Technology has evolved to become a beneficial device in modern society, impacting humanity so notably that it has become an essential resource for everyday life. Machinery has influence in nearly all areas of the contemporary world: language, writing, and communication. Particularly in communication, it has influenced the way people converse since the invention of the telephone. While most were excited for the invention of the “new fangled” telephone, some had reservations on how it would affect individual relations with one another. This attitude has continued throughout history with the invention of cell phones, texting, the internet, and social media. While keeping the world interconnected and improving …show more content…
Due to these communication mediums, it is feasible to to share a message, a thought, or a moment worldwide with just a couple of taps. Anyone who “follows” someone on social media can view a snapshot into that person 's life. Technology has become such a vital component of socializing that, “[w]eblogs and e-mail[s]...[have] become a popular [means] of flirting, setting up dates, asking for help with homework and keeping in contact with distant friends (Humphreys). Technology has provided the ability for improved long distance communication. Nowadays, someone from technology can easily get into contact with someone in Tokyo in under one second. The conveniences that technology provides for easier completion of daily communicative tasks and has provided the means to make these tasks more efficient and can strengthen relationships. Additionally, technology has made it possible to proficiently mass-communicate. With TV, the internet, and social media the most up-to-date news spreads at remarkably rapid rates. When controversial events happen they can no longer be swept under the rug; media makes pressing issues impossible to ignore or avoid without public outrage or interference. Hence, technology has made society interdependent upon one another and has done so with no …show more content…
Devices such as cell phones can be a great intermediate for dialogue, but it has become the sole agent to carry on a conversation rather than being a tool to converse. Technology has become an overly dependent method of creating intimacy: “Human relationships are rich and messy and demanding, and we clean them up with technology. When we do we sacrifice conversation for mere connection” (qtd in Turkle, Interview). Gadgets have made their way to becoming the middle-man in present day discussions, and their presence has produced relationships that are only “screen deep”. Technology has also made the general public inherently lazy in conversation. For example, texting has produced abbreviated jargon used in regular banter, and this style of chatting has become ingrained into conventional language. If someone does not know how to properly respond to a text, they can easily just type LOL or an emoticon, and it is viewed as a sufficient reply. Technology has made exchanges so barren, it has dumbed down conversation by limiting a person 's expression of thought to the options technology provides. Due to this shorthand form of articulating technology has produced a gateway for conversation that lacks substance and makes us overly dependent upon it in order to