Digital technology is a tool that has immensely changed how society learns new concepts, including communication. Phones, computers, laptops, and other sources of technology have changed the way people analyze and process information. People do not visit the library to look up information. All types of books, including e-books and digital formats, are available to buy online. Still, pertinent information is accessible via the internet on one’s phone or laptop. Therefore, digital technology makes information readily available at their fingertips.
Technology can bring the community together. However, technology can tear us apart. Technology can bring us together by giving us information about the weather, traffic, emergency alerts, and breaking news. In addition, video chatting and direct messaging are a major component to most, if not all, social media sites. Unfortunately, technology can tear us apart by the ways in which we use it. Posting pictures with explicit words, punctuation, just of threats are all types of bullying online. How a person uses their communication skills can be viewed as positive or negative.
Do you have more conversations through technology, more than you do in person? It appears to be that more and more people are drifting away from face-to-face interactions, but instead gravitating towards a more technology-based way of life. Technology is “dumbing down” our society, because people are not physical interacting with each other. No meaning conversations are occurring; which gives a false sense of reality. This use of technology could easily ruin society. The community is isolating the essential ability of face-to-face communication, basic math solving skills without the use of a calculator, and writing in proper English. Texting has made a big impact on grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills of people of all ages. Technology is a tool that is supposed to be at your fingertips to make our lives easier, and teach the community concepts that we didn’t already know, or maybe forgot.
Instead of using technology to teach us, people use it as a way to correct their mistake, move on, and forget about the mistake that he or she has made. For example, almost every person that has a cell phone has spell check, spell check helps with fixing the mistake a person has made while texting. Once the mistake is fixed what happens next? You continue texting like nothing has happened. Technology makes it easier to fix some of our mistakes and move on with our lives.
The internet does provide a lot of sources to help the community out, but it can also hold us back. On YouTube, “you can get a whole story in six minutes,” he explains. “A book takes so long. I prefer the immediate gratification”, (Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction). Instead of reading the book that was assigned to him, he prefers to go on YouTube and listen to six minutes of someone explaining the book to him; meaning he doesn’t want to get the full experience of reading the book and learning something new. By him not reading the book