Tuesday, January 12, 2016
I really enjoyed the media fast experience completed this past weekend. It opened my eyes to the impact of media on not only me but also my family. While considering the impact of media I recalled my 3 1/2 month old grandson and how he seemed mesmerized by the bright lights of the computer screen as he sat in his Dad's lap. I was so surprised to see his attention so completely fixed on the glowing monitor! This must be how our fascination and love of media begins. It is only inevitable that our lives be woven through the use of different media. I was just reading my textbook, "Abnormal Psychology" and it mentions the explosion of available mental health apps (Comer, 2015). They can track mood shifts, body changes, and thoughts. This seems funny to me. Some take media to an extreme and find themselves addicted to its usage, even feeling incomplete or "naked" without it. Online gambling, social media, texting, internet browsing are mostly done on a solitary basis. These actions only seem to more isolate the individual. Now our pervasive cell phone usage has us looking to an app for greater life satisfaction. Will we not even seek face to face therapy or advise in the midst of life's difficulties? Will we shut ourselves off even further form society, personal interaction, and just call on an app for help? Who would we trust to regulate the advise given? What research is behind the application? Without a "real" person and face to face contact true problems could go undetected. It kind of scares me to think of what this could mean and what might be next.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with this! It is amazing to see how everyone, especially young children, are drawn to technology. But it is sad that the use of technology is isolating people away from face to face interactions.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is scary to think about what the future holds in regards to communication and technology. Hopefully the information we are learning will make its way around the world!
ReplyDeleteI was with my family today and my 1 1/2 year old niece Callie loves to look at pictures of herself in Gramma's cell phone. Then she'll often get out of the picture gallery and end up on Amazon or something. So today my mother, in efforts to prevent Callie from calling China, tapped a few setting and handed Callie the phone back saying, "here, scroll through Instagram". It took me aback as I realized how modern that statement was, and I realized that if Callie doesn't have Gramma's phone she has mom's or dad's, although I thought small children weren't supposed to get a lot of electronic stimulation. It's better for them developmentally if they experience things face-to-face. It's depressing how many people who have grown up with all of this technology walk from one building or car to another with their faces buried in their phones and never even look at the sky or the people around them.
ReplyDeleteI love your thoughts here. It is quite fascinating how we have let the media take over our lives in a way that can be less than positive. I'm impressed with your ability to stick to the media fast! That is a difficult task in our day and age.
ReplyDelete