Technology: The Impact Of Technology's Impact On Society

Introduction

Where the workplace was once a venue to interact with people on a professional level, that work can now be performed outside of a localized physical site. Today, a large majority of work can be done with minimal human contact, often without actually speaking to another person. “Interviewees also made reference to a more general sense of social isolation, which was partly related to the fact that interaction and communication with clients was typically done via email, with it being rare for people to have to either meet clients face-to-face” [1] Inversely, work and home can now be forced together since smartphones have broken the barrier of required physical presence for easy communication. “However, more negatively, the fact that

With mobile devices widely available, everyone can get on the internet at any time, or message their friends. This is detrimental to interfamily relationships, as teens in particular would simply rather converse with their friends rather than family members. This has always been true, but they did not used to have the means to contact their friends so readily while at the dinner table. This has downgraded family mealtimes from social events to another daily personal chore, like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. People are only doing it because they have to, and want to get it over with as soon as they can. The impacts of readily available technology have been tallied in the UK, “Children and young teenagers are the worst offenders, with a third (34 per cent) of 5-to-15-year-olds regularly bringing some form of tech device to family meals.” [8]. It used to be that communicating with people outside of earshot required a corded phone, which was not mobile, and was shared among the household, limiting its ability to obstruct family interaction. Now, everyone has a smartphone, which can call, txt, email or access other messaging services like Twitter and Facebook. As noted above, younger people are being affected by it the most, since they are growing up relying on this technology, where as older people were ingrained with actual face-to-face social interaction when they were young, making them less

The efficiency in which we communicate has skyrocketed and allowed for us to do many things that we were previously incapable of. We are allowed to work, buy food, buy appliances, and get many more services from home as compared to pre-tech era. This has decreased the amount of face-to-face time and personal communication time we get. According to some studies college students, the age group most impacted by technology communication may be more efficient but still carrys the same stress [11]. Being unable to turn off this stress could be harmful [10]. Being constantly tied to technology means you’re in constant communication with everyone in your life whether you want to be or not. Studies show that persistent use of cell phones (but not computers) was associated with negative work spillover, higher stress and lower satisfaction [10]. Communication can be healthy and beneficial if used correctly such as using richer communication methods (face-to-face, phone/video calls) [11]. Conversely, more restricted methods, such as text messaging and instant messaging, produced negative results [11]. So as with most things Technology can promote a healthy lifestyle if used correctly but if it is used incorrectly/without limits technology can be