Final blog post

Is your relationship with technology healthy?

 

     That's a question not enough people ask themselves day to day and should. One's relationship with tech and social media specifically can have an overall positive or negative effect on one's happiness, this is displayed in many studies in the recent years. Little over a year ago I deleted Snapchat, which was my most used app which I found myself extremely addicted to. Why did I do this you might ask? well for a whole bunch of reasons, but to start fake and toxic people surrounding me is not something I want as I grow and develop as a man.

     Every day I was in contact with or snap chatting over 20 people, easily. Sharing useless pictures and a lot of the times not even words. I thought I had true relationships with these people except when tell them in person they wouldn't treat me the same or acted like the truly didn't know me. But how could this be we "snapped" every day. Came to realize these were not my true or true people I wanted in my life, and they didn't care to actually talk to me just cared for more attention just like any high schooler on social media. Unlike any other high schooler  or young collage student tho i realized this and made the change to get rid of it. I stated before I was talking to over 20 people a day. And when I deleted Snapchat of those 20 only 4 texted me.... This showed me a lot and more than I even thought I cared to know.

     I would say my relationship with technology is pretty healthy because I try to manage it to the best of my ability to be a tool and helpful not a hinderance or problem. That being said the transition from constant Snapchat use to completely none was tough I cant lie. But then I just reminded myself, 4 out of 20, 4 out of 20. On snapchat there is also a feature where you can post "Stories" or show everyone you have added what you're doing not just send a picture to a single person. After going back in my head and thinking what i could be missing, because there was absolutely nothing. Why do I care to see more pictures of the car meet him at, the lake that I live on, or the sunset that I can actually see in real life. I will tell you, I do not. 

 I don't want to seem like I'm a perfect candidate for no social media and not being addicted to technology. Because after the downfall of Snapchat Instagram became much more prevalent in my life. I still try to manage it as much as I possibly can, but I don't see it getting in the way nearly as much of Snapchat used to. If you find yourself addicted to social media and have questions or need help here is a a like to help link .  That website i found was great because the first thing you see on the home page is a huge banner that says "signs of social media addiction" and gives top red flags. The website also offers treatment, help lines and much more. Also linked here is a website explain social medias effects on mental health link, there are millions of websites for both of these but I liked these 2. 

That being said I also deleted all of my Instagram pictures that were not professional that way I don’t t have absolutely 0 online isn't it for future employer wants to look me up and do some digging. Thats a perfect introduction to my next topic of tech. It allows people to only show what they want. Only show the best of their lives. Or in return  only  show the worst! both gain attention, which bothers me just as much. I think how do you can be extremely misleading, but I think i do a good job of showing the real me and a respectable me. But if you can sort through all the BS and find things and people you are passionate about and that don't get in your way and have those be the only things on your feed tech can be an amazing tool. The more you can stay away from fluff and misleading content the more happy you will be, and the better off your social media experience will be.

(for some reason the video of my dads linkedin wont play on my end)

My dad uses linked in to basically run his entire business. The amount of connections that he's made through that technology are unreal. Being able to buy and sell businesses is all about connections and without that website she would basically have been limited to only his phone. With that the amount of phone calls he's made in this year to close deals is probably in the hundreds, and phones can't be overlooked as one of the technological advancements in the last 10 years. From flip phones to blackberries to iphones, the progression has done nothing but excelled growth for business. Mom being an accountant for over 25 years using excel was her absolute lifeline and literal money maker. Without that technology we wouldn't have the house we have or be able to wear the clothes that we wear.  So for my family tech is everything. Even if its just a small thing like my dad going to end his night smoking a cigar watching a show on Netflix on his "movie making device" (smart tv).

Overall ability to connect with people in your area or even around the globe using technology is unmatched. Without technology Time zones get in the way of Business. Without tech global issues such as the pandemic wouldn’t spread and much people are put at risk and possibly harmed. With out tech so many jobs would be lost and or never been created to start. Lastly as expressed on many occasions in class whistleblowers use tech every day to save us from having political things go unnoticed and or having things big company’s like the evil Facebook and Google do slide under the rug.