Positive and Negative Impact of Internet and Cell Phones Essay Example

difference in our lives is because we provide the opportunity for it to make a difference.

Essay

It has been a common trend for each succeeding generation to have better technology and electronic equipment than their predecessors. Cell phones were not the original gadgets discovered by Graham Bell but their functionality and modeling have been improved over generations to the current pocket mobile phones (Hanson, 17). The use of cell phones, the internet, and other modern technology has spread wide to the extent that almost every mature individual has a cell phone with the capability of accessing the internet. This widened use of technology has impacted heavily on individual behaviors of its users all over the world. The impact of this technology is either negative or positive but the impact varies from individual to another based on how the individuals use it. How it affects me is totally different from how it affects another person but the results of its effects may be similar.

Tara Parker has blamed the continued use of the internet and to be a major cause of forgetfulness and lack of concentration amongst its users. What she states as negative impacts of technology on individuals is just a tip of the iceberg. Use of this technology has become so addictive and has caused mega damage to the society. Cell phones have caused social isolation in that in people does not interact accordingly in the society. When a group of friends meets they take countless photographs and selfies instead of simply looking at their friend and if they really want to see their own faces they can look at their images in the eyes of

their friends (Levy, 190).

People have been spending a lot of time sitting around watching videos online and talking to friends on social media. The act sitting around has reduced body activity and thus has contributed to rising of a generation that works between the kitchen and the remote. This trend has led to a steady rise in people suffering from obesity. This has become a great challenge in the health sector. The increased dependence and reliance on modern technology may seem like a very petty issue that can be overcome in a fortnight but it is indeed a catastrophe (Hanson, 49).

Another issue of great concern is the rise in depression cases. Depression is an unavoidable outcome of increased inactivity, reduced human interaction and poor sleeping habits all which are outcomes of too much use of modern technology and the internet (Claster, 28). When depressed it is of essence that one interacts with other people and shares his or her mysteries, this has however proved difficult because many people only interact on social media sites thus minimal physical human contact.

On my field of view about the use of cell phones, the internet, and technology, I have without doubt experienced most of its negative impacts but something that cannot be denied is that these technologies come with many advantages that may or may nearly outweigh the demerits. I experimented by keeping a log of my cell phone usage, the internet and other technologies that I have access to for a period of two days. I realized that I sure used the cell phone frequently as often an approximately every twenty minutes and then considering my use of

the internet and other technologies it indicates that more than half my day is used to their usage. From this, the oblivious outcome is that I have limited contact with actual friends other than those I find on social media sites. The only explanation to my conduct is that I have become attached to these gadgets and their use thus I keep checking for new notifications.

During that period of keeping a log of my usage of my cell phone, the internet, and other technology I have gained a lot of knowledge on things I do without my knowledge as a result of influence from this technology. The knowledge has helped me make several changes in my lifestyle to revert from earlier inappropriate characters. The keeping of logs helped me realize that a lot of things happen in the physical word and I don’t get to know or be part of while I am held up on my cell phone’s screen.

I realized that I spend a lot of time on social media sites talking to people I have never met physically and maybe will never meet in my lifetime and none of them helps complete my chores or even pay my bills. The fact that this activity slammed in my face is that waste a lot of time and thus, it helped me cut down on the time I take on them. It is of great concern that many people make the mistake of forgetting that there actually is the world beyond the screens of their phones and laptops. This activity helped me realize that there are so many questions in our lives and about the

world that cannot be found on the internet but I got so many answers about them from people around. Every individual I encountered knew something I did not and someone else did not.

It became clear that all answers about almost everything lay in people’s thoughts and ideas but a few of these answers are transferred to the internet. On another side keeping of logs provided me with a force to challenge myself to reduce the frequency of visiting the internet and checking on my phone every now and then. It might seem like a good thing but considering that I had to get written errands done that depended on information from the internet, it becomes an issue to abstain from this technology. In an effort to minimize the recording on the logs I delayed in delivering certain errands that were assigned to me.

Keeping and observing logs of sites are no evil but it was challenging to maintain my privacy. Anyone who got access to my logs was in a position of visiting my recent logs and the desire to keep my to maintain my internet activities private and people that I contact via calls or short message services using my phone became practically impossible.

Use of cell phone, the internet, and other technology has greatly increased and it has caused many challenges but these challenges are because people have become addicts or use it for the wrong purposes (Claster, 8). However, it also has advantageous uses which if not used would technically paralyze many activities in the world. It is, therefore, impossible to simply ban their usage and walk on, the best thing to do to

reduce negative effects is ensuring people prioritize the positive before they do the negative things on their electronic equipment (Claster, 8). All effects are based on individual taste and the same individual is the one to make them positive effects.

References

1. Levy, Paul. Digital Inferno: Using Technology Consciously in Your Life and Work : 101 Ways to Survive and Thrive in a Hyperconnected World. West Hoathly: Clairview, 2014. Print.
2. Hanson, Jarice. 24/7: How Cell Phones and the Internet Change the Way We Live, Work, and Play. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2007. Print.
3. Blair, Sampson L, Patricia N. Claster, and Samuel M. Claster. Technology and Youth: Growing Up in a Digital World. , 2015. Internet resource.