Technology in general is doing one of two things to us. It is making us lazier and inherently more dependent on it, as well as making us more specific and controlling. Specifically, we are stuck in a generational divide of being concise or careless consumers.
The reason I say this is because it has never become easier to streamline your life through the technological advances made available to us. Hungry in your night class and don't feel like cooking when you get home? It's no problem. Just sneak on your laptop or use data on your smart phone to go online and order a pizza and have it delivered within five minutes of arriving home. Also, we can shop and buy a myriad of other things online such as clothing, shoes, make-up, music, etc. In fact, I haven't even bought an overpriced textbook out of the campus store in a few years. The great thing about this is also that often times, there are reviews that one can read that have been written by our peers, for realistic feedback and anticipation on what to expect. Websites such as tripadvisor.com and yelp.com are crucial to many people people in making distinctive decisions on where to dine and entertain oneself.
The downside with the internet being such a cold medium is that we are losing our focus on how to productively spend our time. This is what essentially what I mean by the fact that we have become careless consumers. Our parents, the older generation didn't as readily have to worry about internet predators and trolling. Not to mention that although we are connecting and communicating on sites such as Facebook and Instagram, is all of this extra banter really necessary? Or is it more of a narcissus syndrome and a need to validate the supposed awesomeness of our individual existence? Such seems to be the case on website such as fourchan, jezebel and gawker. So many anonymous folks troll for the sheer pleasure of riling others up. Also, many times when one is mindlessly shopping online, is that stuff really necessary, or is it ultimately more superfluous sartorial artifacts that we don't need, but still justify for our self esteems as we shop in our underwear at two in the morning.
Overall, mass media is achieving its goal of improving the overall quality of our lives, but we must be mindful of the other underlying costs associated with the penance we must pay to provide for ourselves these novel new ways of life. One must be responsible and properly educated to reap the full benefits, lest we become oversaturated further, and muddle this mystery of our lives. Some of the older generations tend to rebuke and renounce these new ways of life, and that is their own blissfully ignorant and or intelligent choice to make.
Attached is a cartoon from a website that I love about many social commentaries.
www.theoatmeal.com
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