My Relationship With Technology: The Good, The Bad & The Better

Technology is my entire life. While that may be blunt and straightforward, it is 100% true, whether I’d like it to be or not. Every day of my past two years as a college student has been very similar in terms of technology usage; I use my phone for communication and the Internet, use my laptop for schoolwork, and use my TV for games and entertainment. This cycle has not been broken since I’ve become a student, and while the amount of screen time fluctuates based on the day, it is clear technology has a hold on me in every possible way.

Is this necessarily a bad thing? Maybe. Technology has had both positive and negative impacts on my life, and while I do find myself stuck to a screen more often than I would like, I can’t deny what it has done for me and how I’ve progressed through my years because of it.

At the end of the day, everyone has a different relationship with technology. Certain people might think it is strictly positive, some might think it’s strictly harmful, and others may not use it at all. For me, personally, I like to think my connection with technology is a combination of healthy and unhealthy in some ways. While the amount of time I spend on technology is a bit much for my liking, I am happy that I have grown to a point where I am using it in a healthy manner and for purposes that benefit me and the people around me. In this blog post, I will be sharing some of my personal highs and lows with technology and how it has affected me and the person I am today.

I was exposed to technology in increments at a young age. Thanks to my parents, I was originally only using media and screen time for educational and occasionally recreational purposes, with most of my time being spent away from a TV or computer. Granted, I was born in 2003, so I was not nearly as exposed to technology as little kids are nowadays. As I grew older, I began to gain more of a healthy relationship with technology, receiving my first video game console as a kid and using the Internet to communicate and further my knowledge. This wasn’t always the case with the Internet as time went on, as I would spend hours on the phone with my friend, playing silly computer games like Club Penguin and Poptropica. However, I always had a screen time limit, and my parents did a good job of keeping me away from sites and social media that wouldn’t be fit for a kid of my age. 

Eventually, I got my first iPod touch, and my first real experience with social media was making an Instagram in the fifth grade. My parents didn’t want me on social media at this point, but I was curious and began to run an account behind their back. I would post around 5 times a day, and most of the time, it was completely unnecessary. I’d post memes, pictures of my cat, pictures of me, and just about anything I found to be relevant at that exact moment in time. I started to care too much about followers and likes, and I would interact with any account or person that contacted me. This was extremely risky and thankfully, I realized that year that what I was doing was foolish and could’ve put me in a horrible spot for my future. I eventually realized likes and followers didn’t matter, and there wasn’t a reason to post every single thing, and completely changed my Instagram into a much more professional setting. From that moment on, I cared much more about my digital footprint, only liking and commenting on non-controversial things and never posting anything that could damage my chance at finding a job. I believe I have a great digital footprint, as I don’t believe there is anything that can be found on the Internet that could bring harm to my image in the slightest. I’m very lucky that I discovered what a digital footprint was at such a young age and have followed that guideline to the spot I am in now.

Over time, I began to spend more time with technology and expand into more social media platforms, including Snapchat, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I’ve had mostly positive experiences with these platforms, as Snapchat is my primary form of communication, Twitter is my primary source of news and information, and LinkedIn has allowed me to grow my network of connections and create a portfolio for myself that will help me in my career search.

I’d like to talk about the positive impacts of technology in my life. From the very start, social media has allowed me to stay in touch with people I do not see in-person, which is my absolute favorite aspect of it. Heading to college and being able to send videos to my family and friends is such a blessing I’m lucky to have, and it allows us to stay in contact with each other in a way that we wouldn’t be able to without technology. As someone who is currently in a long-distance relationship, I know my girlfriend and I have reaped the benefits of being able to talk and text everyday. If we didn’t have access to technology, it would be much harder to make our relationship work.

Another aspect of technology that has benefitted me is the impact it has had and will continue to have on my career. As someone looking to get into the field of sports media, my entire career path is centered around technology. I currently call games for High Point University through HPU SportsLink, who broadcasts the game on ESPN+, a streaming service. I ran a podcast for over a year with a friend of mine that lived nowhere near me, and we recorded every single episode over Zoom.

I also have been tasked with running over 8 brand/organizational accounts over the past half-decade, giving me experience in social media on a professional level and letting me get more accustomed to a life where media is my whole career. These experiences have shaped my current digital life, and I’m very grateful to have gone through them.

I can’t pretend it’s been all sunshine and roses, however. The access of technology and the need to use it consistently for school and other purposes isn’t always a great thing. I have had arguments and fights with friends due to social media posts, text screenshots, and so much more. I’ve also been a victim of cyberbullying and hate over social media, which almost every teenage-aged person can say they’ve experienced. While I’ve been lucky enough to have overwhelmingly positive experiences with technology, it is still important to note that it’s not always going to be that way.

I think technology has made me both smarter and dumber, in a way. I’ve definitely been able to learn so much from the Internet, and the constant use of technology to learn has allowed me to gain so much knowledge. However, with so much knowledge comes a toll, as my attention span, much like many others, has dropped rapidly since starting using social media. Because there’s so much information, it’s very easy to read one thing and forget about it right after. It’s good that there’s so much information in technology, but it isn’t ideal how said info has had such a negative impact on people my age.

Overall, I like to think I have as healthy of a relationship as I possibly can with technology. My increased usage of it could be argued as a negative aspect, but I think I do a good job of maintaining a healthy balance of staying away from screens as much as I possibly can. When that isn’t possible, I like to think that I use my time wisely and in a safe manner while keeping an impeccable digital footprint. As for the future of social media and technology, I’m excited to see what new advances come with time, while also staying cautious of the dangers. I’m grateful for my relationship with technology and I look forward to continuing my digital journey everyday.