How Technology Has Affected the Society Negatively Essay

The society is suffering greatly from the increasing dependency on technology despite the many advantages that have come with it. These effects are in the form of loss in vital social skills such as critical thinking as people have become so dependent on technological advancements such as Google. Despite many organizations putting efforts towards countering the social vises that have come about as a result of technology use the vises continue to affect most people. The organizations have also gone to the extent of creating awareness to these problems, such as the "No texting while driving commercials" but has not been enough to counter the effects. As a result of erosion of social norms, other ways in which the society has been affected negatively by technology which includes the way people interact with each other, the diseases that have come out as a result of the technology, change in behaviors as well as stress that has come as a result of use of technology.

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The fact that technology has changed the world and still continues to change it daily, a number of negative effects to society have become felt day in day out. Constant disruptions as we perform our daily chores as well as at the place of work is one effect that technology has on the society (Liu Jie and Wang Jiang 10). These disruptions are because our phones as well as other forms of technology such as laptops and video gaming have resulted to disruptions in our daily lives and has continued eating up our time that could have been spent doing other important things in the society. Also, technology has not only disrupted us from performing our daily chores but is also affecting how we relate to our friends, partners as well as family. For instance, when one is with friends or family for dinner, it is common to get disrupted by items that have come as a result of technology such as television, iPad, laptops as well as phones that take our concentration from our family and friends (Liu Jie and Wang Jiang 13). Therefore, technology in a way has led to the disruption from knowing how the family has spent their day as well as know whether our kids, family members as well as partners have concerns which are the main aim of having dinner together. However, technology makes us concentrate on our phones or laptops more than our family and thus hinder us from these important social interactions that are needed for proper growth of our brains as well as have a good life. Also, destructions by agents of technology have been experienced in the workplaces also, something that has led to the overall output of the organization within the society.

Another negative effect of technology on the society is that it has brought addiction to the use of social media as well as other products of technology (Liu Jie and Wang Jiang 18). For instance, most people wake up early in the morning and the first thing they do is check their mobile phones for messages on WhatsApp, new followers on twitter or check their Facebook timelines. Also, as the day proceeds most people will find themselves checking their mobile phones that make them addicts as they continue doing so (Fox 313). Therefore, this challenge that has befallen most people in the society need to be looked at and the only way it can be addressed is by people who are addicted to the technologies being aware of their addiction and thus purpose to change their situation as days go by. Addiction has also resulted in another negative effect of technology such as the development of new kind of habits among people in the society. This is because, with the recent technological advancements, people have developed new habits that have become had for the society to tackle because they are not aware of the solutions to the habits that have proved to be problematic. Such habits that have come as a result of teen addiction to the internet is the embracement of technology as a toy that has led to inhibition in their creativity and brain development levels (Fox 310).

Additionally, poor sleeping habits is another issue that negative effects of technology can be attributed to. These poor sleeping habits are as a result of the way most people get stuck into online activities that make us stay for too long without sleeping and also the constant streaming of information can make it hard for most people to fall asleep as their brains cannot switch off. Also, the light from the screen of mobile phones can also affect the release of the sleep chemical referred to as melatonin (Liu Jie and Wang Jiang 14). It would, therefore, be good if people would embrace keeping technology out of the bedroom so as to avoid such effects and have a good sleep. In addition to poor sleeping habits, technology has affected our health despite it increasing the pace of life. This is because with the many equipment that have been developed to handle various tasks in our daily lives have really affected the physical fitness of people as compared to the past since people are never involved in physical exercise today.

Stress is another negative effect that is attributed to technological advancements as today we are constantly "connected" and "plugged in" and therefore whenever one send an email or message, he or she expects an instant reply (Baym 12). Therefore, when such an instant reply is not there, it causes another layer of stress to the sender that would not have been there if the technology was not in place (Rim and Song 480). It is therefore important for people to embrace patience so as to counter the stress and conflict may arise from such. Also, WhatsApp messaging and other social media platforms that include a notification when one opens or reads a message has also contributed to unnecessary conflicts within the society as people get upset when they send messages and get receipt notifications but get no reply in time. Additional stress has also arisen as a result of the decrease in the self-esteem of individuals as a result of few comments and likes that people receive on Facebook when they post their photos (Rim and Song 478). When one receives few comments as compared to his or her friends, he or he feels unappreciated something that would not have been there if the technology was not in place. It is also important to note that technology has in a great way changed the behaviors of people and thus increased human greed since people have been exposed to other people's things that they admire maliciously.

Inadequate social skills among members of the society is another negative that has come as a result of technological advancements. This loss of social skills is because when we use social media outlets, we are not in the position to meet people face-to-face regularly and thus result in loss of social skills that are needed by every social being like human beings ("Social Networks: Privacy Granted and the Negative Effects for the Individual and Society" 198). The loss of interest in people has come about because technology has become more of a comfort zone to people especially when it comes to interacting with other people. For instance, when one looks around places like bus parks, inside trains or even in the streets, most people seem to be on their phones and with earphones a clear indication that they are more into interacting with the technology that the way they interact with other people ("Social Networks: Privacy Granted and the Negative Effects for the Individual and Society" 200). Also, it has been seen that people during social gatherings, everyone is always looking at their phones thus making social interaction less as compared to how people check to their Instagram and Facebook accounts. Also, social interaction has been hindered further as people glued to their phones find it hard to leave the house or even leave their phones as they may undergo stress or even lead to anxiety.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is good to note that despite the technological advancements being one of the greatest achievements that humankind has achieved, it has a number of effects that are affecting the society such that it has become hard for people to socialize with others without their phones. Also, despite the television helping people at first, they have been incorporated into other devices that bring people and also keep them apart in equal measures. Therefore, it is important for people in this era to learn how they can socialize with others while avoiding the constant influence of televisions, phones as well as other technology.

Works Cited

Baym, Nancy K. "Social Media and the Struggle for Society." Social Media + Society, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, p. 205630511558047.

Fox, Stephen. "The innovation big picture: Including effectiveness dependencies, efficiency dependencies, and potential negative effects within the framing of new technologies." Technology in Society, vol. 35, no. 4, 2013, pp. 306-314.

Liu Jie, and Wang Jiang. "The Negative Effects of Information Technology on Employees' Mental Health and Their Solutions." 2008 International Seminar on Business and Information Management, 2008.

Rim, Hyejoon, and Doori Song. ""How Negative Becomes Less Negative": Understanding the Effects of Comment Valence and Response Sidedness in Social Media." Journal of Communication, vol. 66, no. 3, 2016, pp. 475-495.

"Social Networks: Privacy Granted and the Negative Effects for the Individual and Society." International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), vol. 5, no. 3, 2016, pp. 198-201.