Tuesday, 30 April 2013

My Thoughts: Modern Digital Technology


Have you ever thought what the internet and modern digital technology role plays in your life? As the world evolves and becomes more advanced, technology has become integrated to society. Without it, human kind cannot advance anymore and will be at a standstill. After researching the topic about modern digital technology and if it harms or helps people, a conclusion can be made that the benefits of modern technology outweighs the disadvantages.  Why you may ask?
            Firstly, technology, or more specific, the internet has greatly helped businesses of this era. Generally, businesses now rely on the internet for their promotion. Without the internet, many of their current customers may not even know of their business. This means that the survivability rate of business has gone up many times since the internet has been founded. Don’t think that there are only a few people in the internet. There are millions of people in the internet that want to shop online, for their own convenience, of course. Those businesses that think that there won’t be any profit in selling their products online are terribly wrong.
            Another benefit that technology, or to be more specific, social media, is that it gives us the option of a faster and more convenient way of communication. Social Media and smart phones are two types of Medias that help us to communicate to those that are far away from us.  When we don’t have these things, then communicating with others will be that much harder. To illustrate, when a person living in Indonesia wants to talk to their sister in say, Melbourne, he will probably use the Facebook chat or Skype. This is because these two are ready available and practical to use. No longer would we have to directly go to the person in order to talk to them.
            Now, some people may say that media will take our information and sell them. The internet will forever have our information and everyone in the world can know who we are. It’s not just celebrities who have to be careful now; we normal people have to be on guard also now. This point is true; however why bother giving crucial information like our address? We can just put in the necessary information without revealing ALL of our information. If worst comes to worst, just make false information. And when we talk to someone and we think that they are trustworthy, just give him/her your real information. “Media is just media. , The message is controlled by people who use a media. However, we just have to learn how to use new media such as smart phones and social media that connects anyone other wise media becomes harmful” (Langkamp, 2013).
            Last but not least, technology can help people to gain more knowledge, through the use of the powerful search engine, Google. In the past, people would open a book, dictionary, or an encyclopedia in order to gain knowledge or search a word or something. However, with the emergence of Google, or Yahoo, our searching is eased by a thousand fold. We can just type a keyword to the box and BOOM! We can get the definition of the word, the history, and et cetera. Google has practically everything. Ranging from food, books, exotic stuffs, weird stuffs, anything! That is the marvel of the device known as search engine “Google”. We can benefit from this because it makes our life so much easier. To research a topic, learn about something, study about a certain thing. In the past, most college students must go to the library and research multiple books, but all that are in the past. Today, we can just search the internet. However, it is true that the internet can sometimes contain some fraudulent information, therefore be sure to check if it’s true or not.
            In conclusion, I believe that modern digital media helps people and not just harms them. The benefit outweighs the negatives. Some examples of the benefits are as I have stated before: helping businesses, convenient communication and for searching. We have to move on forward and use technology to our advantage.

2 comments:

  1. This is...an interesting take concerning modern technology. I wholeheartedly support your view that technology is the main reason towards mankind's advancement and without it, we wouldn't even go past the medieval era. I also agree on your point that people have the choice on what they put in their address and if by chance the information really do got spread worldwide, it's nothing important that would make us hide ourselves in shame.

    However, a part of your argument gave me mixed feelings about this essay. Google is not the only search engine in the internet, albeit it IS the most popular one. It's wrong to say that only Google provides the latest and best information, as often times it's hard to even trust that the information is gained from a credible source. While I do agree with your argument, I found it somewhat jarring that you did not put any sources from which you received your information from. This argument is well developed, but the lack of sources makes it difficult to believe your information.

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  2. The argument that you have proposed had somehow split my consciousness to two opposing side and increased my ambilvalence regarding the subject. I somewhat agree with your argument, and some of your supporting information. I agree with the notion that the technological advances in this modern age, especially the internet and various social media, have enhanced how businesses operate, allowing them to advertise in a much more recognizable manner; as well as allowing people to communicate easily. You have also brought up an excellent counterargument, stating that some people, who worry that their private information is going to be leaked by the website, should just avoid providing their personal information in the first place, and forge false information when the situation requires it.
    However, the last supporting information that you have brought up, that is, “technology can help people to gain more knowledge,” is not always true. The internet is a collection of various informative websites, however, only some of them are trustworthy and actually provides valid information. Finding a reliable source is similar to finding a needle in a haystack.
    Nonetheless, the argument you have brought up is good, though there are still possible improvements that can be made.(

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