Negative Effects of Technology By: Erin Santiago

How much is too much? Can you go one week without video games? Can you go one week without your MySpace or Facebook? Can you go one week without internet?

Lately I have been reflecting on the fact that we as a society sometimes depend upon technology a little too much. Technology has made our lives so much easier and more simple, but I fear that it has also paralyzed the way our generation thinks and behaves.

Effects on our Youth Our generation has come out with all of these new technologies such as the Wii, Playstation, and Xbox. These technologies may be fun but they have caused young kids to start depending on technology at an early age. Instead of doing their homework, chores, spending time with their family, or playing sports most choose video games as their main priority.

BEWARE The following clips contain foul language and is not acceptable for children under the age of 13.

This clip is a story of a boy who is addicted to MySpace, to the point that he seems to be mentally unstable. This is a clip of a kid playing halo, he is ranked Lastly, this is a clip of a teenager whose mom canceled his World of Warcraft account. Is this behavior normal?

Even though you might not realize it, technology has taken away from relationships and the business world. “People used to always call meetings, or have business lunches, sometimes a quick e- mail is all you’ll receive from a superior,” (Heather). Our generation is now more likely to send an or a text to family members and friends rather than picking up the phone and actually talking to them.

MySpace and Facebook MySpace and Facebook are social networking sites that can help you build stronger relationships with friends but, it can also break them. Specifically romantic relationships. It can increase jealousy and trust issues. –Maybe because your significant other isn’t always sending you comments but rather is talking to their friends or people of the opposite sex more. –Maybe they don’t put up a lot of pictures of the two of you together like you do or gush about your relationship all over their profile. –Some people become obsessed with constantly viewing their partners profiles in order to see what they are doing.

Documentary on how Facebook effects relationships

A recent study taken by Ben Parr Showed that there are four themes contributed to jealousy on Facebook: 1.Accessibility of information: Increased info about the interactions of significant others lead to increased monitoring and jealousy for 19.1% of participants 2.Relationship jealousy: 16.2% of respondents were explicitly linked to Facebook use contributing to jealousy 3.Facebook as an addiction: 10.3% of participants had major difficulty limiting the amount of time he or she looked at his or her partner’s Facebook profile. 4.Lack of context: 7.4% of respondents referenced how Facebook can be ambiguous and that, without context, jealousy can be spurred over misunderstandings.

Addicted to the Internet? There is rehab for that. Ben Alexander, 19, is a former student at the University of Iowa but spent every waking minute of his time playing World of Warcraft. As a result, he flunked out. In order to break his addiction that he says, is just as addictive as alcohol and drugs, he needed to seek professional help. Alexander was able to find reSTART, which is the first residential treatment center for Internet addiction in the United States. “It opened in July and for $14,000 offers a 45- day program intended to help people wean themselves from pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time- killers brought courtesy of technology,” (Geranios).

Technology has made life a lot easier on us and I am not trying to say technology is bad because, I personally would have a hard time functioning without it. However, there comes a point when we need to set boundaries on how much technology “intake” we consume because, not all good things stay good. There are negative side effects to technology as you can see and we need to be aware of them in order to control it.

Works Cited Geranious, Nicholas K. "Addicted to the Internet? There’s rehab for that - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- msnbc.com. 3 Sept Web. 07 Dec Heather. "Sometimes We Depend on Technology Too Much." 26 Mar Web. 5 Dec Live Science Staff. "Some Children Really Are Addicted to Video Games | LiveScience." LiveScience | Science, Technology, Health & Environmental News. 20 Apr Web. 06 Dec Parr, Ben. "Study: Facebook Increases Jealousy in Relationships." Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable – The Social Media Guide. 9 Aug Web. 03 Dec < relationship-jealous/>.