People in todays world are more in an automated state than ever before mostly because of technology. I think that most people can recognize that the world is also going much much faster than it ever has. I personally thing that those two things have a very very strong coronation with each other because things are just getting much much more efficient to do things these days.
This week we were tasked in watching a very interesting Black Mirror episode which alludes to the point I made above. In the episode all they want to do is be efficient and make their merits, which correlates to money, by pretty much just sitting on a bike all day and churning it for energy. Now that isn’t by any means what we are doing with our lives but there definitely is some similarities here and there throughout the show. The fully automated life is something touched on in pretty much every black Mirror episode, but this takes it a little further with the inclusion of the day to day monotonous task of just powering the world as it seems. The one catch with this life is that you have that one little chance of making it out to the higher up places where you don’t need to bike anymore, all you need to do is entertain the people.
This can tie right into people who want to be internet famous, and another video we had to watch. This video is called Are teens addicted to technology. In this video this little girl talks about how important it is to her for her work to get likes on social media. Too often do you hear of kids wanting to grow up and be youtubers or tik Tok famous or something like that. I think that those are some dangerous dreams for a little kid to have. Kids should be dreaming of being athletes or astronauts or singers, something in that realm. I don’t think they should be exposed to technology like that while being that young anyway.
This all begs the question, Why? Why are we so addicted to our phones. Right in the beginning of the video Why Are We Addicted To Our Phones, the smother says about her child ” he seems like he just wants to be on his tablet over everything else”. That is just sad to say about a child who is four years old and should be learning and exploring and going outside. In the video they talk about something called the “infinite scroll” which is a thing with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This is when you just are mindlessly scrolling over and over and you can’t find yourself to stop doing it because people hate to be board and not doing anything. This is something I will definitely do in my life. When I get bored I will just hop on instagram or twitter and just kill some time and I feel brain dead for it.
My question to you is do you think that we are becoming more of robots, or is this helping us in our daily lives?
Here is a link about the ongoing west coast wild fires going on from the Washington Post.
SOCIAL MEDIA & SOCIETY 
I agree with you that there are some similarities between our present lives and the Black Mirror episode, 15 Million Merits. Even though this was an extreme version, it feels like we could be moving in that direction, which is really scary. It just seems like a “no win” situation and that living life to acquire merits is not how human beings should be living. What’s even sadder, as you mentioned, are the kids who speak of fame like it is the ultimate goal in life. I totally agree with you that kids should not be exposed to technology at such a young age. They need their parents to regulate their usage and help them to develop strong critical thinking skills. They also need time to just be kids and to explore on their own without interference from technology or an app telling them what they should be doing. Oh yes, the infinite scroll! I am guilty of this as well. I totally get what you mean when you say that you feel “braindead” for doing it. I catch myself sometimes and I think, ‘why am I even looking at this?’ It is hard to just sit and clear your mind. There is this feeling like we always have to be doing something. I am glad to be able to recognize it, though.
LikeLike
I like this article because it reminds me of this idea that i’ve been asking myself for a long time. That question being about what is happening to the world in respect to social media. I think by this point it would be hard to argue that we as a society have become slaves to it. Granted a good majority of people can manage their use of social media very well but it’s the next generation that worries me. In the video it is mentioned that values have changed over time, a good while ago, community and a sense of belonging was what kids wanted. Today, all they want is fame and as you mentioned,to be Instagram famous or TikTok famous. Now, I’ve seen the lengths these kids will go to to achieve fame and it’s honestly sad and a bit frightening. I want to clarify that I don’t think wanting fame is wrong but there is bad fame and as you mentioned, probably the best fame can come from goals/dreams that matter such as becoming an athlete or a musician.
LikeLike