The internet and increased connectivity of people globally will always cause growing debates. I do think that as a society there is a risk of us becoming more antisocial as we are increasingly concerned with what is happening on social media instead of around us. Despite this, I do feel as though Siyan Luo’s discussion of ‘We need to get back to the real world’ leaves out some of the important benefits technology has brought about.
Social interaction is second to none, however, like it or not, technology is here to stay. Apple won’t be retracting the iPhone for something less advanced any time soon, so I think the main focus we need to now consider is how to use current and future technology to create a more inclusive society. Newspapers were once few and far between and are now something we take for granted. This could be true of iPhones one day – and perhaps already is – however, you can be sure that there will be new technology causing the same problem of people being ‘antisocial’. This is why I believe that we shouldn’t be focusing on the negatives that technology brings, but the positives and how we can reduce the time for it to become more accessible to people.
A great example of an organisation doing just this is One Laptop Per Child. I fully support their idea of providing a laptop to children for education purposes no matter how developed other factors in their life are. We do not need to look at technology as if it can be only introduced once an individual has met their physiological needs, but rather, something which can coexist and help development within communities. Projects like this are often overlooked when discussing the negative effects technology brings about, however, these children benefiting from OLPC are going to grow up in the ‘technology age’, so why not give them the opportunity to harness this. By publicising these success stories, the attitude to technology will change, more people will encourage the use of it and accept that we should move with the times; just while still stopping to smell the roses!
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