My Relationship with Technology
As a teenage girl in today's digital world, it feels like my whole life revolves around my phone. Constantly I am checking who texted me and mindlessly scrolling through social media. I spend hours and hours a day on my phone. While I know this is incredibly unhealthy, I struggle to stop myself from checking my phone. I also have ADHD, which means I constantly am searching for dopamine sources and stimulation. My phone temporarily provides these things. I rely on it to communicate with my friends and seeing what they are doing. I have basically 24/7 access to them. This can be incredibly detrimental to me. When someone doesn't respond, I find myself worrying about why they aren't. Are they mad at me? Did I do something wrong? My brain doesn't immediately assume they are just busy, I assume I did something wrong. This is incredibly detrimental to my mental health as sometimes this can determine my whole attitude towards the day. In the last month or so, I really started to understand how detrimental this is. I decided that my goal for the summer would be to break my own cellphone addiction.
Not only does my phone and other technology such as my laptop provide access to my friends, but it provides me with access to basically everyone in the world. Everyone in the world can see what you are posting. Your digital footprint never leaves you. My parents have always instilled in me how important my digital footprint is. They are constantly monitoring what I post and how others may perceive it. Through them, I have learned to self-monitor my own actions. I understand that the way society perceives me is incredibly important, especially when I want to enter such a public career field such as sport. I have seen numerous of my friends get in trouble for the things they have done or posted online. I had a girl on my lacrosse team in high school get kicked off the team because of what she posted. The image you convey online might be the only one people see of you. Even one poor misrepresentation of you online could sway hundreds of people's opinions on you. They don't have the chance to know the real you. I always like to use the rule, would my grandma be happy if she saw what I posted or what I said. This helps me regulate the things I put out on the internet and social media.
This global access can be detrimental in more ways than one. Being exposed to online "influencers" and people experiencing incredible things can cause people to compare their lives to the content they are engaging with. Social media is only a highlight reel of someone's life. You do not see what goes on behind the scenes or someone's actual personality. However, the glorification and importance placed on social media in our world today has led us to worship these "influencers". Anything that they post on social media is consumed by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. The societal pedestal we have put these people on has caused harm to the younger generations. Teens especially struggle with comparing themselves to online figures. Teens begin to be more self conscious and have unrealistic appearance expectations, leading to a decline in mental health. Also many of the influencers we see are using filters, editing and getting plastic surgery to optimize their appearance. This creates unrealistic expectations for teenagers. Teens, myself included, often fail to see that this is unrealistic. Comparison continues to occur. A study published by The Cybersmile Foundation found that nine in ten people from the ages of 16 to 24 responded that they see themselves negatively and feel dissatisfied with their life because of social media. This study also says that three out of four want to change aspects of their bodies, one in seven admit to having thoughts about ending their life because as a result of social media platforms.
I struggled with this for most of my high school life. In recent years, the quote "comparison is the thief of joy" has really impacted me and they way I think. I have learned to stop worrying about the way people see me or how I look compared to someone else. Knowing that I am happy and doing the best that I can is enough for me.
Additionally, people in today's world no longer live in the moment. Everything has to be captured on your phone. I went to a concert over break and I did not see one person without a phone. Rather than watching the concert, they were watching through their phone camera. The second mini video I believe is an accurate representation of what will to happen in our society if this change is not addressed. We need to go back to a life that doesn’t just revolve around a cell phone or other forms of technology. As in that video, everyone was disengaged. It truly opened my eyes to the fact that I can be like that too.
While I just listed many negatives about technology, technology has revolutionized the way that we live. I am grateful to be in an era of incredible development. I have access to all of the information I could ever need. I am able to connect with my friends at any time no matter how far they are. I am able to share pictures of my life with relatives I see maybe once a year. Technology has allowed for an unprecedented level of connection in our world. Communities from all over the world are able to interact and share ideas in seconds. Technology has allowed for innovations in the medical field and automated dangerous work. When used correctly, technology is an incredible tool. I hope to create a more positive relationship with technology as I continue to grow as a person.
