My Relationship With Technology

 

When thinking about my relationship with technology I started to realize how addicted our generation is to technology. Since I can remember I have had technology in my hands or all around me. My generation is the first to have technology in our life since we were born. I ultimately do not think it's a bad thing but it has created a lot of terrible habits for us. One habit we all have now because of technology is being addicted to our phones. As much as I do not want to admit it the older generations who say we are addicted to our phones and tablets are correct. Being on our phones checking what are friends are doing, checking up on our favorite sports teams, seeing what new celebrity drama is going on, and more are the reasons we are always on our phones. It is like having a rush of dopamine when looking through our phones a lot of it comes from mindless scrolling on TikTok or Instagram. I would like to reduce the amount of time I spend on my phone each day, I looked at my average daily screen time and I average four and half hours a day on my phone. A majority of it was spent on 3 apps. TikTok is my most used app, Snapchat is my second, and Instagram is my third most used app. I want to cut down my screen time to 3 hours daily if not even lower the reason is because a lot of the time I am just mindlessly scrolling and could be doing something productive instead. 

I believe COVID-19 was a big turning point in how we use technology. Before Covid, I never thought of the idea of doing school from home. Our generation was the first to grow up with technology since we were born and also the first to go through a pandemic with a lot of technology. Many people were introduced to Zoom which is a site that allows for video calls and that is how we were able to do school from home. Zoom allowed us to communicate with each other from the comfort of our homes and not have to worry about getting COVID-19. It was pretty cool to see how we were able to adapt to a pandemic and use technology to still continue getting an education. Covid also made all our screen times skyrocket. I remember back during peak COVID days I was averaging double what I have now for my screen time. I played a lot more video games on Xbox and spent a lot more time on my phone. It was pretty unhealthy and it gave me terrible habits with my technology. 

Now I want to dive more into my personal relationship with technology. As far back as I can remember my first technology was a Nintendo DS. I can not remember exactly which one I had but that was the first thing I remember using as a kid. All I can remember from it was playing some type of Super Mario game but all my memories from it were good. Later down the line, I ended up with an iPad mini. I loved the iPad mini it was perfect I could play games on it, talk to my friends, search the internet, watch stuff on it, and more. Just like the DS, my memories from it were good. Then a few years later when I was around the 5th grade I got my first phone. It was an iPhone I can not remember which version it was but I remember being so happy when I got it and used it all the time. Around this time I also got an Xbox 360 which I loved to use also. After a few years, I have been surrounded by technology I have it in the palm of my hand with my phone, I can play games and watch shows on my iPad mini, and I can play games on my console. I was constantly being stimulated by technology. I believe that I was introduced to so much technology at a young age it's the reason my screen time is so high. I spend a lot of time currently either on my phone, computer, or console. I would honestly say technology is taking up too much of my time throughout the day instead of me using it correctly. A big issue my generation has is being too reliant on technology for entertainment. I noticed that when I hang out with my friends we are always doing something with technology instead of just talking to each other or trying to do something fun without it. I'm not saying we solely rely on technology and just do not talk to each other but plenty of times we will just turn on a show and watch instead of talking to each other, or we just sit there scrolling on our phones next to each other. It's bad habits that were created when we were younger. I remember when I first got my iPhone I used it everywhere even when I went out to eat with family or friends I would go on it. This created the habit of always having to watch something while I eat or scroll mindlessly while I eat. I even notice kids of the next generation doing it at restaurants they will be sitting there scrolling on their phones in front of their family. My roommates and I noticed this and whenever we go out and eat we try not to go on our phones and actually have conversations with each other it's much healthier and creates fun memories and experiences that I would not have had if I was on my phone scrolling.

I think overall technology is an amazing tool that should be used but it comes with risk. When using technology you have to set limits on yourself or it will consume you. You do not want to use technology and spend all day using your phone, watching shows on your computer, or playing video games all day on a console. That would be an unhealthy relationship with technology if you let it consume you. It is easy to become addicted to technology I would say I was for a period of time. Around Covid time I had a very unhealthy relationship with technology. I would wake up for online classes, finish them go on my console, and play games with my friends than the next thing I knew it was night time and I pretty much did nothing all day. That cycle continued for a while and was hard to get out of. It was I who realized it was unhealthy and that something needed to change. I made the changes of cutting my screen down and doing more stuff in person with family and friends. Finding the right balance with using technology is very important so it does not consume you. I would say now I have a positive and healthy relationship with technology.