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Ashley Smith

Mrs. Marshall

English 122

June 12 2020

Modern technology (cell phones and computers) and the impacts

Technology is on the rise. Companies are competing left and right for our time and

money. New devices are coming out yearly with the consumption growing. With more

technology out there and our dependency on it is on the rise. How is this affecting our society?

People have more access to technology now (2020) than ever before. Especially now with

companies like Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. thriving. This makes people compelled to have

their newest technology and or update. According to pew research “The vast majority of

Americans – 96% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own

smartphones is now 81%, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone

ownership conducted in 2011.” (Pew research). This is proving that more and more people every

year have more access to that technology. Cell phones are not the only technology though that is

on the rise. Computers are become an essential part of everybody’s daily lives. According to pew

research in 1990, 42% of U.S. adults said they used a computer at their workplace, at school, at

home, or anywhere else, even if only occasionally. Now, eight in ten U.S. adults (81%) say they

use laptop and desktop computers somewhere in their lives—at home, work, school, or

someplace else.’(Pew research). This survey was taken in 2014 so it is safe to assume with the

growth of cell phones and companies like Microsoft that those numbers would be significantly

higher now ( 2020).

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Part of that reasoning is also because more and more companies are becoming more

digitalized. Meaning they are storing all there information into a computer instead of having a

paper copy. Some companies are even operating online like Walmart, amazon etc. Which is a

good thing because we are cutting down less trees, more convenient, easy to use etc. The only

downside to everything being digitalized is that it is easier for people to get a hold of that

information (hackers). Cyber security is a thing but not all companies use it. Companies are also

not obligated to report if they’ve been hacked to the general public. (Pope).

That being said technology is constantly evolving to adapt more with our everyday needs.

We are now able to communicate with friends and family across the world. Instead of sending a

letter that could takes weeks to arrive. We can now text, call, facetime etc. in a matter of

seconds. Just think about how crazy that is! This means we are staying more connected around

the world, on top of that we also have access to internet which inform us of major current events

going on around the world good and or bad.

Another benefit from technology is our school systems. According to Algeria University

“It’s made learning more interactive and collaborative, this helps people better engage with the

material that they are learning and have trouble with.”.(Mickeel) Students are able to look up

topics such as but not limited to Biology, physics, chemistry, annotations, reading strategies,

math etc. online now. Depending on the topic you can even find extra worksheets, quizzes, past

tests, and YouTube videos explaining it. This is extremely beneficial because it give student the

opportunity to turn learn on their own and find different methods to understanding the material.

With Covid 19 going on around the world right now most schools and universities in Canada are

doing online schooling, using schoology, email, videos and zoom to communicate the material.
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As a society we are enjoying the simplicity, the convenience and the reliability of the

technology, but what are the negative effects of having all this technology at our finger tips? One

thing that researchers have found is that we are less sociable when interacting face to face.

People are more concerned about what’s happening on their phones than the social interaction

happening around them. Eighty-nine percent of Americans say that during their last social

interaction, they took out a phone, and 82 percent said that it deteriorated the conversation they

were in. (Sherry Turtle). We are losing the ability to have a connection with one another because

of our cell phones. They are too distracting.

Another thing that is effecting our society is social media. Some people are using social

media as their “social outlet” and are determining their self-worth that way. “I’m more

concerned about people for whom social media becomes a kind of substitute, who literally post

something on Facebook and just sit there and watch whether they get 100 likes on their picture,

whose self-worth and focus becomes dictated by how they are accepted, wanted, and desired by

social media”. (Sherry turtle). A lot of people have accounts on Instagram and other social media

platforms in which they have people they’ve never met before on it. Out of the thousands of

followers they may only know maybe 100 of them. So all those likes are superficially. They are

not basing the likes on your personality but on your looks which can really damage a person.

Technology is also becoming a health risk to society. Especially in the younger

generation. They are not getting enough sleep. Sleeping is important because it cleans our brain.

It only gets to the deep cleaning at the 6 hour mark. In my 2019 psychology class we did a class

discussion on sleep deprivation. We did a mini survey asking questions like “how many hours of

sleep a night do you get, do you feel tired, etc.” Out of 25 students only 2 were deemed to have

enough sleep at night getting 7-9 hours of sleep. Most were in the 4-6 hour range and few were
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below 4 hour mark. After taking the survey we did a class discussion as to why we were going to

bed so late. The common answers were “can’t sleep”. “Watching Netflix”, “on social media”,

“talking with friends”. Mrs. Gunn then proceeded to tell us why we went able to sleep. When it

gets dark out our brain is wired to release melatonin. Melatonin is responsible to make you feel

tired and gives you better sleep quality. Our phones produce a light to prevent us from releasing

the melatonin which is why most people don’t feel tired at night. The other reason people have

trouble sleeping is the constant buzzing/ notifications on their phones when sleeping. The noise/

light will wake you up which ruins your sleep quality.

The researchers recommend not to use your phone an hour before going to bed. They also

recommend not having your phone in your room so the light won’t bother you. Phone

companies have now came out with night mode for phones which will lower the brightness of the

screen and block all notifications until morning.

Another issue with cellphone are that they are addicting. Researchers have found that cell

phones release dopamine when in use. Which is the same thing releases when taking drugs,

smoking alcohol etc. (Harvard). This is what causes the addiction. Cell phones are constantly

releasing dopamine with every like, share etc. online. Dopamine is what makes us want to

continue to do stuff that we like. Companies such as Facebook Instagram Snapchat etc. are free,

they make money by selling ads. In which they need more people to use their app. So they rely

and exploit dopamine. They will come out with new content more prizes more likes etc. to get

bigger dopamine effect. The bigger the dopamine the more likely you are to do it again.

(Harvard) The addiction to cell phones has gotten so bad that we now have a new phobia on it

called nomophobia. Which means they panic/ don’t know what to do with themselves without

their phones. According to kings university U.S. consumer spends a whopping 5 HOURS A
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DAY on these devices. That is a 20% increase in time-spent compared to 2015. And 50 percent

of teens said they “feel addicted” to their mobile devices.(kings university) That was in 2017 in

which I can almost guarantee it is higher now in 2020 especially with quarantine. The university

also named some of key signs that indicates you have phone addiction - Reaching for the phone

first thing in the morning, Using cell phones when bored, Increasing cell phone use, Becoming

anxious or agitated when the cell phone is out of sight, People complain about your cell phone

use, and the inability to cut back on your cell phone use. If you are experiencing multiple of

those signs high chance you are addicted to your phone.

Technology started out in the right direction, wanting to help people, but now major

companies are in it mostly for the money. People should become more aware of the positive and

negative effects of it due to the fact that it is now embedded into our lives. Then as a society we

can make a decision based off of research instead of possibly bias information from the

companies.

Works Cited
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“Cell Phone Addiction: Stats and Signs | King University Online.” King University, 27 July

2017, online.king.edu/news/cell-phone-addiction/.

“Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research

Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 12 June 2019, www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-

sheet/internet-broadband/.

Mickeel, Allen. “Technological Influence on Society | BCTV.” BCTV, 7 Nov. 2019,

www.bctv.org/2019/11/07/technological-influence-on-society/.

NW, 1615 L. St, et al. “Demographics of Mobile Device Ownership and Adoption in the United

States.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech,

www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/#who-owns-cellphones-and-

smartphones.

“Science in the News.” Science in the News, 30 Apr. 2018,

sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/.

‌Gunn, Heather. Psychology 120, Moncton High School, December 16th 2019, Moncton, N.B.

Lecture.

Pope, Toller. Cyber Security 120, Moncton High School, October 20th 2019, Moncton, N.B.

Lecture.
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