was
younger, the black and white television arrived in Congo. They were the only ones in
their neighborhood to have a television. On Friday nights people used to get together at
her house and watch the few channels that existed at the time. This helped them get
together and spend family time. Later on, many other types of technologies were
invented. From the black and white television to the new smartphones or smart
television that exist now, technology has progressed a lot. Nowadays people can keep
contact with each other without actually being next to each other. Different ways of
transportation have been invented making certain tasks easier for the individual. There
are a lot of positive ways that technology impacted us but it also took away certain good
qualities that people had.
Technology has had good impact in our lives. For many years, technology has
changed the way people get certain tasks done. In the past people couldnt get a hold of
their loved ones as soon as they wanted to. It was hard to know where your family is
going or more. People had to write letters and wait several days or months before
receiving the letter. It was even harder for people who are in other continents such as

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soldiers. Now technology has made it easier for people to keep contact with one
another. They can be in contact with their families even when they are in other
countries. One example of a device that helps people to be together without being next
to each other is smartphones. Smartphones can be used to illustrate Boortins concept
of attenuation. They show the removal of distinction in a lot of different things. Because
of smart phones people can talk or facetime their family members or friends that are far
away from us. Sometimes it feels as if people are in the same place but in reality they
arent. Like Boortins says in his paper it removes the distinction between being here
and there. This quote shows how smartphones can give people the feeling that they
can be close to certain people without being literally next to them. They get to share
certain information as if they were right next to each other. This can be illustrated as the
attenuation of places and time.
Technology has also made it easier for people to live a certain life that they cant
live in real life. Social media and other virtual games has helped people to live a close to
perfect life. Turkle states that:
Since the 1990s the internet gave people the ability to live another life online,

still make real money and live the life they dreamed to have. They can have more
relationships online without doing certain demands that real relationships require.
It also helps with communication for people who are not really sociable.
This shows us how technology gave people the opportunity to have the life that theyve
dreamed of. This helps people not feel lonely even when they are alone. It gives the
individual the opportunity to chat with people in other places. This can help to make

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friends for those who are really not sociable and not make some people feel as lonely
as they really are.
Even though there are a lot of positive ways that technology helped the
individual, it also took away some important qualities that people had. Technology used
to bring people together. When television was first invented, it helped families to get
together and share time together. The beginning of this essay shows how it brought
people together to share a good moment together. Now when people get together,
theyre always on their phones. A group of people would hang out together and each be
on their devices or their own little world. Even families would sit in a living room together
and not say a word to each other because theyre on their devices. People even text at
funerals. Some good qualities such as spending quality time with people, having a good
conversation and more dont exist that much in people anymore. People dont know how
to have a good conversation anymore. They tend to avoid conversations that take time
in a real place and time where they dont really have control of what theyll say next and
they cant see the other person. What they dont know is that having conversations with
others helps us to have conversations with ourselves. Certain individuals will rather stay
at home and text others instead of actually spending quality time with them. Sometimes
they think hiding behind a screen is better than being there in person. It stops certain
people from actually sitting down and having a full conversation with others. Certain
young people hang out together and end up being on their phones the whole time, this
also goes for families. They stop us from spending a good time with others and actually
discussing important things about our lives. Back in the days, people had to get out of
their house to hang out with others. They actually enjoyed being outside and playing

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with their friends/siblings or just spending time in general with their loved ones. But now
people, young or old, would rather stay behind a screen and stay inside their house.
More and more people lack good conversation skills, Im not referring to texting but
actually sitting next to someone and just enjoying their presence and talking to them.
The fact that people will rather stay at home and talk about things rather than
meet in person and discuss certain situations led to losing the strong organization that
people used to have when they were trying the protest about something. Some years
ago, people got together in churches or just a place and deeply talked about a
movement before getting any action done. They all sat together and gave out ideas
about what should be done. Now, people dont feel the need to come together and talk
about something. Talking about things on Facebook or text seems to be easier than
actually meeting in person. Not getting together to discuss certain things makes them
less organized and the results are usually not the same as they used to be. Nowadays,
sometimes people who try to come together on social media dont even know each
other. They dont have that strong-tie phenomenon, they lack the unity that people had
before. An example of a good organized protest where we see unity is the Greensboro
sit-ins. Even Gladwell agrees that theres a lack of unity. Gladwell states in his article
Small change that So one crucial fact about the four freshmen at the Greensboro
lunch counterDavid Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, and Joseph McNeilwas
their relationship with one another. And then he adds in the next paragraph The kind
of activism associated with social media isnt like this at all. The platforms of social
media are built around weak ties. The four freshmen that started the act sat together in
a dorms and discussed the protest for months before doing it. They talked deeply about

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the details and after they actually did the protest many others people followed. They
ended up inspiring people. Despite of the conditions they were put through they didnt
give up. They all were on message and knew that if one person fought back, it broke the
point of the whole protest. They had a really good commitment to what they were doing.
It was very organized and the result were really good. The unity that they had and being
together to discuss things helped their movement to be really successful. Technology
took that away from certain people, their protests are not the same.
There are several good things that can said when talking about technology. It
changed the way people live and work. It helps us to explore and know more about the
world. Its easier to get certain tasks done and its easier for people to be more informed
about certain things. Technology also affected us in negative ways. It brought isolation
and separation. It took away some good qualities that people had such as good
conversations, people enjoying each others time and more.

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Work cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Small Change." The New Yorker4 Oct. 2010. EBook Browse. 12
Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012
Turkle, Sherry. "Can You Hear Me Now?" Forbes 7 May 2007: 176+. Academic Search
Premier. EBSCO. Parkland College Library, Champaign, IL. Web. 27 Mar. 2008

I honor Parklands core values by affirming that I have followed all academic integrity
guidelines for this work.