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Alayna Johnston

Mr. Walsh

English 1201.520

2 May 2021

Technology and Society

I remember when I was young and my entertainment was different sports balls, bikes, and

a playground. Nowadays these things have all been replaced by tablets, phones, and television. I

can’t say that I didn’t watch my fair share of Barney and Mickey Mouse but my overall

entertainment was created on my own using imagination and playing games with my friends. My

nieces, nephews, and little cousins, now come to our family gatherings and their parents

immediately put a tablet in their hand to keep them entertained and most importantly to the

parents, quiet. It was watching moments like this with my family or even passing ten year olds at

the mall holding cell phones that made me interested in this topic. I believe that with the creation

of cellphones, social media, and the internet, the effects are more negative than they are positive

for humans.

The history of communication devices only dates back about 150 years ago. The

telegraph was invented in 1876 by Samuel Morse who sent the first long distance message from

Baltimore, Maryland to Washington D.C. and it stated “What hath God wrought”. Following this

invention was that of the telephone only 32 years later and this advancement is the most

profound because before this messages could only be sent through dots and dashes, morse code.

The telephone was created in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and the first call was made to his

assistant, Tom Watson, when Bell said “Mr Watson-come here-I want to see you”. The next
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form of communication invented was radio and although its widely spread use is different now

the premise is still the same. It was invented in 1901 by Guglielmo Marconi who’s first message

was the Morse code for the letter S across the Atlantic from Cornwall to Newfoundland. After

radio was created and audio messages could be sent, the next logical step would be that of video

messages, and for that the television was born. Created by Philo T Farnsworth in 1926 but his

first message was made in 1927 consisting of just a horizontal line. Shortly following television

was the invention of the computer just eleven years later, created by John Atanasoff. It wasn’t

until 1974 that personal computers were created and the first model was named the Altair. In the

same year of 1974, the internet emerged and was created by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn and

all it could do in the beginning was transfer “packets” of data to the right place. All this is, is a

simplified version of what everyone does today! After all of the necessary technology was

invented, it was only a matter of time before it turned into something that the creators never

intended it to be.

The first negative effect of technology comes from its physical effects on the human body. In an

article by the Medical News Today written by Jon Johnson and titled, “Negative effects of

technology: What to know'', they discuss the many consequences of technology. For example

eyestrain is a common issue that is caused by the constant looking at screens that nearly all

people do on the daily. Eyestrain is shown by multiple symptoms but the most common are

‘“blurred vision and dry eyes''(Johnson). Another physical side effect of technology is poor

posture. Most technological devices promote a downward looking user position and this leads to

hunching and looking down towards the screen. This kind of position can cause unnecessary

pressure on the spine and neck and a lifetime of pain. Another article from the website U.S.

Norton, titled “Technology use and the physical effects on your body”, explains ways for people
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to avoid these negative effects while still being able to use their technology. The article explains

how cThey suggest getting up and moving every 20 to 30 minutes, in an attempt to avoid some

of the deadly risks. U.S. Norton says that one way to avoid a strained neck is by holding youre

device directly out in front of you. Although many physical problems are caused by technology

and devices, it is important for people to take the necessary steps to protect themselves from

these many possible negative effects.

The next negative effects of technology are psychological, meaning that they affect

people mentally. The first being the feeling of isolation and Johnson states that people who use

social media more are three times more likely to feel socially isolated compared to those who use

social media significantly less. The next mental side effect of technology is depression and

anxiety although these results vary. The biggest factor in determining the risk of depression or

anxiety is the kinds of interactions that people experience on social media. People who have

positive experiences and support from social media platforms appear to have less anxiety and

depression. Not everyone experiences such good interactions on social media and many people

have to deal with cyberbullying from either people they know or even strangers! An interesting

study was conducted by Dr. Zachary G. Baker regarding social media and the phenomenon of

FoMO, otherwise known as the Fear of Missing Out. Baker found out that “Nearly three quarters

of young adults report experiencing unease when they felt at risk for missing out on what their

peers are doing” (Fear of Missing Out: Relationships With Depression, Mindfulness, and

Physical Symptoms). Dr. Baker found a relationship between the feeling of FoMO and

depression. All of the psychological effects of social media and technology have been linked to

the increase of suicides within the past two decades. According to the University of Utah’s study

titled, “Suicide and Social Media”, in 2015 the number of suicides among teen girls hit a 40 year
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high. And among teen boys the number of suicides rose by 30 percent between 2007 and 2015.

Although this study is most definetly most conclusive, it is ironic that the suicide rate rose at the

same time the number of social media platforms and users. The 2019 Pew Research Center

reported that social media use in the United States has dramatically grown in the last fifteen

years. The popular app, Facebook, weas created in 2005 and this led to 5% of Americans being

on social media. Over the next fifteen years, with the creation of so many other social media

apps that number has risen to 72% of Americans using at least one form of social media.

(Maryville University). Technology and social media have caused many psychological effects on

billions of people and that is one of the reasons why the negative effects of social media

outweigh the positive.

Another important question regarding how technology affects all of us, is asking how it

affects children. In the article, “The Impact of Technology on The Developing Child” written by

Cris Rowan and published by the Huffington Post, he speaks of these effects. Rowan opens by

talking about when “children used to play outside all day, riding bikes, playing sports and

building forts'' (The Impact of Technology on The Developing Child). Since that time, lots of

things have changed in the family dynamics of the world. The advancement of entertainment has

changed so quickly from tree branches to iPads and it has affected the world in ways that people

are failing to recognize. Many families are disconnected and the time when families would

connect and share stories, dinner time, is now “replaced by the "big screen `` and'' take out”

(Allen). Children now rely on technology for the wide majority of their own entertainment and

this has many negative effects on their creativity and imagination, and many would say that those

skills are imperative to success. There are also many frightening statistics regarding children and

technology. For example from Consumer Reports, more than 90% of American children have
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some sort of online footprint by the young age of two and that young children spend an average

time of 7.5 hours a day on different forms of technology. The effects of technology on children is

even more concerning than those on adults because the children are the future of the world and

there is no telling how much technology will continue to advance and its effects worsen.

Another important part of life that technology has posed negative impacts on is

education. For example plagiarism in schools has increased exponentially since the internet

became so easily accessible. An article on the website, Check for Plagiarism, titled Cyber

Plagiarism and Statistics, marks the summer of 2006 as the date that plagiarism was reinvented.

June 2006 marks the date where a message was sent to a sorority and fraternity chapter across

the U.S. adveritising a new website with downloadable essays, labs, and assignments. The

website was titled “Writing Sucks”. Ever since then, thousands of plagiarism sites have arisen

making it difficult for teachers to know what work is genuine and what could have been

downloaded off a random website. There are so many staggering statistics regarding plagiarism,

for example around 31 million students all around the world have admitted to being a part of

plagiarism, accoring to Skills Counter, and that every 1 out of 3 students confessed to plagiaring

not just homework assignments but also entire essays. In 2020 and 2021, nearly all students from

preschool to postgraduate school transferred to online learning due to COVID-19. It is difficult

to look past the likely possibility that a large number of these students used the internet to

complete most of their assignments. This example of a negative effect of technology has grown

greatly within the past two years and its repercussions are the most dangerous. Students are

losing their skills such as test-taking, studying, and also a simple work ethic. Technology has led

to less learning and students losing their abilities to take tests and it is one of the reasons why

technology has negative effects.

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Another example of negative effects of technology is in the increase of car crashes since

the invention of cell phones. Texting and driving leads to 1.6 million car wrecks in the United

States each year, according to Carsurance. Out of all of the car accidents in the United States

more than 25% of them involve a cellphone. The constant distractions of notifications, phone

calls, texting, and everything else that people can do on their cell phones puts the driver and

everyone around them at a high risk of car accident. One way to measure the danger that

cellphones impose on drivers is how much it increases the driver’s reaction time. Carsurance

explains that “a teen with a cell phone has the same reaction time as a 70 year old”(Carsurance).

This statistic is a frightening one due to the known fact that with age, reaction times grow longer.

Short reaction times can save lives in the moments where decisions must be made within an

instant in order to swerve, brake, or perform another task that avoids an accident. Although some

states have enforced laws to try and deter texting while driving, this problem is growing rapidly

and causing accidents every day.

Throughout history, people’s ancestors relied on manual labor to feed their family which

kept them strong and well. In modern times, there is no doubt that technology has brought ease

to our lives but also increased the risk of health issues such as obesity. Although scientists can

not blame all obesity on technology, it is the bad use of technology that is the main cause that is

creating health issues among people. Obesity is not just something that affects people’s

appearances, it can lead to many life threatening health problems like heart disease, diabetes,

hypertension, hyperlipidemia, joints problems, and more. “According to the World Health

Organization, almost 600 million people are obese in the World and 1.6 million youngsters under

the age of 18 are overweight”(Healthcare Guys). Since the introduction of constant access to

technology and entertainment, obesity has been on a constant rise. According to USA Facts,
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obesity hasn’t just doubled but it has tripled within the last fifty years. Obesity is still on a

constant rise and to control these numbers people need to limit their technology use in an attempt

to stop this frightening growth and maintain their own health.

Another effect of the advancement of technology is something that people will

experience more in the future and that is the loss of jobs to robots. Although this example sounds

like it is fresh out of a movie, it is something that everyone should be concerned about. Starting

with the obvious, cashiers and retail staff are already starting to be replaced with robots. Even at

a McDonalds in Centerville, Ohio, they now have touchscreens where you can order and

checkout without speaking to one worker. This issue is not something that is happening in 10,

20, 30 years, it is something that is already happening. Another group of people that are under

the threat of losing their jobs because of robots are farmers. People have already created the first

autonomous farming machines and they are available commercially. This advancement means

that these machines can take over many different tasks that previously were jobs. According to

Forbes, it is not only low-level workers who are at risk. Even managing jobs are at risk of seeing

their upper ranks taken away with the increase in artificial intelligence. This is because robots

can oversee a great deal of operations 24/7.This is a group of people that no one thought were at

risk of losing their jobs to robots. According to Lynn Wu, professor at The Wharton School and

AIB Affiliated Faculty, there is a decreasing need for managers because robots can record

precisely the work completed, with no messing up the numbers and no agency costs. There is no

arguing the simple fact that robots can work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, without

a complaint. Technology has both the power to create jobs and also destroy jobs and people just

need to hope the trend goes towards more jobs.

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The final example of why technology has affected society in a negative way is the loss of

human connection. Human connection is the exchange between two people when they are

interacting with oen another. The power of human connection can deepen a moment and builder

a deeper trust between people. Another part of this is social connection and that is when someone

feels that they belong with a group and have a feeling of closeness with other people. Scientific

evidence suggests that this feeling is a psychological need for people to feel satisifaction in life.

Social media and technology has led to a more difficult path to feel this connection to people.

The majority of conversations are held over text and email and many people are losing their

ability to communicate and hold a connection with someone. Social media, although created to

keep people connected, has led to an increase in social isolation. Social isolation is defined as the

state of lack of contact between a people and society. Loneliness and social isolation differ

because loneliness is the lack of human interaction temporarily. When a teenage girl sees videos

and pictures of friends hanging out, girls with different body types, and also groups that she feels

like she can’t be a part of,leads to the feeling of isolation. Steve Cole, a genetrics researtcher at

the University of California Los Angeles, believes that social isolation is the strongest and most

important social factor. The loss of human connection has led to mental and physical effects and

is something that needs to be taken seriously. Now that the United States has begun to open up,

people need to take the opportunity to leave their house and experience real-world connections

with the people around them.

Although there are many examples of why technology is bad, it is an ignorant opinion if

one ignores all of the positives. One major positive of technology is how easily accessible

information is to anyone who can access the internet. Just one generation ago, many people had

to write essays using only books and encyclopedias and now people walk around with billions of
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resources at their fingertips. According to Internet Live Stats there are around 5.5 billion

searches done on Google per day or over 63,000 search queries done per second. This number

has multiplied by 144 in the past ten years. That exponential increase is due to the access of the

internet becoming easier and faster.

Another source is titled “Technological Influence on Society” and it was written by

Mickeel Allen, a professor at Alvernia University. This article addresses the positive effects of

technology in education. Teaching is more interactive and collaborative than it has ever been and

that is thanks to the help of technology. Students have access to billions of articles, videos, and

so many other sources to help them learn or even write research papers such as this one.

Advancements such as these help students to learn better than they ever have before to make

learning more fun and entertaining! Instead of learning from tech books and lectures, teachers

have access to so many different methods of learning and interactive sources.

The third example of technology benefiting society is communication. This is one of the

biggest if not the greatest benefit of technology because of how easy it is to stay connected.

Whether it’s distant friends or family or even strangers that met through the internet, technology

has allowed everyone to stay connected to anyone! Through examples such as social media,

texting, and affordable cell phones, communication with distant aquaitances is as easy as ever.

Technology brought with it many new methods of communication that continue to develop every

single day! People can be on opposite sides of the world and video chat with just a simple WiFi

connection. Another positive from technology addresses a problem that technology made worse

and that is obesity. Especially during a time when most gyms and workout classes aren’t open,

technology and different apps have brought many possibilities to people to work out from the

comfort of their own home. Many of these apps and programs are either free or inexpensive and
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give people the ease of a work out that can last as long as they want and with the difficulty level

they prefer. Going along with people’s health, within the past five years, smart watches have

been worn by a lot of people! Smart watches can track people’s steps throughout the day, their

heart rate, measure exercises, and so much more. Wearable devices such as smart watches,

increase people’s awareness of their body and can also shed light on different health issues.

Although this entire research paper is about the negative effects of technology, this does not take

away from the many positives and benefits that come from them as well.
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