Reality Raffield

2/4/2014
Adam Padgett
ENGL 1201
The Secret Burden of Technology
No matter how much it pains me to admit it, social media has planted itself into my daily
life. Sometimes this is not out of my own will, but because the responsibility to use it has
become mandated by ones in authority. Especially in college, we are required to use
technology. Although I am learning to grin and bear it, I feel it is a huge unnecessary burden.
The only technology I would choose to use daily is my cell phone, which I find ironic since the
device is broken in half and useless at this time. Since I am not currently able to access my cell
phone and use it, I feel there is no better time to approach the control it has in my life. I think
the communication we are capable of having with others who own a cell phone is remarkable.
If only we could stop there
As Im growing up and my level of education is changing, much of my school work,
unfortunately, involves a good bit of technology. Professors communicate more through email
than directly face-to-face. Assignments arent made clear in class time so we go to websites to
read what is expected of us. This has been a problem for me coming from high school when
everything was done on paper and we knew what to do before walking out of a class room. I
Comment [AP1]: Why do you say secret?
Im not so sure theres any secret.
Comment [AP2]: Who are you talking
about? It sounds like you are describing some
Machiavellian figure making the world use
social media.
Comment [AP3]: What kind of cell phone?
Smart phone? Why would you choose your
phone?
Comment [AP4]: What difference does it
make, presenting information on paper vs in
digital formats?
also find this to leave an undesirable amount of room for error. I wonder how far it will
continue. Will education be acquired through using only the internet and technology one day?
Obviously, this is not what I prefer. I realize that some people would choose a more computer
based education, but I find it complicated and less sincere. Aside from school work, I use
technology for personal use. Twitter, for example, is something I use often (if not every day). I
will delete this app soon because of the lurking affect it has on my life. Why do so many people
use social media when there are so many negative changes it makes in society? Teenagers get
ridiculed by other users of social networks, drama seems to appear out of thin air, and now
someone you never met knows your whole life story because you decided sharing this
information would be fun. There is no need to stay genuinely connected with friends because
all we have to do is open an app to see way too much information about someone we havent
seen in years. We have become less personal and more technical. I have not accessed twitter
for a few days, and I can honestly say, it feels good. Im writing a paper, not reading about how
a girl I never met just had the best chocolate cake shes ever tasted. Do people even realize
how distracted they are? It also makes me cringe thinking about the amount of information
that becomes available to people we may not want knowing it. Which brings up an underrated
question: What is available information who is it available to? What can someone find out
about an individual using a social network and how could they use it against us? This should
scare us. Still we see more people using technology frivolously every day. Who reads the fine
print, after all?
I am hoping that with research I can show just how much technology, including social
networks, changes our lives. My objective is not to trash talk but to make the down sides
Comment [AP5]: Why do you suppose it is
fun to share information? What are you
suggesting about the digital generation?
Comment [AP6]: Why?
Comment [AP7]: Great word choice here. I
think distracted excellently describes the
state of the plugged-in.
Comment [AP8]: Excellent questions with
an excellent assertion. Maybe a more to-the-
point question could be: Should we be more
concerned about how much information we
share, or is over-sharing becoming the norm?
Comment [AP9]: Right, because then youd
be no better than those on Twitter.
Comment [AP10]: Can you use more
specific language than down sides?
known. I will also include the positive changes it has made. I can acknowledge the convenience
it has brought within our society and make those points clear. My thesis would be that we
should use technology in moderation. Our safety and wellbeing should be miles ahead of
convenience in our priorities. I will find facts that may prove the overuse of technology and
make it apparent that what we think is entertaining or easy, turns out to be dangerous. Since
many of us are a little less tech savvy than we claim to be, we sign up and give out
information wherever to whoever. How, then, could we pretend to be shocked when
something goes wrong? We need to be informed. We need to care. We need to reconsider
what we define as harmless and helpful. There should be more of us thinking about what we
are giving away to these websites. The internet doesnt sleep, it doesnt forget. It stores this
information, and I want to know what happens to it. I want to know what and who knows
things about me that I have forgotten I shared. Maybe I can persuade people to be careful and
consider what type of technology is helpful and set it apart from what is unnecessary.
Reality,
I think you have adopted are really engaging narrative voice in this essay. You have some really
good ideas and have asked questions that are ripe with potential in terms of future research. I
think your inquiry on information you put out into the Internet and where it goes is really good
and has the most potential of all the questions youve asked here. I would in courage you to
avoid assuming too much about what you will find. It sounds to me that you will be looking for
evidence on why the internet is so bad. Try to be open to discovery as you conduct your
Comment [AP11]: So youre assuming that
we are over using. What are you feelings
about google glass?
Comment [AP12]: But doesnt the internet
and social media keep us informed?
Comment [AP13]: What if someone cares
that Sally Sue ate a piece of really delicious
cake today? Are these ideas subjective? It
sounds to me like you are now building a case
for social media.
Comment [AP14]: This is a really good
sentence.
Comment [AP15]: This is certainly an
interesting place to investigate.
research. Read broadly and ask these questions as a guide as opposed to assuming the answer
before you get there. Good work here, I look forward to seeing how this topic evolves.