Final Technology Post

     Though out this semester our class has spoke a lot about technology and the positive and negative affects of it. I never really thought much about my relationship to technology until this class. It has really sparked my thinking and made me consider some things. Overall I think I have a good relationship with technology. I have always considered myself very proficient with technology. Since I was young I could always fix my devices and my family now calls me the IT. I think because I understand technology so well I have been able to use it in moderation and for good. I have and IPad, iPhone, and a Mac. I use these things for artistry, note taking, organizing etc. I find it very helpful and I absolutely love how I use my technology. I definitely think part of my love for technology could be because I am good at using it so I can imagine for people who don't understand it why it would be frustrating living in todays society. For someone like me I use it more for daily life and artistry reasons as opposed to using the internet. I should use technology to inform me on current news but I find myself not using it for that as much. Im very interested in the media and music side of things. As an artist and en employee of a record label, I like to stay up to date on all things music related.

    However, in recent years I have started to truly believe the "don't always believe what you see on the internet" saying. I have started to realize that a lot of the things we see or read online are not true and are fabricated. Although this is a big issue it's not something I worry about on the day to day. I definitly think it is negatively affecting our society but its not so much a personal problem. I am concerned for this societies future however.  The continuess flow of false information online for billions of people to access can be very dangerous. It's contributing to the divide in society and America right now and if we continue on this path it can be detrimental to the country. I think a lot of people are worried about this issue however we have come to accept that it is an issue. People understand the consequences of this but no one knows what to do. It's come to the point where it might just be out of our hands and in the hands of the tech companies and the government. The attached picture is just one example of the many instances where false news is spread online. 

    For a negative example of social media: the Facebook like button. If you've ever seen The Social Dilemma you would know how crazy it is to hear from the people who created these technologies. In the film, the guy who created the Facebook like button explains how he had good intention but it has quickly turned into a negative thing. It's unfortunate because I think most if not all technologies were created with good intention and the ability to advance society for the better but society took it and used it negatively unintentionally. There is always going to be those people who ruin it for the rest of us. This article from The Atlantic talks about Facebook and how most Facebook users don't even know that Facebook takes their information. It's concerning that some people really have no idea what these platforms do. 

    For my own family, I know they can't appreciate technology as much as I do. A lot of them are technologically challenged so some very simple tasks are very difficult for them and it becomes more work to get things done. I will say I love the ability to be able to communicate with my friends and family while I am away so I think in that aspect we're all very grateful for technology. The technological advancements in communication especially from iPhone to iPhone is very impressive. FaceTime has made communication a lot easier and close to the real thing. 

   

    In terms of social media I think almost the whole world has a very negative relationship with it. This has messed with young peoples' mental and physical health. Almost every single person I know has had at least one experience with social media where they felt left out, bullied, or compared themself to something and it in turn created a negative affect. This article does a great job talking about this after a young girl felt victimized by social media. In this class we talked a lot about more complicated technologies but I think the whole industry gets a bad rap because of social media. I truly think that without social media we wouldn't see technology as such a bad thing. Don't get me wrong there are definitely other things wrong with technology but social media is the one thing we see come up every single day that almost every person in the world has access to. 

    When looking into my online footprint I was pleasantly surprised to see what comes up when searching my name. The first thing is my LinkedIn and it reads "Alexa Ondrush president of HPU petal points." The next link is my personal website. Following that is my Facebook which I only use for my photography business. The one after that is my YouTube for my singing videos. Then lastly the podcast I created last year. Im sure if I did some deeper digging I would find more but I pride myself on a clean online presence. My music career is very important to me so I like to post things that would help me move forward so LinkedIn and my websites are the most important to me. Overall, I would like to consider myself a positive technology user. Here is a short article on how to create a positive digital footprint to get ready for your future. I use it to get ahead in my career, to keep myself on track and organized everyday and to communicate with people and make connections.