Opinions editor Ryan Obradovic explores how technology has changed social interaction
By: RYAN OBRADOVIC
Opinions Editor
In this day and age with technology advancing faster than society, people live their life off of their cellphones. Every day as I walk down the halls it is just person after person focused on their phone, not even looking up to see where they are going. It bothers me when you walk into a room and it is silent because people are too busy having a group message or brainlessly scrolling through a Twitter feed. What would they do 15 years ago when phones were nothing to what they are now?
Technology has changed the way society views social interaction in that thinking the online friends, followers, or how many favorites you get actually matter. With everyone so entranced in capturing the moment with a picture, they lose the full affect of that moment on them as a person.
People want other people to see the great things that they have seen or done, so they become so focused on the reward from the online likes that they lose the reward from living and experiencing that moment for themselves or with close people who matter.
Recently there was an incident of a 13 year old girl from Texas whose Galaxy s4 exploded under her pillow. This is disturbing because when I was 13 I loved life and I did it without a phone. Sure, at 13 it is okay to have a cell phone, but an s4? Kids need to be out learning how to socialize and talk to people face to face, not sit behind a screen all day pretending to have a social life.
With technology developing so fast, there are devices for all ages. Technology has worked its way down to toddlers who are learning to rely on it. Kids use to play with toys, play on the playground, and ride bikes with some neighborhood friends. Now the playgrounds are baron because kids are too busy inside playing videos games or on the IPad.
I work at a sports store and when I was a kid sporting goods stores were the bee’s knees, and I am excited when kids come in and act like they are in Heaven. However, there are a lot more kids coming in who are face down, staring into a phone and do not even look up when being talked too.
These kids are already on track for having awful people skills when they are older, and I am extremely afraid to see how future generations will fare with the technological advances.
So, shut down your phones and take a look around you. Talk to the person sitting next to you in class instead of looking at your phone. Embrace your surroundings and enjoy them with real friends.
Do not get lost in the web that technology spins, but live your life the way it was supposed to be lived. We only have a short time on this earth; so do not waste it away and die drowning in your phone.
