The Impact of Technology in Our Lives - Research Paper Example

The Impact of Technology in Our Lives It is of critical importance to note that in Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, the writer argues convincingly about the personal destruction that results from our growing use of technology as well as our growing dependence on social media technology. The overdependence on technology by human beings seems beneficial in some sense. This follows that technology helps in making things seem easy. Technology has had several impacts in our daily lives, social as well as economic lives. Technology has led to ease in communication. This makes the passage of information form one party to another very easy and fast. The increased use of technology in our daily modes of communication is seen as a breakthrough in the world of today (Rajagopal, 72). Technology can also be used in several other areas including the business world. This is because of the reliability in information delivery. This reliability in information delivery is due to the fact that social media technology is networking several individuals from different corners of the world. Therefore, any information that needs to be passed may easily reach the targeted groups with less strain. Again, it is of crucial significance to acknowledge the fact that the use of technology, for instance, the social media is of critical importance due to the fact that it is less costly. This is the most cost effective way of communication in the current world. However, it is of critical significance to note that each and every invention must have its merits as well as demerits. The use of social media influences the community in several ways. These may include both positive as well as negative ways. The negative ways in which the use of social media influences the community are very many. Some of these ways range from behavioral change, variations in taste of psychology as well as erosion of common sense provided by nature. It is of crucial significance to highlight that the escalating use of social media is tantamount to disdaining the realities of life in several senses (Rajagopal, 53). This follows that the use of social media in our lives greatly affects several elements of humanity communication and intimacy. Again, the increased use of technology, specifically the use of social media affects the nature in which human beings behave. It erodes the human reality of life in several aspects involving the issue of human responsibilities. The use of technology has made human beings delegate several of their roles to the technological devices. Some of these devices include the robots as well as other technological devices that make work easier to human beings. These devices are the ones who execute all the duties that a person would have executed in the natural way. In this sense, it is of critical importance to acknowledge the fact that the use of technology is soon replacing humanity core and natural ways of survival (Rajagopal, 64). It is prudent enough to acknowledge eh role played by Sherry Turkle in shedding more sense in the influences that the increasing use of technology has on the social lives of human beings in her book entitled Alone Together. In this regard, it is significant enough to look at some of the issues that support the arguments of Sherry Turkle on the roles as well as influences that the escalating use of social media technology has had in the social lives of human beings. This is based on the negative as well as the positive impacts. It is of crucial significance to note that the increasing use of social media makes human beings fall victims of love with the several ideas revolving around improved lifestyle, the idea of life as well as boosting of personal esteem (Blossom, 37). No one is ready to remain behind in the current world of technology. Each and every person strives to remain socially relevant in the field of technology. In this manner, each and every subscriber of social media fights for this social relevance by ensuring that he or she maintains a continued presence in the platform regardless of the social harm he or she invests in her personal life. This is clearly depicted in Sherry Turkle’s book Together Alone. The continued absorption of the people in the world of social network makes human beings deviate from reality of life. This is evident in several aspects. In this regard, human beings become subjects of loneliness authorized by the fear of intimacy as is depicted by Sherry Turkle in her book, Alone Together. In this perspective, the escalating use of social media, though enjoyable, makes people deviate from reality of nature, in character, behavior as well as relationships involving intimacy at the expense of technological loneliness. The human beings tend to fear intimacy owing to the fact that more credence is given to the social media relevant to its convenience as well as control (Blossom, 45). It is of critical importance to note that in real life situation, the issue of intimacy plays a very significant role in the lives of human beings. Every person needs to keep in natural touch with intimacy. This helps in expanding the horizons of personality of each and every individual in several aspects. However, it is sad to note that all these lack in social media. The intimacy is critical in the sense that it leads to natural understanding, as well as gaining of knowledge that is helpful to the humanity. In this regard, it is critical to note that intimacy requires several elements including sharing, compromise as well as long term sacrifices. In addition, intimacy requires long term commitment as well as advanced listening skills (Blossom, 57). This is a reality only found in the natural world but is non-existent in the use of social media. Intimacy in human beings requires a considerable input of efforts to make it fruitful. However, the use of social media provides the least in intimacy. The use of social media technology has made people to deviate from this form of reality and naturality in life (Noor and John, 53). As such, people have been massively moving to a phony cyber world thereby neglecting the whole issue of intimacy in friendships. In this regard, people have been keenly falling victims of illusions, perceptions as well as preconceived thoughts thereby totally disregarding the reality in nature. This makes the role played by social media in our lives be considered negative as is depicted by Sherry Turkle. In her argument, Sherry Turkle states that “We begin to prefer archetypal forms, in simulated form, which conform to our preconceived ideas about what the object should be rather than reality ” (Turkle,1 ). This clearly indicates the extent to which the use of social media has been negatively impacting the humanity in general. Human beings have been technologically neglecting reality of life at the expense of staying relevant to social media. Yet, the impacts of the same social media in the lives of human beings with regards to intimacy is at stake as depicted by the above statement. In this perspective, he human beings netted in the continued use of social media technology have depicted a sense of fear of control in relation to social media. This follows that through the continued use of social media, social relevance is the issue of concern. In this manner, the maintenance of the same is critical. Following the fact above, human beings have shown a great loss of control with regards to the fear of perceived technological reality at the compromise of the natural reality. In this regard, human beings have tended to show more preference to the perceived real at the neglect of the natural real (Noor and John, 53). In her argument, Sherry Turkle depicts that the fact that human beings have shifted towards embracing the perceived technological real at the neglect of the natural real is tantamount to make us to become more and more lonely. Therefore, in this regard, it is critical to note that Sherry Turkle argues convincingly about the personal destruction that results from the increased use of social media technology. It is of critical importance to note that the increased use of technology has made humanity to neglect some of the critical roles that they should be performing in response to nature. These roles have been increasingly passed over to the use of technological devices. Some of these devices include the robots. The robots are the ones who take over several roles of humanity in the current world (Blossom, 61). They can be used for messaging as well as perform other domestic roles. The increased use of such technological devices to execute the roles of humanity makes human beings to become extremely lazy. In addition, the escalating use of such technological devices as well as machines kills the natural intimacy in human beings. This makes us feel lonely, though under the umbrella of technology, majority of people have not realized his fact. In addition, the increased use of such technological machines kills our soulful expression. However, these are necessary for humanity in several aspects. The exclusion of such things like intimacy and soulful expression and inclusion of such vices as laziness in the social life is extremely detrimental to an individual’s personality and character. This makes humanity to perform less expectedly in the relationships. In real sense, such are highly likely to cause loneliness in human beings as is depicted by Sherry Turkle in her arguments. Works Cited Blossom, John. Content Nation: Surviving and Thriving As Social Media Changes Our Work, Our Lives, and Our Future. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2013. Internet resource. Noor, Al-Deen H. S, and John A. Hendricks. Social Media: Usage and Impact. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2012. Print. Rajagopal, . Managing Social Media and Consumerism: The Grapevine Effect in Competitive Markets. , 2013. Internet resource. Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. , 2012. Print. Read More