Effects of Internet Culture on Students

Can you live without your phone for a day? This is a very serious and important question for teenagers, and we don’t realize but it does affect our culture, youngsters and kids today rely on technology and the internet more than ever. Internet addiction is a typical form of internet use that causes people psychological, financial, educational, or occupational problems. Due to various educational or study requirements students need the internet more than others and putting their culture behind. Also students tend to rely more on the internet nowadays than before. The rate and type of internet usage can also affect their behavior in the search for information. There are negative and positive aspects of today’s technology usage.

Technology has made life more complex and created more dependency without people even realizing the truth. The researcher Ross LeBeau focused whether or not “Google is making us Smart”, which is an essay on the effects of the internet. One point from the research is that people are depending more and more on modern technologies; as stated in the project report, “Some have called it Internet addiction disorder, others use the terms “pathological Internet use” or “high Internet dependency”(LeBeau, Ross, 2011:11). This quotes enlists the disadvantages that come with modern technology and how the use of it is affecting the people. The Internet is making people dependent rather than individuals having independence and knowledge to the most extent. LeBeau states in the research: “These groups are notorious for their comparatively high Internet use already, so it makes sense that they would be most likely to display symptoms of obsessive use” (LeBeau, Ross, 2011:11).

Moreover, one of the findings was that individuals, especially students do tend to depend on the internet and use it more often than the older generations. The statements above support my argument on how people depend on the internet for most if not all of their inquiries to help them through obstacles and also socialize. For a lot of people technology is an important way to interact and know all the whereabouts of people. This is negative in a way because people do not socialize face to face nor do they interact with the real world. Individuals spend all their time behind a screen, unable to take a step in the real world, which is a negative effect of technology.

On the other hand, technology is also deemed a useful tool for a lot of people because of the many attributes gained. Some advantages are students, researchers, professors and others can do research using technology and use technology as a tool to enhance their knowledge and improve upon the work they are involved with. In LeBeau’s research, it states, “. .. envisioning a world where the individual mind is made more powerful through the use of technology, and the collective intelligence of mankind is expanded using collaborative tools, such as the common Wiki-based software of today”(LeBeau, Ross, 2011:24). He argues that the media and technology of the past have made us smarter, not stupid. Technology is only making us better thinkers, visualize, and the ability to make connections and see the bigger picture. To further prove that technology is a piece in a puzzle for the betterment of the people. Another example is, “As for the argument that technology users are overloaded with information, he suggests that we merely need better tools to manage it, saying that “Google isn’t the problem; it’s the beginning of a solution” (LeBeau, Ross, 2011:24). This quote further explains my argument to be promoting technology with all of its advantages for the betterment of all individuals no matter what age. Also modern technology and the internet help and improve one’s ability to further their knowledge on any given topic and receive information within the tap of a key.

There are more positive results that are developed by using the internet. Some of the positive usage and results are the online resources for education, jobs, entertainment and socializing. There are many courses provided by educational institutions online for people who are not able to attend school/colleges like most students. For educational purposes technology has been proven to be very useful to those people who have jobs or are unable to go on to further education. Housewives can do courses by applying from their homes, while caring for their children at the same time. For women who work 9 to 5 and have not attended college, they can take online courses to earn a college degree. It also offers an opportunity for those students who do not have many facilities in their country or who can not afford to go and study abroad. Students are able to conduct online conversations abroad with professors and other fellow students to keep in touch and have strong relationships as well. Online lectures are also held through video conferences, and you also have the ability to conference call with your professor where the students are able to see their professor and have a full visual and audio system due to the modern technology and the internet. There are numerous ways technology has benefited individuals in helping one practice their skills, gain more knowledge, help to learn new languages and keep up with politics, news through media and other sources. However, spending time online can have a negative impact on teens and students, which will hinder their socialization. Personally, I feel that the internet is also very important and a useful tool for all generations.

Looking at both sides of the internet and technology it is safe to say that it has helped enormously a lot of people overcoming obstacles and challenges in their life. The benefits of modern technology and the internet outweigh the negatives due to all aspects and features that help to improve people’s life for the betterment. Technology provides a lot of information for all kinds of topics from cultures, politics, religion, colleges, schools, sports, research and more. There are negatives that come with the positives, however looking at all the benefits and improvements due to technology and the internet it has been proven to be a successful source for many individuals.

Now let’s talk about culture, and why it’s important to us. Culture plays a big part in our lives. As in many years before people did not have technology and their world was way more different than ours today, people communicated face to face. Compared to now we communicate with technology and that’s the reason why many people are antisocial. Many people today lose time with family and friends due to the internet because we spend most of our time in school or on technology..

In today’s world, we revolve around technology, everything we have in our phones. But many years ago it was not easy, people had to go to each other’s houses to get information. If you’re an enthusiast purchasing the newest tablet, gaming system, and apple items, whether you’re just the utilitarian with just the essential digital appliances like your computer, and even a notebook, it’s obvious that technology makes it into every corner in contemporary society. Purchasing your first car was viewed as a privilege back in the 1980s but now owning a car is starting to become a thing of the past as companies like UBER and Lyft replace taxis to make a modern form of public transportation accessible almost anywhere in the world. Although technology has practically taken over every part of our lives, which does not mean that it has been welcomed with open arms by all.

With the arrival and progression of these technological advancements, however, we are witnessing adverse effects beginning to emerge among the population particularly among young people. We see clear and relative trends of evolving drawbacks in society that are starting to create a problem in our rising children. The next generation of pioneers and advancers are not living individually any more. When technology continues to advance in rising children and young adults, self-developmental challenges tend to emerge such as loss of academic maturity, diminishing social growth motivation, and also leading to an uptick in health problems.
Nevertheless, with the advent and development of these technological advancements, we are experiencing adverse effects that are beginning to occur among the population; particularly among young people. We see strong and relative patterns of emerging social inequalities which are starting to build a crisis in our growing youth. No longer are the new generation of founders and advancers working independently. When technology continues to evolve in growing children and young adults, self-development problems begin to arise, such as lack of academic sophistication, diminishing enthusiasm for social advancement, and also leading to an upsurge of health issues.

Technology has changed throughout the years and has become much better and easier for all people. For Example, if you go to the city many people will be using their phones talking or listening and this involves aged people as well. Oftentimes, when the group goes out, most people are on their phones instead of spending their time actually communicating. In today’s world, more people are able to rely on text, email, video messaging and phone calls rather than relying on themselves. While this mode of engagement is simple, many people don’t learn the social skills they need. Kids are not taught the value that they need but are encouraged to channel their reliance on technology instead.

In addition, In the twenty-year short time, we’ve seen technology age develop like a kid to an adult. We have seen the incredible development of technological innovation in a short period, in the sense that many inventors and ideologists are still finding new ways of using technologies. With the arrival and progression of these technological advancements, however, we are witnessing adverse effects beginning to emerge among the population; particularly among young people. We see clear and relative trends of evolving weaknesses in society that are starting to create a problem in our rising children. The next generation of pioneers and advancers are not living individually any more.

With the new version of the iPhone launched, these knowledgeable youths continue to lose their sense of self-sufficiency. While technology can be useful and help us develop in a much wider intellectual capacity, the pace at which we are using technology is as dangerous as it is helpful. The first problem that we see constantly emerging is the absence of self-dependence and how technology contributes to it. Technology dependence has become a growing concern, often in young adults and teens. This is because they begin to be exposed to technology at a very young age. They grow a reliance on it over time to get everything they need. Many students of all ages are now able to study every question and find hundreds of answers without any self-reflection. Today’s culture’s new values will have many positive but some negative results too. Throughout the modern world, technology has created an era where the growth of a child’s brain has been limited to the manipulation of technology. Families of the children are the individuals who will continue to think and do something about it to support their future.

There are options that the guardians should begin to work on, for instance they should consider putting away their children’s devices at a certain curfew so their children may prefer to be interactive to survive in the moment they are not shielded by the outside world. One example could be a recent commercial for children to experience different enjoyable events that are not built through technology. Today’s children are the potential people that will be running our world and if things continue to improve at this very moment, then over the next five years there might be a brighter future.

Kids can not acquire the social skills they are expected to learn unless they don’t go out and play with other teens, or even communicate with their own families. We also get very dangerous due to the fact that kids are stuck indoors for too long. They get the need to binge on food while someone sits there for a bit. The foods they feed on mainly are processed foods. If they gaze at a television mindlessly, they find themselves feeding subconsciously. Junk food such as chips and sweets can become addictive and it’s hard to avoid eating once it’s started.

The new electronic and advanced technologies developed in recent years are devastating and affecting young people. Computer games are a big reason why young people continue to get overwhelmed at home and don’t interact with their families or do not do chores or anything else about their house or neighborhood because they’re just worried about playing with them. Handheld Devices such as smartphones and iPads have an immense impact on the popular culture of a child as someone will move them anywhere they want.

Work Cited

LeBeau, Ross.” Is Google Making Us Smart?” An Essay on the Effects of the Internet. 28 April, 2011. https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-042811-102422/unrestricted/Social_Effects_of_the_Internet.pdf

Kessing, Roger. 1974. “ Theories of Culture”. Annual Reviews Annual Review of Anthropology, 03: 73-97