Nowadays, technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. From the internet to mass production, technology is viewed as a wonder that has simplified people’s lives and improved them in every way. However, technology might not be as perfect as it is made out to be. The negative effects of technology can be seen in many aspects of life including social media, texting and driving, the spread of misinformation, television, the inactivity of modern housewives, and the decrease of job availability in the modern economy. 

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge in an effort to facilitate commonplace tasks. Humans and their ancestors have been developing technology for millions of years. We have come a long way from stone tools; modern humans have made great strides, especially in the past century, to advance the quality of life of their fellow citizens. Computers, televisions, automobiles, airplanes, and medicine are only a few of the recent technological advances that have transformed our lives from those of our ancestors.

The benefits of technology are widely advertised. It is often considered a wonder that offers incredible advantages for society, from the ease of mass production to the facilitation of communications. Technology has the ability to bring the world together through phones, while social media allows people from different sides of the world to communicate with each other effortlessly and efficiently. Televisions have created popular culture that people can relate to, while the internet allows easy access to vast amounts of knowledge online. Housework has become more efficient by modern appliances, and countries are becoming increasingly productive through faster and better means of production. 

Per the article “Five Ways Technology Can Help the Economy”, Kyotchko argues that technology has contributed to the creation of job opportunities in new industries such as social media (Kyotchko 2017). New industries, like Facebook, have been stimulated by the recent increase in online social connectivity. In addition, the article claims that new and improved methods are making production more efficient and therefore increasing the country’s GDP (Kyotchko 2017). Supposedly, this increase will be beneficial to all citizens by the creation of jobs and the rise of the country’s wealth (Kyotchko 2017).

Nevertheless, economists tend to disagree with such claims. The article “How technology is destroying jobs” presents the effects of technology in the economic sector from an economist’s point of view (Rotman 2017). It argues that, while an increase in productivity has always been associated with an increase in jobs, this has not been the case since the rapid rise of technology in the 2000s (Rotman 2017). In fact, the two values seem to diverge increasingly as time goes by (Rotman 2017). Recently, technological progress is taking over an increasing number of jobs previously held by humans. Robots have taken up countless factory jobs, but this phenomenon has now spread to all sectors, with computers replacing post office and customer service workers as well. This goes against statements made in the previous article and argues by using concrete evidence from employment rates in recent years. Therefore, the argument that new technologies will create new jobs in new sectors is refuted, since the majority of tasks will be done electronically. 

The statement that a higher GDP will benefit the economy and the population as a whole is also refuted, since this increase in productivity will result from human jobs being replaced by machines. Less jobs equal higher unemployment rates and therefore a reduced household income. What is the point of developing new technology then, if it deteriorates our quality of life? While the country is producing more and making a larger profit, the American people are suffering and can’t benefit from the new technologically advanced products offered to them, since they can no longer afford new fancy purchases. The advances in production methods and computer systems benefit only a select few while harming the working-class majority. At the end of the day, one of the most important factors for the success of our country is for the American people to be content and happy. This won’t be the case if unemployment rates keep increasing and blue collar jobs are replaced by machines and robots. This lack of demand for certain jobs is completely reforming our economy. Other than certain manual jobs and highly skilled professional jobs, the minimally skilled jobs are beginning to disappear, creating a salary gap and a difficult choice for people to make; in order to earn a living, one must either go through a lifetime of education or simply settle for an easy manual job and barely get by. This transition caused by the increased use of technology in mass production and computer-based jobs has left a lot of middle class citizens to suffer.

The destructive power of technology can also be seen through social media and texting while driving. In her TED talk, Allison Graham presents the dissocializing power of technology. She argues that social media has changed the way people communicate with each other; not only do we spend more time on a screen than actually socializing with people face to face, we prefer texting our close ones rather than talking to them in person (Graham 2014). However, while people seem to be constantly contacting others, they never truly gain any social fulfilment, since it’s not possible to truly connect with others through a screen. Even our vocabulary has been reduced through the use of abbreviations and emoticons. Graham proceeds to skillfully address the issue of texting and driving. While a lot of young people argue that quickly checking your phone won’t be a significant distraction, Graham comments that “if you’re driving fifty-five miles an hour and you look down at your phone for five seconds, you have just now driven the length of an entire football field completely blind” (Graham 2014). Texting while driving really is an indication of the addiction people have developed to social media. People are willing to risk harming others and even themselves in order to check their phones and stay up to date with the latest updates.

The validation we receive when getting a text or when someone likes our photos has become addictive, especially for teenagers and young adults. We have entered the era where social media has replaced face-to-face interactions, resulting in people feeling more isolated and alone without truly knowing why. More people than ever feel like they have no true friends they can trust, which is surprising considering how many friends each of us has online (Graham 2014). Personal contact and interactions with others has been greatly put aside by our generation, which relies on technology for every sort of contact and relationship. In today’s world, everyone wants to fit in. From a young age, we are taught that being “famous” is the greatest success in life and try hard to achieve it. Everyone wants to be the most popular of their friends by getting the most likes or having the largest number of Facebook friends. This competition often makes young people prejudiced and shallow when it comes to their peers. It can also result in bullying and isolation of those who choose to not take part in social media. It has become nearly impossible for someone without a laptop or a smartphone to keep up with all the latest news and trends that everyone else obsesses about, leading to them feeling out-of-date and getting dismissed by their peers. Technology has greatly increased social classes and divided groups between all ages, especially teenagers, who have developed wrong priorities when choosing who to associate with and who they consider a role model. 

A great benefit of technology people often mention is the easy access to information. However, there is reason to question this common statement. With the rise of technology has come the rise of misinformation. It is not as easy as it once was to avoid magazines with attractive headlines and baseless claims. They are now constantly projected all over the internet. On the web, there is no editor to control the quality of what is written. People without any basic knowledge of a subject can make any claims they wish, often influencing a great number of trusting people who do not question the source of what they read, from celebrity gossip to much more important subjects related to health, politics, etc. Online encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia, can be edited by anyone, often making them untrustworthy sources for formal research papers. This wave of misinformation in our society means that there are a numerous people who were wrongly educated and have beliefs based on claims that can’t be backed and data that isn’t supported through valid research.

People with ulterior motives can easily take advantage of this power given to them by the internet in order to sway public opinion in any way they choose (Vis 2017). Through a skill with words and perhaps even photoshopped images, they have the power to infuriate the public on a certain subject or person that they don’t support, or even gain followers for a cause they consider worthy. Making an article appear scholarly is no hard task; drawing graphs and using formal vocabulary can trick even more experienced readers into thinking that the article they are reading is accurate. In addition, many news websites base their stories on what they think people want to hear and will gain the most popularity. It is safe to say that we cannot assume any information found on the internet is credible and trustworthy.

Similar to the internet, television can also be a double-edged sword. Its constant projection of appealing television shows with people leading seemingly perfect lives can often be very lucrative and compel anyone to sit on the couch for hours. However, this attractive device can have deadly effects on its viewers. The article “How TV could shorten your life” presents research that proves adults that watch television for over two hours a day may be twice more likely to die than those who watch less than an hour (Blaszczak-Boxe 2017). Watching television for extended hours each day leads to a highly sedimentary lifestyle that can have adverse health effects. In addition, mindless snacking is also higher when watching TV; this also adversely impacts the viewer’s health. 

 The effects of television are not restricted to physical health; they expand to mental health as well. According to the article by Jessica Firger, binge watching TV is linked to loneliness and depression (Firger 2017). While many consider watching TV for extended periods of time a form of escape from the real world and their daily problems, studies among young people showed that those who viewed television for longer amounts of time reported that they felt higher rates of depression and loneliness in their life (Firger 2017). The study also found an association between a lack of self-control and binge watching (Firger 2017). This activity takes valuable time out of these people’s lives and reduces their productivity significantly. Furthermore, television reduces the interactions people have with each other. It is much easier to sit and observe the lives of others than go out and live your own. Inactivity and despondency are a vicious cycle that can be nearly impossible to break. People need exercise, sunlight, and human interaction in order to live full and happy lives. To achieve this, they need to control the amount of time they spend in front of a television screen.

Scientists nowadays are developing new and improved technologies at alarmingly increasing rates. This rapid development sometimes overcomes the creator’s comprehension of its effects. It can often be difficult to predict how a certain innovation will impact the world as a whole; it could have miraculous or catastrophic consequences. In the first World War, for example, the generals did not fully understand the power that their new weapons possessed, resulting in an unprecedented number of casualties (Palmer 2014). This discrepancy gives technology the ability of doing great damage to its users. Making devices that are essentially smarter than their users is a very intimidating concept that may unfortunately be coming to life.

Another aspect of our society that technology has reformed is housework. Women no longer have to do most chores by hand; clothes and dishes are washed by machines, while cleaning and ironing have become much easier through modern devices that minimize the time needed for each chore. However, these devices may not be as great as people think. Studies have shown that the housewives of today have become much more inactive than the housewives of the past (Boyette 2017). Women that stay at home now have a lot less physical activities to do, which results in them developing a more sedentary lifestyle. Such a lifestyle can cause great harm to these women, who end up sitting at home all day with very few distractions. Because of their vast amounts of free time, they often end up sitting around the house and become occupied by computers and televisions for most of the day. This stagnant lifestyle can be detrimental to the health of housewives in developed countries, often leading to obesity, diabetes, and depression (Boyette 2017).

Palmer Shelly’s article on the Huffington Post “Technology: Good or Bad” presents that technology in itself is neutral; it is the way in which we utilize the technology offered to us that determines its effects (Palmer 2017). Texting, for example, can be a means that facilitates communication but texting can also cause deadly accidents when practiced while driving (Palmer 2017). It is essential to remember that it is the way that people use technology that causes it to be harmful. Ideally, a utopian society would only utilize technology for good, medical progress, for example. It wouldn’t be used to develop more deadly weapons. Also, a utopian society would not abuse technology to the extent that it becomes hazardous to the health of its users. This is not the case for the modern society of our time, which often uses technology to promote certain agendas that end up harming the people in the end. It is good to know how to limit your daily technology use so you don’t develop a dependency or addiction. Remembering to focus on other parts of one’s life is essential to a stable and healthy life. 

 Looking at the effects of social media, texting and driving, the spread of misinformation, television, the inactivity of modern housewives and the loss of jobs indicates various disadvantages caused by technology in different aspects of society. It’s easy to focus on the bright side and ignore the  numerous drawbacks of technology, but at the end of the day it is something that affects us all. When looking at everything technology provides us with, it is important to also remember everything that it takes away. Technology has negatively impacted our lifestyle, social life, employment rates and health. It should not be treated as a life-saving miracle. Maybe it is time for people to start realizing that our lives are not meant to be simple and passive; we actually need to make an effort outside of our technologically advanced world in order to life a wholesome and fulfilling life.
