
Excessive use of technology is detrimental to young adults physical health and general well being. Technology can be beneficial in educational settings, medical atmospheres, and maintaining long distance relationships. It has also become almost impossible for us to not use technology on a daily basis. Overall technology in moderation improves efficiency and allows us to maintain healthy lifestyles. However, excessive, daily use impedes the development of social skills, is detrimental to our educational retention ability, and incrementally harms our health. In this essay, I am going to convey the importance of lessening the presence of technology in our day to day lives, for our physical health, mental health and general well being.

Computers significantly increase the efficiency in the workplace, medical fields, and educational settings. They allow for information to be more widespread and communication to happen almost instantly through emails, instant messages and social media platforms. However, technology decreases the need for face-to-face contact with professors, which makes communication more convenient but also depersonalizes the relationships between students and teachers. In Internet Goes to College, Jones discusses the benefits of technology concerning faster communication between students and professors, allowing research to be obtained easier and faster, and increased general efficiency. He states "four-fifths of college students (79%) agree that Internet use has had a positive impact on their college academic experience" (Jones 3). He also asked participants to answer if they had ever been on the Internet or not. His research concluded that of all college students surveyed, 86% had been online as opposed to 59% of the general population. Many students were required to use the internet: "about half of all college students (48%) are required to use the Internet to contact other students in at least some of their classes" (3). His next statistics concern what students do with their time on the Internet, which involves communicating socially with friends and family, engaging in work for classes, entertainment, and professional communication. The most popular activity was to communicate socially (42% of their time) (Jones 3), with working for classes at a close second (38%of their time). Students in college also agreed (44.3%) or strongly agreed (34.3%) to the statement that the Internet has benefitted them in college. Majority of students (73%) agreed that they used the Internet more than the library for researching, primarily because there is more readily available to them at a more efficient speed. Socialization with people over long distances is easier now than ever because we have multiple social media platforms to support communication. The Internet is going to continue to benefit students, because it saves them the trip to the library. Today the Internet is more widely used; in fact I'm positive it's impossible to apply to colleges now without using the Internet. So if Jones did this research today, I know for a fact the statistics would be extremely higher and in favor of Internet use. Students also use technology for entertainment, whether it's streaming movies and shows online or playing games.

Playing games can also have a beneficial effect on young adults general well being and skills. The majority of games sold today have some kind of skill building hidden into their composition. It's impossible to win most games if you haven't developed critical thinking or problem solving skills, which are built through the games themselves. In Positive Effects of Entertainment Technology on Human Behaviour, Rauterberg discusses many beneficial aspects of entertainment technology on people of all ages. Depending on the game and the age of the player, different skills are built accordingly. He argues that "kids encouraged to play stand the best chance of becoming healthy, happy and productive members of society ...  positive aspects of playing can promote literacy, thinking, reflecting and creativity [16][31]" (Rauterberg 53). While all games promote the development of these skills, not every game teaches these skills in the most traditional/appropriate way. Content of the games is also a concerning aspect of using games for skill building. There are games that are rated by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) that contain appropriate material for kids below 10 years of age. These games tend to be loaded with skill building exercises and handled with appropriate content for young eyes. However, typical video game stores contain vast amounts of games with explicit or graphic content. The advertisements in the windows are often provocative, and while these games do teach certain skills such as "logic, memory, problem solving and critical thinking", the content is usually unsuitable for younger gamers. Development of the most basic skills happens at a young age, therefore it's important to use appropriate content. On a brighter note, playing games can excel the development of social skills through games that require cooperation between players. His research concludes, "65 studies found that co-operation tasks promotes higher achievement than competitive tasks, 8 found the reverse ...  Cooperation tasks promoted higher achievement that individualistic tasks in 108 studies, while 6 found the reverse" (Rauterberg 54). These statistics support his argument perfectly, because games that require players to cooperate with each other forces them to strategize as a unified whole. Gaming systems that encourage social gaming such as Xbox or PlayStation are great consoles for this concept, because with an Internet connection players can connect with other players nearby or across the world. Another benefit of games is that they promote socially accepting behavior. He states, "Children exposed to prosocial content have more positive social interactions ... and less stereotyped views of others". Especially in this day and age, all the media and hostile attitudes/commentary towards people of a different ethnicity, religion, political attitude, or social class makes for multiple uncomfortable and violent situations. Rauterbergs' final statistics concern therapeutically beneficial effects of technology on human health. For example, the "robot pet Paro in a hospital environment showed ... the mood of children and elderly patients could be positively changed" (55). Although a robot dog isn't quite as comforting and soft as a living dog, the playful attitude programmed into the robot did cause a shift in patients' attitudes for the better. Hospital settings tend to be depressing and sterile, therefore anything with playful movement and "realistic" actions can brighten the scene. He also states "active play may reduce impulsivity thereby helping children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder" (55). This statistic makes a lot of sense for his argument because a game that requires kids to be active can act as an outlet for all their excess active energy. ADHD medicine can also have harmful side effects, such as depression or decrease in happiness. While technology has increased our efficiency and helped us achieve things our ancestors never imagined possible, there are many detrimental effects. Primarily technology retards our natural ways of building skills the way we are supposed to. It also affects our physical health, by preventing our natural sleep patterns and controlling our body clocks. The blue light emitted by technology wakes us up, causing us to fall asleep slower and have a less restful night. The subconscious, psychological effects are also detrimental considering technology has an addictive, attractive appeal. It's like a vortex, once you dip your feet in you can't easily get out.

There are many beneficial aspects to not using technology as often in our daily routines. For instance, less technology time allows for more face time with people we are surrounded by and allows for development of better conversational skills. It also promotes a more active lifestyle, which promotes heart health, makes our sleep more restful, and prevents obesity. In Social Networking Among Health Sciences University Students: Examining Social Network Usage, Social Support, and General Well-Being, Neely Mahapatra implies that social networking sites negatively impact relationship building and happiness of students after extensive use. She concludes so by stating the statistics that 70% of students didn't feel close with significant others after conversing through social networks. This is extremely unfortunate because loved ones are important to everyone, and if the technology is hurting the relationship rather than helping, it needs to be used less frequently. Also that 2.9% of students experienced positive well-being with use of social networks greatly influencing their lives. These are pretty morose statistics, especially with all the hidden promises social networking site ads give, concerning the users making more friends and being more connected with the world. Conversational/rhetorical skills are lost when users spend excessive time behind a computer screen. It's necessary to remove technology from social situations to have relationships with others. The ability to have genuinely strong relationships with your acquaintances through shared memories and experiences is also lost when technology is used to replace that. Technology also hurts the educational learning environment for students.

Technology can be very successful in an educational environment, especially for visual learners and improving efficiency when sharing files/conversing with professors. However, students who type notes rather than hand write them tend to absorb notes dramatiaclly less as well as students who write their notes. Typing on a computer does increase note-taking speed and allows students to get more information in a shorter amount of time. However, Oppenheimer states in The Pen Is Mightier than the Keyboard: Longhand and Laptop Note-Taking that students who take the time to hand write their notes have to shorten/abbreviate what the lecturer is saying and put it into their own words, therefore writing it in a way they can best understand, therefore increasing their retention ability. While the research Oppenheimer did was mostly specific to the student, overall laptop users had significantly more "verbatim overlap" than handwritten notes, which tended to have fewer words and arranged in a more personal manner. There is also the issue of distractions on a laptop. In every class I have been in where students are allowed to use laptops, I have witnessed at least one student watching a sports game or on a social media site, rather than taking notes. Note taking on computers shouldn't be allowed, because it allows for distraction. Any student would rather watch a movie or a sporting event than take notes on a class they'd rather not be in. This feeds into the development of ADHD and ADD because they don't have to pay attention to the class for long periods of time, they can give into their distractions.

Technology use can also be detrimental to young adults health. CBS news did a report on how late night technology use can hurt sleep patterns. The blue light emitted from the screens can cause young adults to stay awake and disrupt REM sleep patterns. TheHealthy.com has 10 of the most obvious and major detrimental issues concerning technology on our bodies, whether it's conscious or unconscious. Sleep deprivation is the biggest one, because when the blue lights emitted from our phones stimulate us, we can't help but continue to think about what we were just viewing because the light has disrupted our sleep patterns. Also, "tech neck" is something that almost every person who owns a cell phone is guilty of. The bones and vertebrae in our neck are aligned straight to support our 20-pound head (some more than others). When our necks are bent all day looking down at our phones, it causes the bones in our neck to form differently to support the heavy weight. This is what causes older people to be bent and not have straight backs. Good posture is extremely important for our health: it promotes blood flow to our brains, allows our lungs to breathe in air to their full capacity, and doesn't cause structural problems later in our lives. Minimal technology use in our day to day lives is imperative to good health. Technology also tends to give us a subconscious addiction; once we pick up a phone we can't stop until there's nothing else for us to look at.

Excessive Internet use wields the potential for psychological problems, giving user the potential to become more sedentary, reclusive, and depressed. It allows us t become "couch potatoes". Caplan implies in his article Preference for Online Social Interaction: A Theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being that the more depressed and lonely individuals were, the more likely they were to spend the majority of their time on their social media/networking pages. This is detrimental to helping them get over their depression and loneliness because they aren't getting out as often as someone who spends less time online. Just the act of leaving stale surroundings and exploring a new place or going outside can uplift someone's mood exponentially. The second hypothesis that Caplan's research supports that mood swings and compulsive/excessive use of technology does have significant effects on depressed users moods and attitudes toward others. The data also shows that "loneliness indirectly correlated with negative outcomes concerning Internet use" (Caplan 638). Lonely people tend to gravitate and prefer online social interactions, rather than face-to-face interactions. They feel more in control of the situation, because they don't have to deal with the immediacy and awkwardness of being face to face with someone they don't know as well. It can also seem like you will learn more about a person online trough their social media profiles rather than conversing with them. The data concludes that excessive Internet use can have a negative effect on how lonely people feel, and this pushes them even father into avoiding face-to-face contact with others. Their loneliness will be increased when they see pictures of their acquaintances out and about doing things together without the user. The only way to get better at communicating with others is to practice conversational skills. You learn through experiences, and the primary reason lonely people prefer to hide behind computer screens is because they're scared of awkward encounters with others, therefore not being forced to learn through experiences and crawl deeper into their caves.

While depressed social network members may think they're making friends on social media sites, the possibility of it being a "catfish" situation is highly likely. "Catfishing" is an online strategy most commonly used by predators, cyber bullies, and people dissatisfied with their own lives. These people will pretend to be someone else, including fake pictures and statuses about their lives to build a persona that attracts lonely people. Through conversations and other interactions over the web, these predators will attempt to obtain the trust of their victim, and in the worst-case scenario meet up and cause harm to the victim. In Valenzuela's Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation, he states that the internet is a breeding ground for "unsafe disclosure of information, cyber bullies, addiction, risky behavior, and contact with dangerous communities" (Valenzuela 875). There is a lot of truth in this statement because while the Internet wasn't created for the exploitation of people and their personal information, it allows tech-savvy, malicious people to take advantage of people who are less educated on computer safety. Computer safety education is extremely important to newer Internet users, because the pop ups and monetary scams that are scattered throughout the Internet can cause serious damage to someone's personal information and funds. Technology can definitely be detrimental to our general well being, however like all things good in this world, it's not awful in moderation.

Daily technology use is an indefinite part of our fast-paced lifestyles. While excessive use of technology is detrimental to our general well being, cutting it out of our lives completely is virtually impossible. In Freedom to Surf: The Positive Effects of Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing, Coker discusses the effects of browsing the Internet during work. The kinds of workplace internet leisure browsing he identified include checking sports results, reading online news websites, reading/writing social media blogs, playing online games, shopping, composing personal emails, researching hobbies, and viewing adult websites. His research concerning "WILBing" (Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing) shows that multiple short bursts of internet leisure time is beneficial to productivity: "those who WILBed had significantly higher productivity  ...  than those who did not WILB" (Coker 244). On the contrary, he also states that too much WILBing or WILBing in a few, long bursts "may begin to consume time needed to complete organizationally set tasks" (244). So Coker gives us both positives and negatives of WILBing in the workplace, providing us with the conclusion that technology in moderation is key to living a more productive life. As long as the leisure time spent on technology isn't consuming valuable work time, moderation is fine.

Many technology developers will be quick to highlight the positive effects of technology on young adult's well being and health. Technology has helped our civilization excel in almost all areas, such as education, medical fields, researching, maintaining relationships over long distances, and further developing industrial ideas. In Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation, Valenzuela argues that increased SNS (social networking sites) use, specifically Facebook, directly correlates with higher life satisfaction. He defines social capital as "social networks, trust, civic engagement, life satisfaction, and happiness of one's family members are all correlated to high life satisfaction and happiness" (Valenzuela 877-8). His research was specific to Facebook, and was also published about 7 years ago, so compared to today's social media vortex I think the statistics would be a little bit more dramatic. His ultimate conclusion was that "Facebook members and nonmembers did not differ in terms of their life satisfaction, social trust or political participation" (888). Therefore, does Facebook benefit young adults well being? Considering members and nonmembers of the social media site didn't differ in their social capital, it seems the site doesn't have that much of an impact, if any at all, on the users happiness. It's unfortunate that the site takes up so much of our time when in reality it doesn't improve our happiness or social capital. Again, this research is dated, so the results might differ today than they did 7 years ago.

Computers can also act as strange stimulants to humans. Computers as Persuasive Social Actors discusses how computers are designed to trigger reactions and emotions in us, therefore act as persuasive social actors. Fogg says that news articles are a primary example of stimulants, because they're broadcasted in ways that are specific to the audience watching/reading the information. Political articles have one of the largest emotional effects on people, because politics are such a controversial topic when it comes to peoples beliefs and attitudes. It's unfortunate that computers can have such a large effect on our emotions and reactions without us realizing/wanting them to.

In conclusion, moderation is key. Less technology use in our daily routines will promote healthy relationships and lifestyles. At this point in time, when technology development is so rapid and rampant, it's necessary to learn how to work with it and adjust with the new developments in order to keep progressing. At the end of the day, friendships and relationships with those around you are what will really give you the satisfaction and psychological health we were programmed to have as humans. Without these, life is basically like a hamster wheel which we go through the daily motions in order to achieve "goals".

