Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Amanda Vasquez-IExamen 1


     This past Saturday I observed how I communicated with others with and without technology. For that one hour I didn’t have a phone or computer and as a result it was very difficult to communicate with others. Through this experience I learned a lot about my self and how my life would be like without technology. When I didn’t have my phone for an hour it was very hard not to check if I had any text messages or if there was any new things on face book. Through this experience I realized that my generation today relies on their phone way too much and we cannot live without a cell phone or computer.
   When I was observing the way I communicate with others throughout the day including electronic communication I noticed many different things about myself.  I realized that my friends and I have a very similar style that we present ourselves. On days we have early morning classes we tend to dress more casual then the days we have later classes in the day. Also that I communicate with others in different ways throughout the day. In the mornings and late nights I communicate with others electronically and in the afternoons I have more face-to-face conversations with others. There was also a difference on what I would say to people with the types of communications. When I communicated electronically I would be briefer than I would be face to face. Even though it’s easier to talk to people face to face I use my phone and computer more often. Even when I look around campus you cannot go across without seeing a great amount of people on their phones.
    Before this exercise I did not think it was going to be that hard to not have my phone or computer for an hour of the day. Through this experience I realized that it would be much more difficult to communicate with others without technology than I expected it to be. I also couldn’t help but check my phone within the hour even though it was turned off. It is a habit of mine to just look to see if I have any new notifications. I couldn’t just text my friends/family or go on the Internet whenever I wanted. I actually had to go to the person I wanted to talk to face to face rather then sending them a quick text.  It was less convenient but it was better in a way because I actually socialized in person and saw their true reactions to what we talked about. The bad thing about electronic communication is that a person can easily lie to you because you’re not with them when they read and write a response back.  Plus when you have more face-to-face conversations it can help you improve with your communications skills for school and your job.
   In my opinion having this technology can be a good and bad thing. The positive aspects about having all of this technology around us is that it makes it easier to communicate with people without face to face in the long run. Technology also helps me stay in touch with my friends from high school and keep a close relationship with my family. On the other hand we become so dependent on it that we couldn’t imagine life without it.  In past experiences when I didn’t have a smart phone I definitely used my old phone much less then I do now. Before I didn’t use my phone as much because it didn’t have Internet and it would die so quickly that I would just call or focus on other things rather then electronic communications. Since I received my iPhone I use my phone ten times more than I did in the past. When I am not doing anything I can just quickly check my Facebook or use any of the apps to entertain me. After this exercise I have learned that technology is in some ways put a negative experience on our lives. I always see people on their phones or computers everywhere and these days little kids are getting electronic communications much sooner then they did before. When I was a camp counselor we had to make a rule not to being any electronics with you because it would distract them from activities and other kids who didn’t have them would want to play with it. Texting and driving is also a huge problem for us now. There are many accidents that result in people dying because they were texting while driving. It is very upsetting to hear when this happens because the accident could have easily been prevented if the person didn’t check their phone. Although I could not live without my phone or computer I realized through this experience that I need to be less dependent on my electronics and focus on other things in life and make it a point to communicate with others in person rather then electronically.

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