NMD 200

Journal3 JaredSteinbrecher

September 19, 2019

Journal3 JaredSteinbrecher

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Summarize at least 4 class resources, whether video or article, in a short paragraph. Cite references for each paragraph at the end of the paragraph in parentheses, using URLs where possible. (4 paragraphs)

  1. Humane: A New Agenda for Tech

This resource is a video about rethinking technology to better assist people, rather than harming them. The video reveals how some technologies are downgrading humans by overwhelming their weaknesses. Because of these technologies many young people have depression, anxiety, and other mental issues. The video also touches on the “trust economy” and how companies could be competing for peoples trust instead of their attention and time.

 

Vimeo, Center For Humane Technology, 25 Apr. 2019, https://vimeo.com/332532972

 

  1. The Internet Is a Force of Nature. It’s Our Job to Civilize It

This article is about the how the web effects people and how we must change how we use it in order to make it ours again. Ever since people first went online, our data has been collected and sold to the highest bidder. It is only recently that people have started to protest this and start thinking about how to keep our data to ourselves. One way that the article suggests is that we don’t allow websites and apps to store data on their own, but rather have our devices collect our own data and use it for good.

 

Dorrier, Jason. “The Internet Is a Force of Nature. It’s Our Job to Civilize It.” Singularity Hub, 6 Sept. 2019, https://singularityhub.com/2019/08/25/the-internet-is-a-force-of-nature-its-our-job-to-civilize-it/

 

  1. Plugged In: The True Toxicity of Social Media Revealed

This video focuses on the effects of social media on people. It reveals how the internet purposefully triggers negative emotions and actions in order to keep you online. Because of how you get attacked online, many users face mental issues such as depression and anxiety. It also causes you to be more likely to lash out and be mean to other people online. An idea that the video presented was modifying social media to encourage real-life interactions, rather than the cold-hearted, anonymous exchanges we have on our devices.

 

Grannon, Richard, director. Plugged In. The True Toxicity of Social Media Revealed, YouTube, 23 Jan. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1682&v=PHzwMLx-rKc.

 

  1. The People Behind Your Tech Addiction Are Now Trying to Curb It

This article is about technology and how it is designed to effect human emotions and humans in general. The article also reveals that major tech companies biggest concern is keeping your attention as long as they possibly can. The Center for Humane Technology wants to inform people on how technology is affecting them and their mental health. They also want to make a change on the technology industry to design with humanity in mind, rather than business and money.

 

Schneiderman, Miles. “The People Behind Your Tech Addiction Are Now Trying to Curb It.” YES! Magazine, 28 June 2018, https://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-people-behind-your-tech-addiction-are-now-trying-to-curb-it-20180628

 

Then define and write a specific question you have or issue you want to research about the link between social media and mental health of young adults. Explain why this question or issue interests you. (a few sentences to a paragraph)

I would like to know more about the positive effects of technology and social media on the minds and bodies of young people. We have spent the past few weeks learning why technology is so bad for us, but there has to be at least some good qualities to it, otherwise we wouldn’t still be using it. Another question I have is even if there was no social media, would the young people of today still be depressed? I think that there is enough going on besides technology that causes young people to feel so down and depressed.

 

Then find a list of 6-7 articles that respond to the issue–This might be a result of a few Google Searches with different terms of questions. You can also add 2 from the Resources in Week 3 Schedule). Pick the best 6-7 articles/videos and list them as a “working bibliography” on this topic.  Cite references for each paragraph at the end of the paragraph in parentheses, using titles, authors, and URLs. (a list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skim these articles and based on your skimming, pick the two most informative–those that expand your knowledge the most, not necessary those that you already agree with. Summarize each of these articles as you did above, each in a short paragraph. (2 paragraphs)

The first article that I found informative was “How a Technology Addiction Can Hurt Your Health”. I found it interesting because it how quickly and easily you can be affected by and even addicted to social media and technology in general. The article describes symptoms of how technology affects your body and mind. It also gives some ideas for solutions to these problems, including silencing your notifications and setting healthy limits for screen time.

The second article I found informative was “Six Ways Social Media Negatively Affects Your Mental Health”. Even though this is similar to the other article I read, I feel like it also did a great job at highlighting the problems with social media and technology. The article lists the six major ways in which social media negatively affects your health. This includes lowered self-esteem, loss of human connection, memory loss, lack of sleep, a short attention span, and negatively affected mental health. The article goes in depth on all of these, but the one that interested me the most was how social media could alter your memories. For example, looking back on old pictures of a relationship or a vacation could alter your memories to only remember the good or the bad times you had then, while forgetting the rest.

 

Now conclude by explaining how your knowledge of this topic has developed over this research experience. If you did your research correctly, there should be some change in your thinking–that’s what “re-search” means.  So, explain how your thinking changed–either by deepening, changing or making more complex your understanding of the issue. (1-2 paragraphs)

After doing my research on this assignment, I have determined that social media and technology is actually a lot worse for me than I thought it was. I knew that technology could make me feel certain ways sometimes, but now that I understand what’s going on behind the scenes, its clearer what the tech is doing to affect my mentality and my body. Now that I know what technology does to keep me hooked, I am more likely to set healthy limits for myself and be more aware of how I spend my time online.

 

Given your new understanding, suggest how you might adapt or redesign a social media platform you currently use, or create a new one, so that other youth are likely to have a healthier experience.  You may need to go beyond your own experience of “it’s just fine for me” to “if other teens are depressed, maybe this could help them”. Remember that having grown up within social media, it may be hard to even assess its influence on you, or to imagine there might be an even better experience than the one you are used to.  (1-2 paragraphs)

If I had to redesign an app, I would redesign Snapchat. Besides Reddit and Facebook, Snapchat is the only social media that I have an account with. I probably check it at least once every couple hours. I don’t even really care about what I see on there, it’s just something that I look at when I’m bored. For my redesign, I would take out a lot of the pointless and stupid clickbait content and replace it with things that have at least a little meaning to them. I would also make it so you can completely get rid of things that you don’t care about. Next I would change the notifications for group chats, so I only get one instead of one for every message that gets sent in the chat. This would make me check it once at the end of the conversation instead of over and over again. I would also change it so that if you spend a certain amount of time on it in a day, the app would tell you that you should maybe take a break.

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