As it took quite a while to put down my phone and focus on this writing piece, I identified my relationship with technology as slightly unhealthy. I received my pieces of technology, a cell phone, and a laptop when I was going into middle school to help me academically and socially. However, looking back on my middle school experience, technology is the root of many of my issues. I found it difficult to make friends at the bus stop on the first day since everyone around me was texting their friends, which I didn’t have yet. This is my first memory of technology acting as a barrier between me and my relationships with the people around me, emotionally and physically.
When thinking about my relationships and the impact technology has had on them, my mind immediately goes positive. I think of the nightly Facetime calls I have with my best friend, who is in New York and I think of being able to hear my mother's voice while being ten hours away.
Due to the fast-paced, instant, and superficial ways of communication that social media brings, people find themselves having more connections, but less deep relationships. I recognize this characteristic in myself, especially when comparing my experience with friendships with my parents' experience.
I find myself having more superficial connections with people due to social media and social media’s values. The rapid and immediate use of likes and posts takes away from the value of furthering a deep connection with others. Social media and other pieces of technology make it incredibly easy to sustain weak connections and it makes it more difficult to break past the barriers of the screen to unlock meaningful relationships.Besides the added difficulty in maintaining friendships, there has been a link between increased use of social media and mental health disorders. I've noticed a trend within my peers of an increased amount of depression and anxiety, especially in comparison to the mental health issues of our parents.
While social media has been extremely beneficial to my life, especially after moving away from home, it has been a negative influence for the majority of my life and my dependency on social media is not healthy.
I couldn’t even put my phone in the other room to finish this assignment.