Introduction

Is Technology dehumanizing society? Are we as individuals being perceived

differently due to improving smarter technologies? In this fast paced informational age, data
has value. The more information that can be processed, the more money companies make.
Information is power. The more you acquire, the greater potential for success that is obtained.
This is the belief: data equals money. A lot of companies see it this way and not to mention
the informational technology industry is booming. It is the future. There is only one issue.
These types of technologies are dehumanizing the individual and causing society to become
more and more inhumane. In this paper I will discuss the different types of technology that
are dehumanizing society. As well as the different ways our perspectives are changed due to
these technologies and how these altered perceptions lead to dehumanization.
The Internet
The invention of the Internet seemed to be a step forward in the right direction. A
bridge that closes the divide that stood between communities that had never before interacted
with one another at such a personal level or at all at that matter. This medium of
communication allows us to engage in dialogue with individuals of various ethnicities and
different backgrounds that were unfamiliar to us before. Now of course, we may have heard
of them before or read about their culture and their history in our social studies classes but we
never had been able to get a first-hand opinion like this on their culture.
One would think that this ability to commune with others would lead to a diverse
unifying community of sorts but unfortunately that was and is not the case. Even though this
form of technology has enabled us to interact with one another more feasibly, its creation has
led to an altered perception for and of individuals. Instead of treating someone as a living

breathing person, we have begun to perceive them simply as a two dimensional being on a
computer screen that dehumanizes the individual.
This type of dehumanization has led to an epidemic known as cyberbullying. This
is in large part due to the lack of physical presence and privacy that the internet produces.
There is something special about embracing someone and/or interacting with them live and
face-to-face with their consent that supersedes online interaction. Since the creation of the
internet it appears that this form of interaction, physical presence, is diminishing and
becoming a sort of anomaly in the world. Since the internet is available to the majority of the
public, a lot of information that is stored on the cloud is more easily accessible to any
individual than ever before. This has led to a decreasing amount of privacy. This lack of
privacy has also propagated unwanted interactions in-between individuals. So how can the
invention of the internet lead to these problems?
If we are placed behind a screen and keyboard, we no longer have to fear immediate
repercussion for our behaviors when we aggravate individuals. This shield that we possess
as online users creates a sense of safety for expressing opinions freely without harm. Even
though this can be a good thing, some users have used this sense of protection and have
begun to harm others by means of emotional and psychological harassment. There have been
countless cases of individuals harassing other users online because of their gender, sexual
orientation, race, religious beliefs and/or preferences that theres even a term for such
individuals, internet trolls. In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the
Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or
off-topic messages in an online community with the deliberate intent of provoking readers
into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for
their own amusement. There have been multiple recorded cases where such trolling has led

to suicides of these persecuted individuals. These increases of bullying has become a wider
epidemic since the creation of the internet and some attribute it to the use of Social Media.
Social Media.
The use of Social Media has dehumanizing effects on society because Social Media
sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have created hyper-realities where individuals
express the fascinating and exciting details of their lives. This fascination with having the
the perfect life being displayed all over the internet leads to an increasing amount of
displeased individuals all over the world. Social Media tends to be a place of comparison.
Where almost everyone only posts positive aspects of their daily lives and in doing so, other
people who wish to have lives like those that they see on their feeds but cannot presently
achieve it are faced with a lack of satisfaction in their own personal lives. This issue however
has always been present even before the internet but the internet has definitely exasperated it
and this problem is only one facet of social media that has had a negative effect on society.
As I mentioned before, the posting of personal information online leads to it becoming
readily available for all to see. Even though an individual can control who can view their
profiles, their information is already available for others who have the means to access it. But
this increasing lack of privacy also extends to a vast amount of other websites and to the
internet in general as well. Because there is little to no privacy once you create a social media
profile the chances of you being harassed increases. This can lead to potential stalkers
becoming more aware of your daily life and potentially your location depending on what you
post. Not only that but it also allows for any other individuals to message you, contact you or
post something about you without your explicit consent.
For instance, there was a young man who was teased for being a My Little Pony
fan. He brought a backpack to school with a My Little Pony design and ever since that day

his classmates harassed him online making fun of him for wearing the girlish childish
backpack. The young man was so traumatized by the online posts that he stopped going to
school and his parents even considered home schooling him or changing schools. If he didnt
have any form of social media or internet accounts he could have avoided a majority of the
teasing since most of it was only online because schools have surveillance that is provided by
teachers and/or administrators that could limit and/or prevent the harassment entirely and
possibly even stop it. In the other hand, because of his social media accounts, there was
limited control over what people could say to him because there wasnt any surveillance
available over what was being done. Even though this kind of harassment can also occur in
person, it is thought that because of social media, the grounds on which these things can
occur has exponentially increased. Besides social media, other places in the internet like
social dating sites have also devalued the individual and have led to an increasing
dehumanization of people.
Online Dating
Dating apps like Tinder and HotorNot have created this overtly sexual dating world
that previously had not existed. Instead of getting to know an individual, people have started
to choose their partners based on a couple of pictures and a brief biography. If an individual
finds the person attractive they can swipe left to let the other know of said interest and if the
other person reciprocates, they can start talking to one another. Even though some individuals
use these applications to get to know each other. The majority of individuals are using it to
hook up and have sexual escapades. If it wasnt for these Apps and the ease of meeting
more individuals, people wouldnt discriminate as easily because there is a sense of mystery
people possess when they dont have a profile to immediately look at. What I mean by this is
that, there isnt a biography that describes the individual. This mystery leads to a desire to get
to know the individual but because of these apps this mystery is nonexistent because people

discriminate based on their profiles, even if its not a proper representation of the individual
as a whole. Thats not even mentioning how cell phone usage has affected society now a
days.
Cell Phones
Since the creation of the smartphone it seems as if these devices have separated
people more than it has connected them. If you were to walk into any college campus today,
it would be surprising to see that every student is not on their phone. Someone being
constantly on their phone is such a common occurrence that there are even rules against it in
order to control and diminish behavior.
From experience, I have witness on multiple occasions while eating out at a
restaurant; families being together but separate at the same time. Both the kids and the
parents on their phones doing who knows what. They were being alone together. This term is
one that has been coined by Sherry Turkle. She mentioned in a TED talk about a situation
where her daughters would text one another even if they were in the same room. Even though
they couldve easily expressed themselves to each other but they rather chose to do it over the
phone. This ease of communicating through a cell phone has desensitized us to the individual
and has led to people avoiding confrontation with individuals. This desensitization can be tied
back to the bullying ordeal. It all stems from a disconnection to society that technology seems
to create. As well as creating a shelter of safety from physically interacting with others.
However, this is not the only form in which technology has desensitized humanity from the
individual.
Management Systems
The use of technology in the workplace has also led to this degradation of human
value. Ever since information and data began to have value for companies, workers have

faced burdens that were previously not experienced by factory workers in specific. In some
companies people have been displaced by automated machines and in others, they have been
mistreated and by being treated like machines. Since data is easier to track and produce,
companies have started using them to analyze the manufacturing process and increase their
production output. Like all other companies, businesses want to improve and surpass their
competitors. In order to reach this goal they must improve in the best way possible.
Sometimes this leads to over-working factory workers and instead of realizing that they can
only do so much. As an effect, companies believe that by hiring more people they can
compensate for what their current workers lack. This then leads to a decrease in wages and
possibly a spike in prices which is something that neither party wants.
Stereotypes
All of these technologies have culminated into one thing, dehumanization. The
internet and social media have done the opposite of what the internet tried to accomplish
from its creation. It has created a divide between people instead of bringing them closer
together. It has become a habit for people to classify mass groups of individuals into harmful
stereotypes. Majority of these stereotypes were created by mass media and because of this
increased communication it spread like a virus online. This viral epidemic of information
online has led to a distorted perception of individuals.
An easy example to reference today are of American perception of Muslims. Many
Americans have a negative perception of Muslims ever since 9/11. While it is easy to
recognize why this is the case. The internet has not helped the issue but instead has caused it.
The hate being thrown towards the different Islamic terrorist groups, later on became a
degradation of the Muslim. Even though a majority of Muslims do not support any of the
actions these terrorist groups have taken. Many Americans have this deep hatred towards

Muslims because of the actions of Al-Queda and ISIS. This issue however stems from a huge
gap of misinformation. Even though information is valued in this day and age, because the
internet has made it possible to access more of it. It has also increased the potential for false
information to get out to the public and for someone who is unaware of the situation it is
easier for them to fall victim to some of these lies. This deceit is primarily caused by the
increasing value of gaining information. It leads to a thought that the more you know, the
more informed you are about your decisions.
Technology since its creation and evolution has advanced our societies greatly by
providing an easier means of communication but it also has separated us from each other by
creating a wall of hostility. This means of communication desensitizes us to the fact that we
are dealing with an individual. Instead we feeling as though we are dealing with someone like
ourselves with feelings and emotions, it creates this maniacal idea that whomever we are
conversing through this technology has lesser value, thus leading us to act in a way that
harms the other intentionally or unintentionally. The internet provides a walls of safety and
also a means of attack. Social Media makes us susceptible to more cyber-attacks and
decreases our privacy. Cell phone usage has led people to be more separate than connected.
Business have started to use machinery to increase business which has led to a displacement
of human workers. Racial stereotypes have become more socially acceptable means of
identifying individuals and have categorized people into places where they dont belong. All
of these issues have a origin and that is the creation of the internet. This technology has
unfortunately facilitated these issues by enabling us to communicate with one another.
Technology has changed the way we perceive one another and interact with each other.

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