Final Blog Post

Our Relationship with Technology and Technology's Relationship with Us

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kpbv8t52SlG9wfOXpinGhNhNeC9sFDyK8vds7ndOjJs/edit?usp=sharing

As I started watching the first video about the most famous display- FUTURAMA, it automatically made me think of the ride Spaceship Earth in Epcot, talking about how modern technology got started. The 1964 World Fair's most famous display predicted a world in which technology would be our safety net and how it would solve all our problems. The video shows a world with a futuristic version of what they thought the world would look like with new and fascinating technology. Futuristic buildings and cars are shown and are said to be "the city of tomorrow". A utopia that was imagined to get people excited about the future not knowing what is in store. 

The second video, a remix of a song "Mad World" by the pop group "Tears for Fears", shows back and white pictures, videos, and music. The video shows people being addicted to their screens and having no social interactions with anyone, just following the crowd. Theres a little boy who doesn't have phone and he is seeing all of these people being consumed by what is on our phones that we don't see what going on in the world around us. I feel as though this video is somewhat true in today's society. There was a clip in the video where when this girl pops her head into the camera frame, it turns to color and her frown turned into a smile with makeup on. 

Sometime we feel the need to put only our successes and happiest moments onto social media, but in reality that is only about 25% of our lives being shown. We only want the world to see us as perfect because we, as humans, don't like the feeling of putting ourselves out there and showing our emotions to people. 

Now not all technology is bad. In fact I think that technology in some ways in one of the best inventions ever created, but every new technology had its advantages and disadvantages. 

For me personally, I have had my battles with social media and technology, but it has also played a positive role in my life. I had gotten a phone in seventh grade and for me that was late. Most of my friends had already had them for one or two years now so I felt like I was late to the game. Growing up with technology has made my generation a lot more technologically advanced than most. We have been around it for so long and were so young when it came out that it has basically been apart of our whole life. 

I definitely spend way too much time on my phone and sometimes it does become an unhealthy amount. I think the biggest thing for me is comparing myself to those I see on social media like influencers/celebrities or even my friends. Research shows that social media is lined to declining mental health in users and researchers have noted a rise in depression since about 2012. Social media is becoming a public health crisis and we need to start treating these platforms like we do with drugs and alcohol which means putting  warning labels and conducting better research into the health effects of long-term usage. I definitely think that social media is looked at now as just a part of the society we live in and even though 99% of the population knows that these platforms are destroying us, we don't really know how to live without it. 

As I have grown up and come to college, I have noticed how important it is for me to be more aware of my online footprint. As of right now, if a prospective employer were to go through my online presence, they would find my love for travel, my friends and experiences I have made in college, my YouTube channel, and my blogs that I have made for different classes. I would say that while I do have a pretty active online presence, it doesn't negatively affect me because I want to go into the social media/ journalism field, so having a more active online presence helps me. 

I decided to see for myself what would pop up if someone searched my name into google and here are the top three. The first result to come up was my youtube channel. I am super happy this pops up first because I feel as though my channel is a good representation of who I am. 

The second result to come up is my LinkedIn account. This is another very good result because prospective employers can a). see my LinkedIn profile fast and easy and b). it shows them I am focused on work and making it a top priority. The third result to pop up for me in my Pinterest account. This for me is a good result because I take pride in my Pinterest and I think it is a good creative outlet for me. 

In my first semester in college, when I took ENG 1103: College Writing and Public Life, we had to write a blog post about where we think social media is going. What I gathered from that research was that - it isn't going anywhere for a long time. I found that the only difference between social media a couple of years ago and now is that social media is a lot more focused on seeing businesses and has more ads on their platforms instead of solely just pictures from friends, family, and influencers. Brands have been using influencers to promote products to sell more, which is making social media more corporate than personal.