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BriannaMoore
ProfessorJenniferRodrick
English114B
29February2016
TechnologycanMakeyouorBreakyou
Technologyisforeverevolvingjustlikethehumanspecies.Tosome,technologyis
beneficial,easilyaccessibleandpositivelyeffectivetooneslife.Asforothers,technologycan
changeapersoninmanywayssuchashowtheyread,write,interactwithothersorsimplyby
howtheymayperceivetheirself,leadingtonegativeoutcomes.Ibelievetechnologyhas
negativelyaffectedthewayweidentifyourselvesonlineandinoureverydaylives.
Technologyhasaffectedthewayweprocessinformation.Sincetechnologyhasmadeit
veryeasytoaccessinformation,Ibelievethewaywereadisaffectedbytheseeasyaccessible
sources.Inthearticle,
IsGoogleMakingUsStupid?,
Nicholascarrhassupportedmyclaimby
stating,Nowmyconcentrationstartstodriftaftertwoofthreepages.Igetfidgety,losethe
thread,beginlookingforsomethingelsetodo.IfeelasifImalwaysdraggingmywayward
brainbacktothetext.Thedeepreadingthatusedtocomenaturallyhasbecomeastruggle(150).
Inotherwords,technologyhasmadeitsoeasytoobtaininformationthatwearedependingon
theinternettogiveusamuchshorteranswerorsummaryinsteadofreadingsomethinglengthy
andfiguringitoutourselves.Ialsobelievetechnologyhasalteredourwritinghabitsby
introducingustoacronymssuchasidkandlol.Thewaywewriteisdefinitelyaffectedby
theseacronymsbecausewearesousedtousingthemdailythatwhenitcomestowritingan
essayitbecomeshardtofindthecorrectwordstosayortoevenwritecorrectly.Also,usingthe

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internetinthesewayshasmadeuslooklazyandlessknowledgeable.Weareperceivedtobe
lazyandignorantbecauseonedoesntevenacknowledgehowimportantitistolearnthingson
theirownorhowimportantitistobepunctuallycorrectwhenyouarewritinganessay.
Wedependontechnologynotonlyforshortanswers,summariesandsimple
conversationsbutalsoforsomethingtodo.Technologyprovidesseveralsocialmediawebsites
suchasFacebook,Twitter,andInstagram.Technologyalsoprovidesplentyofgamingwebsites
too.Ibelievethesewebsiteshavealteredthewayweinteractwithothers.Iveseenithappen
plentyoftimeswhereapersonissogluedtotheirphone,they'renoteveninterestedinwhat's
goingonaroundthem.Itsasiftheyreaddictedtotheirsocialmediaandcan'thelpbutwantto
beapartofthevirtualworld.Ivealsoexperiencedapersonbeingsogluedtoacomputerscreen,
theywontstopgaminguntilmanyhourshavepassed.Thesetypeofdistractionsfromthereal
worldcanaffectthewayoneinteractswithothersbecausetheyarenotevenpayingattentionto
anythingthat'sgoingonaroundthem.Someonecouldbetalkingtothemandtheywouldn'teven
hearathingthepersonissayingbecausetheyareonlypayingattentiontotheirsocialmediaor
games.Thiscanalsoaffectthewayonemayhandleajobintervieworveryimportant
communication.
Duringajobinterviewonemustbeveryattentiveandarticulatewiththeirresponses.
Yourcommunicationskillsduringajobinterviewwilldeterminewhetherornotyougetthejob,
butifyoucomeoffascareless,youwillbelabeledasacarelessworkerandwillmostlikelynot
getthejob.Communicationskillsareveryimportantwithinrelationshipstoo.Thebookcalled,
ExploringPsychology
,byDavidMyers,givesanexampleInchapterten:Motivationand
Emotion,underthesection,AhierarchyofMotives,ofhowhumanbeingshavespecific

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needsandwants.Inchapterten,DavidMyersgivesanillustrationofthehierarchyofneeds,
inventedbyanAmericanpsychologistnamedAbrahamMaslow.InChapterten,Myersdefines
thehierarchyofneedscategoryofbelongingnessandloveneedsasthe,Needtoloveandbe
loved,tobelongandbeacceptedneedtoavoidlonelinessandseparation(355).Forexample,
treatingyoursignificantotherasiftheydon'texistbecauseyourphoneismoreimportantornot
communicatingwiththemduringanargumentcanruinyourrelationship.Humanbeingshave
needsandwantsandaccordingMaslowshierarchyofneeds,asuccessfulrelationshipisvery
important.

Socialmediaandgamingisnotonlydistractingandaffectingthewayweinteractwith
others,butitisalsoaffectingthewayweidentifyourselvesonlineandinreallife.Socialmedia
cansometimesgiveapersontheimpressionthattheyarenotperfectthewaytheyare.
Sometimespeoplebelievethisandtrytobesomethingthey'renotinstead.

(
AmIPerfectNowBarbieFace
.DigitalImage.
U
ndressedbeauty
.Undressedbeauty.25Oct.
2011.Web.21Feb.2016.)Thisbeliefcaneitherturnintocatfishingorevenseriousself
consciousproblemsthatmayaffectthewaysomeoneperceivesthemselvesinreallife.
Catfishingiswhereyoulietoanotherpersononlineaboutyouridentity.Thisluringactusually
happenstothosewhoarelookingtogetintoarelationshiponline.Afterseeingsomanyimages

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ofhowoneshouldlooklikeonsocialmediaandnottomentioneventhecyberbullyingthatalso
playsahugeroleininsecurities,onemayfeelliketheyshouldalterorlieabouttheirappearance
justtofitin.Forexample,inthearticle,
TeenagersandtheStruggleForIdentity
,bySeth
Mullins,Mullinsemphasizeshowteenagersstrugglewithfiguringoutwhotheytrulyare.Inhis
paragraphaboutteenagersandhowtheyareconstantlytryingtofitin,hestates,Nowonder
theyendupquestioningwhotheyreallyare,afterhavingspentsomuchtimeimitatingothers.
Frommyownexperience,IagreewiththisstatementbecausewhenIwasateenagerandIspent
alotoftimetryingtofitin.Ialwaysalteredmyappearancesjusttofitinwiththecrowd.NowI
noticethiswasacompletewasteoftime.
Eventhoughtechnologyhasaffectedusinnegativewaysonlineandinreallife,ithas
alsoaffectedusinpositiveways.Sometimesweneedeasyaccessiblesources,especiallywhen
wecantfindinterestingresearchtopicsforouressays.Theinternetislimitless.Youcanaccess
tonsofinformationrangingfromarticles,pdffilesandmuchmore.Sometimespeopledonthave
thetimetogotoalibraryandsearchthroughbooksjusttofindonequoteforanessay.For
example,technologyhascameinhandyalmosteverytimeIvewrittenanessayhereatCSUN.I
amaverybusycollegestudent.Ontopofmyassignments,Iworkinstudenthousing,volunteer
asaParkCouncilDirectorandItakecareofapuppy.Itwouldbeamiracleformetofindtime
togototheoviattlibraryandreadacoupleofbookstouseasresources.Theinternethasgiven
memanyadvantages,resultinginpositiveoutcomes,andIbelievestudentswithsimilar
schedulescanagree.

Intheend,socialmediacanaffectourlivespositivelybutcanalsohurtouridentities
tremendouslyandmanydon'tevennoticeit.Technologywillliveforever,beeasilyaccessible

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andeithermakeorbreakouridentities.Technologycanchangethewayapersonprocesses
information,interactswithothersandcanaffectthewayonemayidentifyonlineorhowthey
perceivethemselvestobe.Hopefullyonedaythepositiveoutcomeswilloutweighthenegative
butuntilthenwewillbeaffectedbyhowtechnologyhasevolvedandhaseithermadeourlives
easierorharder.

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WorksCited
AmIPerfectNowBarbieFace
.DigitalImage.
U
ndressedbeauty
.Undressedbeauty.25Oct.

2011.Web.21February2016.
[https://undressedbeauty.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/2/]

Carr,NicholasG.
TheNortonReader
.13thed.NewYork:W.W.Norton,2012.Print.
Mullins,Seth."TeenagersandtheStruggleForIdentity."
FamilyLobby.com
.N.p.,n.d.Web.16
Feb.2016.
Myers,DavidG.,andC.NathanDeWall."Chapter10/HierarchyofMotives."
Exploring
PsychologywithUpdatesonDsm5
.NewYork,NY:WorthPub,2014.N.pag.Print.