"Technology Autobiography"

            The three most influential communications technologies in my life are my cell phone, social networking, and emails. These have shaped my life for the better and worse. By having my cell phone always with me makes it easier to get in contact with someone, especially in the case of an emergency. It is also a very fast way of communication, because it is quick and easy to pick up the phone and text someone or give someone a call. I look to social networking when I am trying to find things out right away, because I know the information provided is always fast and up-to-date information. Emails also serve as another way to communicate with people quickly. I find that if a person does not feel comfortable dealing with conflict face-to-face they can simply deal with the problem via email. It has also played a major role in communication between professors and students. In the past, the only way students were able to get their questions answered was either in class or during their professor’s office hours. Now that email has come into play students are getting their questions answered quicker because they can now simply send their professor an email and get a response within 24 hours, typically.

            These communications have also shaped my life for the worse. I tend to notice that my cell phone causes me to be distracted. In classes I can tell that students are distracted or lose focus because they are paying more attention to the text message they just received. Social networking is not necessarily always exciting and a great thing to look at. People do not realize that employers, professors, etc. can see their profiles and they might have inappropriate pictures or posts that may get them in trouble. Recently, social networking has caused bullying to occur which has led to people committing suicide. People may not be aware of how strongly their posts, pictures, etc. can affect someone’s life until it is too late. Emails can be interpreted the wrong way, depending on the situation. I find that it is better to approach a conflict face-to-face so no one’s words are taken the wrong way.

            The technologies have impacted the ways in which I learn new information. The easiest and fastest way I tend to find up-to-date information is with social media. If I need or want to see how one of my friends is doing I will look at their Facebook page or Twitter before I text or call them. With that being said, I rely on text messages to “check in” with family and friends instead of picking up the phone and having a conversation the “old fashioned way”. Nowadays, people do not even communicate verbally over the phone. They rather find out how they are doing by texting them. Even if the information on social media may be wrong or misleading, I still find myself believing the information because it is my first source of knowledge. Later on, if I read something else and I find out that the original information was wrong then I will agree with the second source.

            There are some similarities and differences between my uses of the three technologies compared to those among the young people in the video. We both agreed that we use technology mainly for social purposes, such as cell phones and social media. We both said that the main reason why people are connected to their phones is because they are constantly texting friends to find out different information. We both also agreed that we could not live without our laptops and/or phones. We would not know what to do if we lost our phone or could not connect to the internet.

            There were also some differences between my uses of technologies and those mentioned in the video. The people in the video expressed that they use technology for school projects, such as using there camera phone to take better pictures or making websites for their school. I, on the other hand, have never learned how to create a website or even explored different applications on a computer. The young people also said they experiment with technology, because experimenting with it is what makes it technology. Again, I am not tech-savvy and would not even be interested in experimenting with computers or any other technologies, because I would be afraid of messing things up or breaking things.