Technology has now become a very impactful part of society day to day-to-day life. In 2023 almost 70% of the world's population owned a smartphone and it has probably increased since then. In America, 97% of the population has a phone while 85% own a smartphone. There are many positives and many negatives of technology being so present in our lives.
HEALTH:
Mental health has been on a decline since the beginning of social media. Cyberbullying, social isolation, and unrealistic standards are all side effects of social media and technology that have an impact on mental health and more specifically teenagers' mental health. People can also become addicted to technology and people who have pre-existing mental health disorders are more likely to become addicted. Cyberbullying can cause stress, anxiety, and depression. Social isolation leads to anxiety and depression and the unrealistic standards all over TikTok and Instagram can lead to body image issues and low self-esteem which could lead to an eating disorder.
There are ways to reduce these negative effects such as lowering screen time, deleting apps that have negative effects on you, and turning off notifications and sounds. All of these things can help you step away from social media and have a healthy relationship with it. I understand that these things can be difficult. Personally, I probably spend too much time on my phone and social media. My average screen time on my phone is usually around eight hours and the top app is either Messages or TikTok.
Even though there are a lot of negatives there are plenty of positives too. Specifically talking about mental health, people can now do online therapy appointments which can help people who have anxiety or other complications and can't do in-person sessions. Technology has also increased job opportunities, increased access to knowledge, better time management, and improved healthcare.
As someone who is six hours away from my immediate family and while at school around 12 hours from extended family, I really appreciate being able to text, call, and Facetime my family whenever. Social media keeps family and friends updated on each other lives and you can communicate with them. If not for being able to call my family every few days I don't know if I would have gone to a school out of state. Technology can help you reach people across the world which is truly amazing and something new that you couldn't do before this generation
. I think technology helps my relationship with my family and high school friends because we can still keep in touch even though I moved out of state.
DIGITAL FOOTPRINT:
Digital footprint can be a scary thing because even if you delete something you don't know if it is fully gone. In social media, nothing ever fully goes away. This affects society as a whole today because when you're looking for job opportunities they can look through your digital footprint and could find things you maybe don't want your future employer to see. I have been a victim of digital footprint. In late elementary school and middle school, I would go on what used to be Music.ly and post very cringy dumb videos. They have been deleted but it is embarrassing if people were able to see them. Google also uses your footprint to show you relevant ads and things you would want to pull you in.
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