This week’s topic was phone usage and how we as a generation can get sucked into our digital lives a bit too much. The Black Mirror episode “15 million merits” is a good sarcastic representation of a reality where society functions by riding exercise bikes in front of the wall which is covered in screens. The more they ride, the more “merit” they earn which powers their screen filled walls. The overweight people are considered lower class and work as custodians in the biking areas.

People can enter in talent shows to try to live a more lavish life filled with more technology and better benefits. One of the characters on his bike was watching what looked like porn. If contestants lose, they could end up working in the sex industry, and on the screens of the bikes. The main character overhears a girl singing and becomes interested in her and gives her his merit points to go in the talent show to get a better life. Unfortunately, the judges placed her as a sex worker and the main character got extremely upset. He tried to speak up, but ended up being sucked in. This version of society is a dramatized version of how the world is today. Most everyone on the street or anyone I see is on their phone and glued to the screen as if they cannot function without it. 

            In the video with the family where they track their phone usage, I was shocked to see that a four year old is on his tablet as much as he was. Kids that young should be playing outside but in today’s society, they are handed the tablet to learn and just to watch random videos to keep them entertained. I personally, did not get a phone until fifth grade and it was the iPhone 3GS, I could not imagine having a device to spend all of my time on at the age of four. The idea of the infinite scroll on social media is smart on their part, to keep people from reaching and end and closing out the app. I constantly find myself scrolling when I am bored and half of the time I cannot even remember what I scrolled past. It is scary to think how much time people spend on their phones compared to past generations. 

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News Article – Smartphone Addiction

In this article it talks about the different ways we can be addicted to our phones, like virtual relationships, information overload, cybersex addiction, and online compulsions. We are all addicted to our phones in our own way, but this article just talks on there are some of the most common ways we can be addicted to our phones. This article also talks about how being addicted to our phones can cause a negative impact on our lives. This can Increasing loneliness and depression, Fueling anxiety, Increasing stress, Disturbing your sleep, and many more things that can affect us. Personally my phone does affect my sleep because I am on it most late at night and it almost feels like a I cannot turn it off and sometimes I am up past 4 a.m. even though I know I should’ve got off it 2 or 3 hours before hand.

Our generation is so different from any other so far, we have the most technology and it can be a great thing to use, but it can hurtful to ourselves depending on how we use it. Using social media can be great for meeting people, catching up with friends, and creating job opportunities or also getting your career started. On the other hand in can get you in a lot trouble in your line of work for something you posted recently or even if it was from years ago and is not even relevant now. We have to be smart about what we say on social media because of the damage it can do now or in the future, a lot of people have gotten backlash and have taken a beating for what they have said costing them their jobs, social status, or possibly in trouble with the law. Especially in today’s society with everyone on edge because of what is going on in the world, we have to make sure what we post is smart and cannot hurt us in the future. Even the president has gotten in trouble at times because of the controversial things he posts on Twitter, with the things he says it can hurt him in this upcoming election. This just goes to show you that any one person can be affected by what they say and post on social media.

https://mashable.com/2011/06/16/weinergate-social-media-job-loss/#45A.RVMALaqE

There is also another problem with the Internet these days, it could be making us dumber than we think. We always rely on Google and other websites to find information, getting directions, and anyone can make a website with false information, while the people visiting that site does not know that the information they have is incorrect. The internet is also giving us to much screen time on our phones, laptops, and gaming systems. While it is good to interact with people during these tough times with the virus, it can lead to bad habits and not feeling well. I know that when I am online or on my phone for too long I start to get a headache and feel really bad the rest of the day. It definitely does make a difference to get off your screen and go outside or something else that seems more productive then just sitting on your phone. While the internet does provide useful information that we can use it for almost anything, it can have its own setbacks because we are not socializing face to face with other people. We need face to face contact for life so we should worry less about the internet and social media because without connecting to people it will be a lonely world and one that is not able to talk to one another which is what everyone needs.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

Hello my name is Eddie Walser, I am a junior from Syracuse, New York. I am majoring in business marketing, nice to meet everyone!