Technology. Something to fear or something to harness?
By Jamie Pickett
Technology. This is a word that can represent change and progression. It is a word that many people fear, but it is also a word that represents transformation. Technology has already transformed many things in our world today and promises to continue to do the same. The question is: Will we be fearful of technology or will we learn to hone in on it and become part of the transformation?
One area in which technology has allowed enormous transformations to occur is in the medical field. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website stated that a child with Cystic Fibrosis in the 1950s was not expected to “live long enough to attend elementary school.” Today, however data predicts the survival rate for people with Cystic Fibrosis to be closer to the early 40s. This is attributed to the massive amounts of research that have been done to make progress in caring for people with Cystic Fibrosis. This research could not have been done without technological advances.
The medical field is only one of the examples that depicts the transformation technology has brought to society. In the wrap-up of Chapter 1 of The Media of Mass Communication textbook, the author writes that “technology has expanded the original forms of face-to-face human communication” (Vivian 21). Because of technological advances we are now able to reach masses of people via mass media and social media. While some people are fearful of all face-to-face communication dying off because of technology there are many examples in our world today of necessary reasons to use mass communication. According to the text book “mass communication is a process that targets technologically amplified messages to massive audiences. Other forms of communication pale in comparison in their ability to reach great numbers of people.” (Vivian 5)
I have always been wary of the massive advances that our society has made in communication technology. I think that we need to be very careful of how much we allow technology to seep into different aspects of our lives. I fear that if we let technology take its course in our lives, without limiting it to a certain extent, we will begin to see negative effects in our social lives and relationships. Because of this fear, I have avoided learning about and gaining skills related to some aspects of mass media and social media that were more important than I realized. Something that changed my view of technology in regards to both mass communication and social media though was spending a summer interning with a non-profit organization in their communication and public relations department.
Working at my internship showed me some of the many positive changes that have been made possible through technological advances in social media and mass media. The non-profit organization I interned with is called Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). Bridges to Prosperity is an engineer-based organization that aims to innovate, educate and inspire. Bridges to Prosperity’s “programs provide access to healthcare, education and markets by teaching communities how to build footbridges over impassable rivers, in partnership with organizations and professionals.” This organization has people working, living and interning all over the world in order to change the lives of the people living in those communities. Communication between Bridges to Prosperity headquarters in the United States and all their different employees at project sites all over the world is an extremely important aspect to the organization running smoothly and efficiently. Just in my few short months at Bridges to Prosperity I was involved in numerous Skype conference calls with other employees in Rwanda, Nicaragua and Panama. This type of weekly staff meeting, as well as many other necessary types of communication within the organization, would not have been possible without technology.
The main project that I worked on while at my internship was a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. This campaign was aimed toward funding an online education program that Bridges to Prosperity offers to young engineers. We were aiming to raise thousands of dollars in a short period of time. Kickstarter was the mass communication medium that was chosen in order for this campaign to reach donors all over the world. This Kickstarter experience also tied into communication through social media. In order to reach some of the people we were trying to get to donate to our campaign we had to reach out via Bridges to Prosperity’s social media outlets and connections. These outlets are able to reach a much larger audience than most people realize. While social media can be a negative thing in many ways, if used productively and professionally it can be used for many positive things.
Because of some of the experiences I have had in a more “real-life” work situation, I would argue that it is important and even vital for students to learn the skills that are necessary to becoming an excellent communicator in the areas of social media and mass media. In order to do this, we need to harness the use and advancement of technology. Instead of being fearful of the negative changes and effects that these medias can have, we should focus more on how we can change the world in a positive way using these outlets. This is not to say that we should ignore the dangers these types of media pose to our lives. We should learn more about them to become masters of them, instead of fearing and ignoring them. By becoming “masters” of the art of mass media and social media communication we will not only benefit ourselves, by becoming more competent and attractive job candidates, but we will also benefit the companies at which we are hired by harnessing the power that technology has and turning that into positive, effective transformation.
