This essay investigates the impact of digital life on society. Therefore, in order to come to a conclusion, positive and negative impacts will be discussed. On the one hand, its current impact will be mentioned. On the other hand, possible future impacts will be shown as well.
Negative influence on friendships, caused by online communication, have an impact on the trust between people. Digital overload causes stress and emotional disadvantages. However, digital development enables innovation and other aspects that make humans life easier. The healthcare industry benefits from the digital life, whether it is about the control of pregnancy or access to information. Wearables will play a key role in the future and shall relieve effort.
Another benefit is the use of efficient services. Digital life allows us to receive online education at any time and almost everywhere. Information for research can be easily found through search engines which can provide thousands of results for a single question. Online platforms allow a faster, more efficient way to get purchases done with the added comfort of doing it from wherever you want to. In the end, the benefits of digital life on society overweigh the negative aspects.
The Impact of digital life on society
Within the last few decades, the impacts of digital life have changed significantly. It is barely possible to imagine what daily life would look like without all those used gadgets. A big proportion of people are doing their work mainly on a computer, everyone is checking their mobile phones a lot of times every day. Online activities can affect truth and trust of people, through conversations on Facebook, etc. Moreover, the well-being of individuals can be influenced, physically as well as emotionally. The impact of digital life on society brings exceptional benefits in many different fields. The healthcare industry benefits, whether it comes to the control of a pregnancy or the access to information. Along with such benefits are negative impacts in a different way. Digital life can affect relationships, working environment and studying. This essay looks at the current situation of digital life and its advantages and disadvantages. In order to weigh whether the advantages overwhelm the disadvantages or vice versa, the future of the digital life on different fields will be discussed.
The development of digital life brings several negative impacts with it. All the information can cause inattentive behavior, which affects the personal life in many aspects, whether it is studies or friendship. A negative result of our digital life is the information overload. Technology experts, scholars, and health specialists surveyed by the Pew Research Center shared their own experience and observations on people from their surroundings. This shows that people can feel anxious and stressed out about the instant access to anything they need, no matter what time of the day. Further consequences of information overload are sleeplessness and impatience. A close connection to digital life can exacerbate the social relationships through missing interactions with other people. Entertainment opportunities and the possibility to work everywhere causes a lack of relation to real life. (Anderson Rainie, 2018, theme 5)
Another aspect is the influence on friendships. An investigation by the University of Washington shows that people, especially adolescents, have the problem of diminishing offline friendships because of their online activity. It is easier for them to communicate online, which does not require interactions in person and avoids conflicts. (Davis, 2013, p. 2283)
A study by the California State University shows technology reduces the concentration of students and causes distraction. Through habits like checking Facebook every 15 minutes, it is hard for such students to keep their concentration on one thing for a longer period of time. Multitasking caused from technology is another phenomenon, that causes negative student performance in class. (Soltan, 2016, para. 2)
Human nature will not change, that is why abuses will also exist in the future. Everything will be available on the Internet in the future and that is why cyber-terrorism will take advantage of that. Privacy will be minimized to a low level, which gives cyber-criminals the chance to attack in new ways. CEO and editor chief of TopEditor International Media Services, Llewellyn Kriel advocates that organizational and individual crime through digital life will be a daily reality. This would make our world less safe than it is today and the only thing that protects individuals will be personal skills. (Anderson Rainie, 2014, thesis 10)
A visiting professor in Germany at the Centre for Digital Cultures at Leuphana University, Nishant Shah, describes several changes in modern understandings. Our definition of being human will change significantly, as well as being social, and being political. That is because existing structure loses valance and meaning. Thus, the world needs to develop a new order, so as to realize new modes and operations. (Anderson Rainie, 2014, thesis 14)
Nevertheless, experts of the pew research center agree that the internet is one of the biggest booms to humankind. the possibility to reach out to other people for all purposes a person could think of, whether it is education, knowledge or family, gives us freedom and countless options on how we want to spend our lifetime. this huge benefit enables the life we can live today; the internet made the global interconnection possible. (anderson rainie, 2018, thesis 1
The digital life can invent, reinvent and innovate private life and career through networking. a research project by pew research center and elon university examined the views of different technology experts, scholars and health specialists on digital life, about how life will change in the future and the well-being that comes along with it. innovation can be done through networking and all the information people can get from it. such information makes it possible for people to develop new business ideas or just find an individual job via e.g. linkedin by adding personal information on the platform, job offers can be suggested. careers can be invented and reinvented, but not only careers.
The healthcare industry gains huge benefits through digital development according to experts, which were surveyed by the pew research center. information about medical, safety, and health resources can be received within seconds, e.g. medication for patients. this is a crucial benefit, and became a game-changer, especially in the fields of elder care and pregnancy. the faster access to information enables hospitals to locate the patients within the hospital and information about prior illnesses, etc., through that the patient can receive help in a faster way. a pregnant woman passes through a controlled process without any uncertainties. she knows whether the child is fit and well and if there will there could be any problems occur during the pregnancy.
Another benefit is the use of efficient services. digital life allows us to receive online education at any time and almost everywhere. information for research can be easily found through search engines like google which can provide thousands of results for a single question. online platforms allow a faster, more efficient way to get purchases done with the added comfort of doing it from wherever you want. the best example for that is amazon, for one, the purchase order can be done faster, also the assortment of products is much bigger than in any stores that could exist. coordination, organizing and booking trips, holidays or adventures is easier than ever before. involved people like family members can receive all the information for the journey and comparison portals ease tenacious searches on different pages and even avoid a drive to a travel agency.
Scientists from mit predict the continuing development of informational sharing. devices will have more automation and control, which leads to the fact that more and more our life will be and all the decisions we make are with cooperating devices. the internet will be more integrated but less visible as it is today, therefore the internet will be blend into all our background information. (anderson rainie, 2014, thesis 1)
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- Sven Meyer (Author), 2018, The Impact of Digital Life on Society, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/453828