after watching a few episodes of Brett Gaylor's documentary, Do Not Track, it's only human to feel completely paranoid about your online footprint. knowing that there's technology WITHIN your technology creating a digital profile of you and your interests is unsettling, to say the least, especially if you consider yourself a private person. additionally, it's also a bit skeevy for said technology to sell your information in order for you to use it "freely" - all this time, while we've been watching "Black Mirror" and other shows about technological, dystopic futures, a lot of us haven't realized that we're balls deep in one too.
however, maybe i'm being naive when i say this, but i hate when the paranoia runs deep and makes us so distrusting of every technological advance. we can't forget how amazing the Internet really is, and what it allows some people to accomplish, create, & connect. yet, when it comes to people warning us about how "smartphones are killing us," i can't help but feel some of these arguments to be preachy, if anything - mostly, preachy in the sense that "look at these millennials! they don't know how to talk to each other!!! lol!!! the internet is harmful but here we are posting on it anyways!!" (okay, that's kind of a dodgy / exaggerated sentiment, but you get it). it's interesting to note how one of the articles we read for class said that smartphones are making us addicts, similar to how alcohol and gambling ruins peoples' lives. i can completely understand that - with tech, it's easy to get sucked into an infinite space that has infinite entertainment possibilities (catered for your tastes, too). i will say that we can't blame it all on smartphones and tools - a lot of it is related to who the individual is as a person. we can't forget that addictive personalities' exist - and given such an easy, seemingly "harmless" outlet, someone can waste their life away by not truly living at all.
anyways, i think the important thing is that all of these studies and great research done by specialists in the field will hopefully lead to "preventing" people from letting technology take control of their life. well, at least it'll be able to inform people who want to get informed, and then they will have the power to spread that information to their family & friends, and so on. we can learn to be mindful of our digital footprint & what steps we can take to leave a cleaner & safer track, as well as to relearn the importance of moderation (of time spent, of information given, of just living our virtual lives). people can choose how they want to live their truths as humans, but it's also important to give them that choice first, instead of handing them technology at first and not being able to ween them off it later in life.
The general "skeeviness" of the whole enterprise is what really gets to me, too. It would be one thing if my information were just being compiled. It's a whole other matter entirely that it's being sold. For some major profit in most cases. That sounds exploitative to me~
ReplyDeleteAs for the "smartphones are making us stupider" thing, I totally agree with you. In most cases, it comes across as preachy and holier-than-thou. (Like Linda gtfo, you're not better than me cause you don't use "the twitter.") Anyway, I also agree that technology and social media especially can be addictive. And if someone has an addictive personality, that can't help matter. I think there are levels to the discussion, though, that are overlooked when things aren't looked at complexly like this.
~Kelli
Generally speaking we should avoid all sweeping generalizations. I really appreciate your point of missing the potential for good/cool/great if you toss a blanket of "it's all evil" atop of it.
ReplyDeleteIn all cases, being aware/informed and more curious/maybe cynical isan important first step. I think most people take the route of most conveniences/least resistance and that likely will not change much.
We will have a chance very soon to take on the preachy "phones are bad" assertion. In all of these, we want to apply simple broad conclusions on wildly complex and disparate systems. We tend to extend our own experiences to others.
And thumbs up for Black Mirror! I want to bring in the Season 3 Episode 1 to class next week, knowing that not everyone has access to it.