Our Relationship with Technology, Final Blog

    Technology has brought several benefits to everyday life, from curing diseases to communicating with one another all across the globe, technology has changed the world for the better in endless ways. While these are great things, technology has also brought many unforeseen negative effects as well. In this prompt I will be speaking about my relationship with technology, as well as the people I am close with.

    First off, I believe my relationship with technology at times is healthy, and at other times very unhealthy. I believe I give too much of my time to technology somedays, and I also believe many other individuals can agree with this for their relationship as well. Using too much technology can lead to a lack of sleep for me, as well as my sleep schedule being completely obliterated when I stay awake the entire night playing video games. Also, technology can veer me away from living in the present time, making me too concerned with what is happening on my phone to be aware of my surroundings and the people around me. Another negative effect of technology is the desensitizing of violence and goriness. There is always some type of violence being shown in different forms of technology. For example, gruesome video games can lead to more aggressive behavior from the user compared to someone who does not play that specific type of game. The consistent portrayal of violence and death almost "zombifies" the users in a certain type of way.

    On the other hand, technology has helped me greatly throughout my life in various ways. It has helped me with schoolwork countless times, from searching up a certain term I did not know, to making quizlets to aid me in my studying for quizzes and tests. Technology has not only helped me with schoolwork millions of times, but it has also helped me to meet new people and to stay connected with old friends who are in another state or country. Without technology I would not be able to socialize and game with friends from back home and would most likely make me feel much lonelier here at school.

My digital footprint has changed a bit over the years. Even when I was younger, I was aware of what a digital footprint was and would google my name occasionally just to see the results. Back then, the only thing you could find of me was a picture of me playing baseball, and my baseball profile for Continental Park located in Rhode Island. I also had a picture of myself helping at a food drive, so good on me! When I look up my name now, I have noticed my digital footprint has increased greatly. There are various website links with my name attached, from elite prospects for hockey, to my Facebook profile, my footprint definitely has grown throughout the years.