The Price People Pay For Using New Technology Is Their Freedom And

The Price People Pay For Using New Technology Is Their Freedom And The Price People Pay For Using New Technology Is Their Freedom And Personal Relationships Describe â€" Essay Example > Currently in the western societies more people have been employed collecting, distributing and managing information than in other careers. Millions of miles of wire, optical fibre, and air waves connect people, their computers and many other information handling devices together. We are living in a society that can be labeled as an information society (Joinson et al, 2010). The challenge and question that is facing many people is whether this is the society that we want? Leaving the home without mobile phones or no being in position to maintain constant communication using the Internet is unimaginable in the current world and very unbearable to many people. Family, colleagues, and friends expect to contact us any time despite of the distance or time between us. People check mail regularly as well as respond to text messages almost instantly (Wang Wellman, 2010). Technology has come with the price we have to pay in terms of personal relationships and freedom. Constant communicatio n using mobile devices has been criticized for disconnecting people from those who are physically around them. Many people complain they do not get visits from relatives with the coming of mobile phones. People prefer to meet in social places and call to ask about how others are doing instead of visiting them. Groups have been started on social media where important things can be discussed without face to face contact. Personal relationships have suffered where spouses pick up quarrels and accuse each other of spending more times in social media sites instead of engaging in meaningful conversations for the purpose of bonding and being intimate with each other. In many social places where people could engage in conservations with strangers it is no longer the same. People prefer indulge with their phones and chat to friends or strangers online instead of interacting with those people they can see (Christofides, Muise Desmarais, 2012). Pastors have complained of people who get enga ged with their mobile phones when the church service is still going on. In many places of worship there is always a polite notice asking people to switch off their mobile phones when getting into these places. Personal relationships can be hurt by new technology when individuals do not apportion their time properly and make the other person feel ignored and neglected. New technology can be used for increasing interaction or a source of distraction when one is not interested in engaging with the person close to him. Personal relationships suffer because of constant interference and distractions from many quarters. Breakages in relationships have increased due to interference of third parties and providing of unsolicited advice by ‘social media experts’ (Wang Wellman, 2010). People cannot enjoy an intimate conservation without someone getting suspicious or even recording if he or her things what is saying is funny. Private information is leaked in social media forums causing he artaches and divorces. People have to be extra careful and those who become careless are severely punished through shaming and judgment. Embarrassing vides, texts, chats and emails have been produced as evidence for existence relationships when one party was denying. Parents are finding it hard to relate with their children who take upon themselves to copy many things that they witness on the internet. The internet and coming of mobile devices has changed the way people relate since so much information is available on the internet. One can rather search for information on the internet than meeting up with friends to learn about something he is not familiar with (Scherer, Craddock Mackeogh, 2011). Policymakers, researchers journalists, and popular pundits often note that digital technologies have the ability of disrupting personal relationships as well as delivering uninvited content hence the term ‘friendly spam’ from relatives and friends where one is bombarded with forwarded messages that someone believes will interest them. Experts in child development are worried that phones together with personal computer devices distract parents from their children and vice versa and hence preventing engagement into nurturing conversations (Wang Wellman, 2010). Technology enables children to access violent video games, pornography and engage in cyber-bullying as well as other forms of online harassment. Child development is interfered with. The way children relate with their parents change.