Technology Autobiography

My Most Influential Communication Technologies:

1.) Social Media (e.g. Facebook) 
2.) Computers 
3.) Television

            One of the most pivotal pieces of communication technology in my life is social media. I started with Myspace, but it became unpopular and then I moved on to Facebook. I also started using Reddit this year.  I find social media has revolutionized the way that I learn new information about the world. When I look at my Facebook newsfeed, I always see an active stream of information about peoples’ commentary on their own personal lives and their thoughts about politics and culture. I think that is wonderful that I have access to so much information; although, I find that Facebook requires me to be a much more active individual because I need to evaluate the truth-values of what I read. Even though Facebook is a great place to get information, I have no guarantee that what I see on Facebook will automatically be true. Facebook is representative of a democratic public sphere; thus, all of the individuals on the site represent a broad spectrum of ideologies, and they all will participate in deliberation with me. I have entered into many debates about politics and culture through statuses with many people; as a result, I learned how to construct arguments better since I interact with opposing viewpoints much more frequently. Television has also given me a great way to be culturally literate and learn new information from the media; however, I feel that, as with social media, we need to be critical consumers because it is a one-way form of communication. Thus, I could run the risk of being brainwashed by harmful ideologies if I am not critically aware of what I watch.  

Just like many of the young people in the video, I find that technology is ingrained into my everyday life. One of the young students mentioned that technological advances have shaped writing and reading. From my own experiences, I can definitely assert that it is true. I bring my laptop to school in order to take notes during a lecture because I find that I can type much faster than I can write through pen and pencil. In addition, I have used my laptop to compose essays for school and write lyrics. I feel my computer changed my processes for completing the many tasks I do. I seem to share a similar paradigm with the young people because I believe that technology is a convenient necessity. However, I feel that using laptops at school may be a distraction because sometimes I drift onto Facebook or other sites instead of paying attention during class. If my computer crashes, I can potentially lose my files forever.

            In addition, I use my technology in order to customize my experience like the young people in the video. For instance, when I use Reddit, I subscribe to numerous subreddits in order to customize the information that I want to receive on the website. The interesting concept about this is that I can customize my Reddit experience to not only my personal interests, but also my political and social ideologies. Just like those young people, I manipulate the social media and internet so it can become an extension of myself. Coincidentally, it happens to make me a better learner in life.

            I feel that one of the primary differences between my usages of technology compared to the young people is that I try to limit it as my primary means of communication. One of the young people in the video said that he texts way more than he actually talks to people. This implies that he prefers that as his primary means of communication. One of the caveats of social media and any kind of communication through computers is that it can negatively affect our ability to communicate in person. I think that another main difference between the young people and me is that I use communication technology as a means of collaboration as well. These young people produce websites and music; however, this seems to be an individual pursuit. For instance, I manage a band and I use Google Docs Spreadsheets in order to keep track of ticket sales and finances. By having the spreadsheet online, I can collaborate with the band members on pertinent details asynchronously and synchronously. Unlike those young people, I feel technology can also be a tool that makes collaboration much better, which also is in the spirit of democratic practices.