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Nate Burruano WRD 103 Leah Cardi Photo Essay

Generational Differences In Technology Experience

As a freshman at DePaul University in first year writing, I was assigned readings by my professor which discuss the impact of technology and social relationships. I was asked to go out into the field and interview various people on the subject, as well as record my own thought process as I interact with these different perspectives. Technology is very beneficial to me because it changes the way I think about certain scenarios and topics.

I believe that technology is beneficial because it also affects our relationships. Social media such as Facebook or Twitter allows people to connect with one another, establish relationships, meet new people, catch up with family and friends, and provides people with entertainment and news updates all at once. I think that technology has helped me to learn more information at a faster rate than a book can provide because the internet is a more quick and efficient way of retrieving information than any other source. The internet, and technology itself has helped my education so much over the years and has been an easy way to study for my classes, and even use it for entertainment as well. It is hard to imagine a life without technology and the internet just because I have relied on it almost my entire life. Why waste your time at a library when I can just find/buy a digital version online or research different information from multiple credible cites instead? Some Critics such as Baurelein, Rosen, and Keller who are accomplished academics, might think the internet has made this technological generation lazy and too dependent and too immersed in technology, such as the elderly and different older, yet highly educated people that dont want to except the changing times. However, I firmly believe technology has provided a more efficient method of getting stuff done and keeps people updated on current events as well as an incredible information database. Critics, such as the older generations, and others such as Baurelein assume that young people only use technology for social media, which can be seen in his book Americas Dumbest Generation as he criticizes young people for hurting society because of their negative uses of technology and the internet, but in reality this assumption is false and students can show that they use technology for some many other things such as Powerpoint presentations education, news, contacting their teachers, networking in the business world, retrieving insight for papers, studying, etc.

Technology and the internet also allows students an easy way to study from home if they missed class, keep up on their grades in school, and stay connected with their teachers through email. Even connecting with relatives who live a thousand miles away from you is easy with just a click of a mouse or trackpad. Technology and the internet provides easy access to do anything desired. People now shop only online instead of going to a mall, or even a grocery store. You can buy anything on the internet and gives people more time to get things done since they dont need to leave their house anymore to get things done that they now can do at home. Which effects people on the positive note that they dont need to leave their home and are more comfortable doing their shopping online, but can also be criticized that this makes people suffer socially. Is the convenience of shopping online making us suffer socially? Are we less productive because everything has become so easy/solitary? As I conduct these interviews people can see the positives and negatives technology and the internet has on society. Through two interviews, the general public can see the different perspectives that different generations have on the uses and value of technology and their opinions on this matter. Dylan Thomas, a finance major at DePaul University, was interviewed and asked multiple questions on how he uses technology in his day to day life, the importance of technology and how he compares and contrasts the generational differences in technology experience. (Dylans picture is shown below and was taken in a regular student dorm on campus at DePaul University)

Dylan states I dont think the internet has changed the way we think, but the internet is just a huge hub of information that is at our disposal. It is easier to go on the internet for information than to go out to a library and get a book. You can just go online and type a key word in and hit search, itt literally that easy. Nicholas Carr, an accomplished academic, believes the internet has affected his ability to concentrate fully, and that his ability to focus on deep reading has suffered because of the distractions of technology. However, Dylan disagrees with the idea that the internet has changed the way we think, and instead has just changed the way we do things instead. Critics are quick to blame the device but the younger generation are more able to see the positive aspects of technology. Dylan then goes into detail about how subjective the internet can be and how anyone can post their opinions on different matters and that some cites on the internet are not always reliable in spite of this. On the other hand you can get different ideas to use to change your mind about something, write a paper or just get an outside view on something.

Dylan is basically trying to say that while it is true that the internet is full of a lot of bias and unless information, people can actually develop certain skills to be able to sift through that and find the useful information. It is almost like developing a new literacy. Critics, especially Bauerlein, miss the value in this. Dylan was asked if if the internet gives people an advantage and he answered quickly with I think the internet is a huge advantage, everything is online nowadays and it gives me the opportunity to make different transfers online, go and day trade and use the stock market more quickly and efficiently than I could without the internet. I also think there are downsides because of all the hackers online that can steal your personal information such as your credit card number, social security number, bank accounts, personal funds, passwords, etc. and you need to be careful of what you are doing on the internet at all times because that can ruin your life. Another advantage of technology is that it gives anyone the opportunity to stay at home and shop online, make financial transactions, order anything you desire, etc. You can look up anything on the internet. Dylan thinks this doesnt really affect our ability to interact with one

another because we can now perform everyday tasks with the click of a button, instead of writing letters and talking face to face. In reality people are still communicating/networking, but they are just using new and improved methods of communication instead. Critics avoid talking about the positive aspects of technology. Technology is what gave journalists and critics the opportunity to criticize people on a larger and more public scale. Dylan was asked multiple questions regarding his time spent on his phone, his laptop, and just his general usage of technology. He stated that he uses his laptop around four hours every day for financial purposes, and that his top visited cites were Fidelity, ESPN, and D2L which is a college work based cite to upload work and interact with teachers. Dylan is the type of person who doesnt waste his time

in social networking, playing games, or getting distracted. He uses the internet and technology to make money, learn more about financial markets and statistics, and study since he is currently a college student, contrary to what Baurelein believes. My final question I asked Dylan was what is the difference of kids today and kids when you were their age? Dylans response: Well I think that kids today are always on the internet, and kids are always on their laptops, desktops, or iPads, compared to when I was a kid I was always outside playing in the yard and their was more social interaction. Nowadays young kids are becoming more anti social because of the internet and technology being a bigger part of life and can lead to problems in the future. Even though Dylan is relatively young, he identifies social isolation as a potential problem, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages as he continues to clarify this in his interview. Comparing a college students opinion of technology to an adult has many differences and I conducted an interview with Ellis Gomez, a fifty three year old experienced physician, who uses the internet everyday for online medical records and charts for her patients. Dr. Gomez stated I really only use the internet for my job, other than that I dont have the time to use the internet for fun or for anything else because I am a family oriented person and I like to value my time with my husband and my kids. During the week I use my laptop almost eight hours a day because now everything needs to be imported online using electronic medical records and cloud computing software. I then asked her if her thought process changed because of technology and she responded with the following: It actually has. Comparing myself now to my childhood has completely changed and I think it is for the better. Dr. Gomezs opinion is

blatantly contrary to the beliefs of Carr who believes technology and the internet has changed his thinking for the worse.

My final question for Dr. Gomez was what is different between kids today and kids when you were their age? like I asked to Dylan which was just to compare the two answers coming from two different generations and she stated Kids now are more spoiled and that they get everything that they want compared to when I was growing up when we only had one toy such as a doll, way less technology which made us do everything the old fashioned way like using books, and kids now dont appreciate what they have been given and everything is on the internet and technology is apart of everyones life today.

Both Dylan and Dr. Gomez both believe that kids in the future will have a harder time becoming successful individuals because of how technology is creating more shortcuts to get things done and that kids are not truly learning anything and are focused too much on social media and that it is making kids more and more socially awkward. This will effect theses kids as they grow up and have a harder time networking, and interacting in the professional world. However, there still is a good percentage of kids who use technology and the internet to their advantage as Dylan uses the internet and technology to make money in the stock market through researching and trading every day. Although technology is hurting students and children socially, it is also improving the way humans do things, work, make money, and learn for the better. Their chances academically are improving, but socially speaking, kids are declining because of technology being exposed to them at such a young age and the influences of the internet. It is easy to see how both individuals feel about how technology changes lives and shapes the way people think.

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