Final Post: My Relationship with Technology

In order to complete this assignment and properly answer the questions for this post, I really had to take a moment to mentally categorize what my relationship with technology truly is. It's not something that I often think about. Modern advancements in technology, specifically iPhones, have led to such a convenient form of constant communication. In this day and age, our brains are so adjusted to the consistent access to pretty much any information we could desire, right at our fingertips. After some reflection, I came to a pretty fair conclusion: my relationship with technology has never been necessarily 'healthy' nor do I think I am the type of person to be able to do so. I also feel that to an extent, it's pretty rare to find a person that is barely on their phone. Previously I've met a few in the wild, and I have so much respect for it because that could never be me. 

In my opinion, the root of the issue for me lies with the quantity of time I spend utilizing any form of technology throughout my day. Every morning my first instinct when I wake up is to roll over, shut off my alarm, and check the time on my phone. Then I normally proceed to spend about 30 minutes (bare minimum) checking all of my messages and various messaging apps, scrolling through my social media, and generally just wasting the first part of my day which is when one is supposed to have peak efficiency. 

I do not feel, whatsoever, like I am able to trust most of the information I see online. It's kind of been an ingrained thing for me since I first got access to internet via a laptop at probably 12 years old. Unless something is an academically trusted source (and even then I do background research on who is releasing the information), I take 100% of what I see online with a grain of salt. 

In regards to how I feel technology impacts those around me, like my family and friends- they have an equally as poor relationships with it. My friends are just as bad as me about spending excessive amounts of time on their phones. After all, who am I supposed to text from being on my phone all the time if they weren't. 2 out of 4 of my younger siblings ( the youngest 2 are 6/8 and too young) have both received their phones literal years ahead of when I did. I have literally watched my youngest sister act like a 16 year old since she was 12, and I purely blame it on open access to social media- specifically TikTok. I feel like young children having access to things like smart phones and iPads from early and formidable years is one of the worst things to ever happen to society. What it essentially boils down to is children make mistakes. And with the internet, a comment, an image, video etc. posted stays forever. Children do not have the same level of cognoscente as adults to monitor their own usage.

I am extremely thankful for the fact that I did not have a phone until 13.  Probably about a year ago I completely purged my social media, and was cringing severely while doing so. I could not understand why I thought some things were a good idea to post. When I google my name now, my friends instagram pictures that she mentioned my user in pops up, my LinkedIn and HS soccer highlight profile, and my old Pinterest account from 7th grade that I forgot the password to. I believe these images are not damaging whatsoever, and I am extremely lucky and grateful for it. I can confidently say I would not be concerned if I had to undergo another background screening for work. 

Overall, I do feel like I have a flawed relationship with my phone and technology overall. However, I feel like in this day and age it's extremely difficult to not be. I can say for sure though, that I am careful about my internet presence and therefore will experience more security during future checks for internship and what not.