By 8th-Grade Blogger Soleil Antle
Our world is defined by all the things that make it unique, our ability to sustain life, water, oxygen, etc., but lately we’ve been caught in a web of technology–one that is so addictive that we lose sight of who we truly are. We see influencers as role models and change ourselves to gain popularity. What’s the point in changing ourselves to be like other people? In the past, we were true to ourselves. When I think of social media and AI, I wonder what our world would be like without that technology.
Not all technology is inadequate, as the different forms give us things like electrical power, the satisfaction of researching a topic online, discoveries to help us communicate with astronauts up in space, medical findings and much more. But there is one thing everyone seems to be addicted to, and that is the iPhone. Children of this generation are growing up using their screens all day long, spending their time learning “brain rot” or binge watching shows. Parents don’t realize the effect that constant screentime has on their children as they are also busy scrolling on Instagram or TikTok themselves. But, if we were to take the scrolling and the binge watching away, even for a short period of time, we would become more involved in what is happening around us.
Back in time when we didn’t have such things as tablets or iPhones, people spent their time hanging out with their friends and family. Relationships were stronger and children didn’t try to change who they were based off images they saw online. This type of socializing emphasized the phrase “live in the moment.”
Social media is a loop that triggers the brain’s reward system through likes, comments, etc. It helps with FOMO (fear of missing out) and makes people forget about the real world problems they are facing. But, when I think of all the problems we are facing in the world today, I wonder if some problems come from children being inappropriately influenced. Influencers who spread their content on social media have a lot more power than it seems, and their word has a big impact on many people. This applies to the foods they eat, what they wear, how they act. Aspiring adults take in what these people are saying, and use it for themselves. Not embracing their true selves makes them “sheep.” (Sheeple : people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced.–Merriam-Webster).
If we took away the power of mindless influencers, we would use our best judgement. We would talk to family and friends more, and be kinder to everyone. Think about your life, your addiction to technology. How can you work in a little time to spend with family, friends or hobbies without a phone in your hand?
Sometimes you just have to put your phone down and live in the moment.
I couldn’t agree with you more! We are slaves to our phones and we drown in information that is most cases is useless. Less would be more.
This is a great observation and gets at something that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past few years. When I was growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there was such a widespread fascination with technology in the zeitgeist, especially among my generation. Every year, computers were getting faster, graphics in games were getting better, and major technological innovations seemed to be around every corner. I was totally enamored with tech as a child, and I loved learning to write code and build computers when I was in high school.
But throughout the past ten years or so, I’ve lost a lot of this enthusiasm, and it definitely seems I’m not alone. More and more I feel the cultural consensus on technology is shifting toward the negative. These days we have fewer and fewer innovations, and the ones that are introduced often seem unnecessary. As you describe, social media has an increasingly negative effect on our lives, and the only real novel development in technology we’ve seen this decade is in AI large language models like ChatGPT, which are viewed by many (myself included) as actively detrimental to society. On top of all this, we are more aware than ever of the environmental impact of technology, from the massive energy cost of AI data centers to the harmful mining conditions involved in procuring the materials used to produce smartphones.
However, I remain hopeful that we will find more valuable applications for technology in the future, in areas such as space exploration and medicine. And hopefully as we become more cognizant of the harm technology can do we will learn to limit its negative impact and focus on increasingly positive and productive uses.