Relationship With Technology

 My relationship with technology has varied throughout my life in terms of just how exposed I am to media and technology. Our generation has had the opportunity to be exposed to the most impressive technology and media in the history of humanity, and we sometimes take that for granted. However, it is not always great and can also comes with some negative impacts. 

My whole life I have tried to maintain a healthy relationship with technology and not allow it to influence my life to much. The first technology/media I was probably exposed to was TV. Besides watching shows and cartoons I watched lots of sports and sports talk shows like SportsCenter as I want to be a sports journalist. Soon after that I was being exposed to the internet through computers and smartphones. Then, not much longer after that came social media. 

I think that older generations would find it absolutely astounding how far technology and the internet have come at such a quick rate. I'm sure that no one a few decades ago imagined children today having access to technology they had never even seen before. For example, my classmates and I have completed all of our work this semester on an online blog and the grades of which will be entered on an online grading system. This use of technology at such a young age is great and can be very beneficial in some aspects. According to WGU.edu, this abnormal use of technology and exposer to media strengthens problem solving, decision making, multi-tasking, and spacial awareness. Children are also inherently better with technology that previous generations seeing as you could probably give a toddler and iPhone and they would figure out how to use it within a few minutes. There are also some negative mental affects too, however, such as lower attention spans, depression, obesity, and a lack of privacy to name a few. Kids are spending more and more time with social media and technology, some times up to 8-10 hours per day. I admit I am fault to this sometimes but recently I have been trying to limit my screen time as much as possible. 

In terms of a digital footprint I do not believe that mine is very large. For starters, when I google my name I am not even the first "Aidan Ahearn"(spelled exactly like that) to come up as there is a lacrosse player with that exact name playing at Villanova. I think this is also because I generally keep a low profile on social media. I regularly use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat yet almost never post on those accounts except for Snapchat occasionally and rather just use it to keep in touch with close friends. I think in some ways, especially for my career path, I should almost increase my digital footprint so that I can network and create name recognition.