The Unnatural Media
I find myself feeling awkward in public because everyone around me is staring at their phones. This pressures me to look at my phone and check social media just because i feel uncomfortable in my everyday life. Simples tasks such as taking the train or even having lunch can make me feel the need to check the check my phone just because I feel as if I may look awkward just sitting there. Not a day goes by that human’s don’t use technology. Media and Technology are all around and can not be ignored. Everyday new technology is being produced to make peoples lives more efficient. New technology is being made to produce a utopian world for the future but too much technology may cause the opposite, a dystopian world. A world where we feel the pressure to be like everyone else even in the simplest cases, such as looking at your device while sitting in public. Technology is being forced upon our nature.
Are these man-made devices making our world unnatural? Natural is something existing or derived from nature; not made or caused by humankind. The rising debate is if all technology stopped working, would we still be able to function normally in our everyday lives? The technology we associate with in our everyday lives will soon take over and people will no longer know how to function without these devices. This is not natural because we will soon lose the generation who taught us to do these simple things such as sewing, navigating or basic math. People love how efficient and easy our lives have become they’re beginning to love their devices and believe they can’t go back to how life was before these products exist. Love is a very natural feeling. Anyone can love their mom, best friend or even their dog. Is falling in love with your device natural? Many cases have been reported that people are even trying to marry their phone or laptop. Daily Mail in 2014 says Chris Sevier from Florida claims if “gays have the right to marry their object of sexual desire, even if they lack corresponding sexual parts, then I should have the right to marry my preferred sexual object.” People are becoming so attached to their devices they may feel sexual desires to the object and feel the sense of love. Disingousing the line between natural and unnatural is becoming more difficult for our future lives.
Media is making it harder to love ourselves. I find myself looking in the mirror and nit-picking the things on my body that I don’t like about myself. I often question myself on why I do this and if it’s actually necessary. Social media is portraying an image of how we should look and feel. Media says we should be skinny with long beautiful legs and we should be confident, but how are we supposed to feel confident with this picture of the “perfect woman” stuck in our heads? It becomes to easy to love your face with filters and to only feel confident in pictures if filters are applied. SnapChat filters can even distort your face to look completely different by giving you a different hair color, bigger eyes, smaller nose, and even add makeup to your face. New York post says in 2017, the rate of suicide has dramatically inclined toward teens after social media surged between 2010 and 2012, suicide rates increased after two decades of low suicide rates. Teens start to feel like they are finally pretty enough after layers of filters just to post on their Instagram. It’s becoming a constant competition to compete on who is the prettiest girl or who has the best life. Everything on social media can be controlled so people can only see the highlights of your life and this make yourself look better to others. The comparison of others has become a large issue within the social media community.
Although there are multiple pros and cons to media and technology, it is making our everyday lives more efficient. Keeping in touch through long distance is now easier than ever. Social media makes it possible to see your loved ones through the phone screen. Facebook and Instagram friends can post and update you on their lives so you feel more connected to one another. Facetiming is very important when speaking to someone far away because it gives the allusion that you are actually together. Not only can you stay connected with family, but also stay updated on events, schools, and businesses. Without social media, keeping up with these things would be a little more difficult. Technology is trying to become more convenient for everyone by creating a more efficient life for us. The new media is giving us a sense of purpose in this world. Accessing things has now been made easier than ever. Almost anything can be accessed with just the touch of a screen. How you decide to take advantage of this technology is broad.