We have achieved a status in time when almost every aspect of our lives is intertwined with technology. Media-based communication is at an all-time high, and some argue that we communicate with others more via technology than we do in person. Information of any kind is virtually at our fingertips, only a few clicks until we can be overloaded with scholarly articles, Wiki pages or Youtube videos transforming us into experts. At what point, however, do we become too dependent on technology?
Is it when we are no longer able to hold a conversation face-to-face, that we realize that maybe we spend too much time online? Or is it when we realize that despite having 2,343 friends on Facebook, 1,300 followers on Instagram and 1,500 followers on Twitter, we have no living, breathing, in-person shoulder to lean on? Do students at UW-La Crosse feel they have become overly dependent on technology?
Junior Aaron Johnson explained, “I don’t think we use [technology] too much. I would have to say it is beneficial. The easy access to information, we can use our computers to find pretty much anything we want, instead of having to look through the entire library.”
However, “It’s probably been a while [since I’ve opened a book],” Johnson admitted.
Megan Britt, a first year Graduate student in Student Affairs Administration, said, “I definitely think we are extremely dependent on technology, specifically my phone. My cell phone broke last week and I felt like I was missing one of my limbs…I definitely think it is something that we rely heavily on.”
When asked if we could, or should, go back to the old ways of less technology, she said, “I would love to say that I think we could go back, but I don’t think we can.”
Junior Brandon Koepsell shared his thoughts, “I think we have become too dependent on [technology] in terms of communicating with people. There’s no face-to-face communication anymore. Nobody even talks over the phone anymore.”
In conclusion, technology is great. Really, the advances we’ve made in the last decade are awesome, and I am all for the continuing of advancements in any aspect that would make our lives better. With that being said, however, I think there comes a point in which communication, due to technology, suffers. I think this point is when people find themselves becoming reclusive in face-to-face situations, overly obsessed with social media or simply unable to maintain a face-to-face conversation. If we, as a society, are able to balance the heavily prevalent usage of technology, and use it to reconnect with friends and gain information, I think we are moving in the right direction.