Communication Technology Invasion

Many of us can still remember what life was like prior to the communication technology influx of the 1990’s. Land line telephones were the only communication technology that people personally possessed. All other communication was done in person or through the postal service. Technology on the whole was, of course, much more minimal several decades ago. There are mixed feelings about what it has done to us as a global society to leave behind these more simple times. It is the opinion of many people that the abundant presence of communication technology in our present time has made us more anxious, disconnected and unhealthy.

Before communication technology went digital and pagers, cell phones and personal computers emerged, there were different ways of approaching life. Presently, one of our most universal excuses for always having our cell phones on us is for the event of emergencies. This necessity did not apply several decades ago. In the past, people lived with the understanding that if they stayed close to home, they would remain in closer touch with their friends and family. If they moved away, their contact would be limited. This was simply part of the human condition and people did not fret over it.

Many would also argue that, in this time, people were more connected to the world rather than media representations of it. Presently, our communications and media devices inform a great deal of our realities. In fact, so much of our reality is derived from the media that we are no longer basing our personal realities on personal experiences as much as we are basing them on what the media exposes us to. This is dangerous for our psyches. We are best suited to our environment when we interact with it and learn from it directly rather than through a secondhand account.

In a nutshell, many people believe that it was simpler and healthier to live with less communication technology than we have today. They feel that it creates a sense of dependence that we did not used to have, not only in the form of separation anxiety from the people in our lives, but also from the separation anxiety we have developed for information and technology itself.

We are no longer capable of picturing our lives without phones and computers. Yet so many of us can remember a time when we happily got by without them. The digital age that began at the turn of the millennium brought with it incredible change to our lives and the way we interact with the world around us. Some changes have been for the better, like the ability to keep in better touch with people who are a long ways away, but some changes have had a negative impact, arguably none more so than the pervasiveness of communication technologies.

Digital and satellite communications were created with the intention of making communication and information more readily available. Social media sites and social phone applications are written to connect people. However, disconnect has been observed more strongly in people since the immersion of the digital age. People are known to spend more time on Facebook than they do actually socializing in person. Car accidents are caused by people looking at their cell phones instead of paying attention to other members of society who are driving. It can be argued that communication technology is actually driving us further apart than it is bringing us together.

Some communication technology intrusions are becoming very personal. When someone has their face in a phone while someone else is trying to have a serious conversation with them, or while people are dining out together, it can come off as very rude and disrespectful. A large number of people have developed this problem, which is identified as a bad habit in some situations and an addiction in others. Phones and computers have done a lot to benefit the world, but they are misused as well and humanity is paying the price. It is very important that we come together to eradicate this problem.

People are more than capable of breaking bad habits, and communication technology addiction is worthy of addiction rehabilitation, treatment, counseling or whatever effort it takes to end this destructive behavior. Addiction to communication technology damages relationships, reduces quality of life and can even jeopardize people’s safety.