Technology has evolved drastically in the past decade. The ever-progressing mediums of technology have gone from useful utilities to help in everyday life, to many forms of entertainment. The word Technology has a very broad definition. Many people would say that Technology is detrimental to the human experience. People believe this due to a variety of different reasons, from religious views all the way to the simple stubbornness of refusing to adapt. Technology is properly defined as something that is man-made and provides an improvement to the way things are done. In the modern world most view "technology" in its modern day characterization of electronics. A modern citizen most likely imagines electronics when they picture advancements in technology. This caricature of technology is not wrong, however; technology also has come in the form of the wheel, the gun, the printing press, and so on and so forth. Modern technology has one difference that establishes its distinct difference from other developments in technology. Modern technology has changed the way Humans interact socially as well as how we think and do things. The Internet, the cell phone, social media, and transportation are advancements in technology that have had the greatest impact on social change in the world.

The innovations in transportation is one of the four main reasons for the effects that take hold of social interaction. Of the Four, the evolution of transportation is the innovation with the least resistance from society. When discussing advancements in transportation one could begin the discussion with the invention of the chariot wheel in 3200 B.C. but the invention with the largest social effect came with the arrival of the mass production of the automobile along with the introduction of the interstate Highway system. (Three States Claim First Interstate Highway) The assembly line made it possible for automobiles to be produced six times faster and three times less expensive to purchase which in turn allowed automobiles to be within the reach of the average consumer. With a car for the masses and the soon to be interstate highway system, people would now be able to travel lengthily distances to new places that used to be out of feasible range. Now the average person could climb into the coach of an automobile and travel wherever their heart desired. This incredibly drastic change in transportation was one of the first steps toward a worldlier awareness of the people and places that had used to be unreachable. People were able to travel to new places and meet a diverse range of people that they would otherwise not have been exposed to. 

The Highway system also improved something as simple as vacationing. Before the Highway system, it would have been an unreasonably journey for a man to take his family on a short vacation from the mountains of Asheville North Carolina to the beaches of Charleston South Carolina. This sensible journey of a mere 261 miles might not seam like a notable obstacle in todays point of view, but it would have been a huge ordeal for anybody to consider in the era before the highway system. Before, a journey of this stature would require months out of the year to be set aside for something as miniscule as todays four-hour car ride to the beach. The highway system made it possible for traveling to be a plausible mode of vacation. Before this the idea of "vacation" was only in the vocabulary of the wealthy, whom had the recourses to go on expeditions to new places. Most people who lived further inland from the coast had never even seen the ocean or felt the beach sand between their toes. 

Aside from the social changes brought about by the interstate system, the New mode of transportation had a much more serious purpose. The Interstate highway system was originally built in order to greatly improve the military presence. The Interstate system was introduced in the United States in order to provide better defense of the united states homeland by providing means of rapid military mobilization for the United States Military forces to anywhere in the country with never before seen efficiency. This was a critical project for the United States due to the increasing paranoia brought about by the Cold War (1947-1991).  The interstate highway system of Missouri in 1956 may not seem like a huge feat in the realm of "technology" but do not be fooled by simple black pavement and a yellow line, because the machinery involved in laying 260-kilometers of road had not yet been available until then and where advancements of machinery in and of themselves.

The Arrival of the first commercial airlines would forever change the world and how the world interacted. During the 1950s innovation in aviation would allow people now go anywhere in the world.(100 Years of Commercial Flight.) This new technology changed the world by allowing globalization to take its first major steps towards the globally aware world we live in today. The ability to journey to all corners of the earth would allow for a much broader spectrum of people of different cultures and the way they understood each other.

The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the path for world changing innovation of the internet. The Internet is a world-wide network of information. The internet is a medium for interaction between people and their computers without the need to consider geographic location. (a Brief History of the Internet) Computers and the internet alone are not viewed as detrimental to the human experience, it is when the internet is teamed with other elements of technology that negative opinions of change start to manifest.

The development of the cell phone changed how people communicated with one another. The cell phone allowed people to be anywhere at anytime and still be able to make a phone call to anybody around the world. Some argue that this lazy form of communication depersonalized the interaction that two people should properly share with one another. Some still firmly believe in face to face interaction over the simple act of a phone call. The cell phone also has another counterpart that induces controversy over a wide variety of people. The text message.

 The Text message is arguably the most detrimental innovation to social interaction. The text message has become the most used mode of communication in the world and especially amongst young people. The Text message goes a step further from a phone call in terms of dehumanization. The text message is not popular because of its sophistication but rather because of its unsophisticated means. The text message is the most informal mode of communication. A letter or an Email is usually carefully articulated by their authors with proper English, grammar and formalities in order to express respect for their recipients by spending time making sure everything is in proper order. A text message on the other hand is a dumbed down version of an email, usually with no grammar, horrible spelling, absence of punctuation, and new ways to express phrases. There are many acronyms or "slang" words that are used casually in text message conversations such as "LOL, WBU, TTYL ... etc. Now in recent years there has been the arrival of a new language that anybody familiar with text messaging is already unconsciously fluent in. The Emoticon language is indeed a language of its own. It does not make use of letters buts instead uses symbols to express an idea. Much like hieroglyphics, emoticons use symbols to express a singular idea, or when combined represent something else. 

Many believe that this new form of communication is ruining the languages that have been used for so long. To the average text messaging citizen, the phrase "I am going to see a movie with my girlfriend. I should be home by 9 p.m." is understood the same as "goin 2 movie wit GF. B home @ 9 tn." The two dialects appear completely different to the untrained eye. Of the two translations, which of the two is more efficient? Both of the sentences have the same meaning but the second sentence is quick and easy to type. Fast and easy communication is something that has been evolving in a world that is still getting faster and does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. There is a reason that language has been evolving ever since the first spoken words. There is also a reason why languages become dead. These things happen because language is always evolving whether we notice it or not. Languages die because they become obsolete in comparison to newer competing languages. The English language has evolved from many forms. The original English language would not be recognizable to the modern English speaker. So there is evidence that the English language is continuing to evolve. 

Besides the destruction of proper English and grammar, there is also the lack of social interaction that comes along with the ease of the text message. An example of this would be when not to long ago if a boy were to go pick a girl up from her house to go on a date he would have to get out of the car and go to meet her at her front door, and most likely have to speak to her parents as well. Now the average person would shoot a text message to said girl saying "I'm outside." Avoiding personal interactions that would be experienced. 

In todays world people are spending less and less face to face time with each other. This is because there is no need to spend face time with anybody for any reason except for sake of socializing. Socialization has even become effected by technology in terms of how we spend our free time. The implementation of social media has changed the value of the "friend." Social media has become so popular in recent years that many people spend more time with their internet friends than they do with any real friends. Social media has allowed us to keep up with more of our "friends" than ever before. Before the arrival of social media, the rank of "friend" was usually only granted to someone we knew personally. Now we can become online friends with somebody with the simple click of a button. Now a simple acquaintance can become a friend thanks to the internet. The internet now allows for people from around the world to be able to play video games with one another regardless of geographic location. Online gaming has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Many video game lovers have become more interested in playing online games with people they do not know over spending time out in the real world. This recent innovation has become such an issue that people who play online games heavily are now suffering from social anxiety. So much of their time has been spent in front of a screen that they have lost most of their ability to properly interact on a social level.

The world is constantly changing and will continue to change. Technology is evolving so fast that if one does not keep up, then they can easily get left behind. Only time will tell if all the changes are detrimental to society. In the mean time we should focus on trying to hold onto what we value the most. There is no finite solution to the social problems we have today. The human race has brought these social juggernauts upon itself, and if the future shows us that these changes become a real problem then I hope it will not be too late to solve these problems.

