Impact of Technology Use for Mental Health - Essay Example

Health Health is the of being physically, mentally, socially, and intellectually complete with low risk of diseases and disease related disabilities. People participate in activities that promote the physical dimension like muscular strengthening and flexibility. The physical dimension promotes wellness of high level that includes personal safety, medical self-care and the appropriate use of medicines. The emotional dimension highlights the awareness and acceptance of an individual’s feelings. It reflects on how an individual feels positive about themselves and life. It involves managing an individual’s feelings and behaviors, accepting oneself unconditionally and the ability to cope with stress. The social dimension is the ability to create and maintain healthy relationships with other people. It encourages harmony within the family and contributes to the human and physical environment for the goodness of the community. The intellectual dimension is the ability to use an individual’s mind to create the best understanding and appreciating oneself and others. It involves an individual’s ability to be creative in thinking and to expand their knowledge and skills through various activities. Today, technology had changes people lives greatly. Through technology, people are able to interact with others instantly worldwide. In addition, individuals are able to move around fast, the appliances in people’s homes have made life easier thus making the world a better place. According to a fieldwork done since 2003, the American teens use the social media massively and the use social sites like MySpace and Facebook. Some teens opted for MySpace while others preferred to use facebook and there are those who opt to use both. The teens independently chose the kind of social media they wanted to use. Moreover, personal preferences like features, functionality, how to use and design led to the teens choosing one to the other. teens often talk about what they like about and how they perceive the different sites in relation o the values they hold. For example some teen prefer facebook because it seems faster to them as well as it is less competitive than MySpace. In addition, some choose specific social media platforms because of their friends. On the other hand, some teens describe those who use MySpace as those from the ghetto and hip-hop lovers group. In the United States, the social structure is shaped by race, socio-economic status, lifestyle, and education. Social media is fading away as the one that seems trendy and fashionable is becomes outdated when another appears, for example, MySpace came first and people embraced it but when Facebook was introduced, most teens adopted it as the new in thing. Some left MySpace while some choose to maintain two profiles. When comparing the two social media platforms, it is a fact that they are lifestyle brands. People self-segregate through taste and social networks drive taste as well. People especially the teens chose some lifestyle because of friends. This is because they connect with their friends and identify themselves with a particular lifestyle brand (Maasik & Jack, 477). Social networks can cause a hurdle of communication across social divisions. This is because some people choose one platform over the other for example those using MySpace cannot communicate with those using facebook and vice versa. Furthermore, this becomes even more magnified when educators, politicians and organizations choose to engage in social sites interact with their students and constituents. This is results in a political war since choosing one social site means segregating those who preferred to use the other. Therefore, it is important to note that social divisions are taking place in the society and if people keep on ignoring this fact, then people may fail to realize the shape they are unfolding. It is also important to respect other people’s choices and attitudes that are not like us. Today, it is very easy to have many friends on social network sites like facebook. Facebook is gaining popularity because of it helps people find their old friends through common friends. In addition, it has grown and attracted even the elderly people in the society. For instance, many grown people spend most hours online chatting and looking for friends instead of keeping themselves busy with work. Most people who use facebook are people who are above 25 years while those who use MySpace are more than 35 years. In addition, people with white-collar jobs and with families tend to go online to find out their popularity on facebook. According to a survey conducted by University of Dayton in 2006, forty percent of employers disclose that they would consider facebook profiles when looking for potential employees. People have lost their jobs out of the pictures they upload on MySpace. For instance, there is a woman who posted photos when she was naked and lost her job. In her defense, she told the employer that it was her space but sadly could not get her job back. Other people consider it as time wasting as people can always call each other as compared to poking and sending little messages. Others feel like social networks are like an obsession that people have to update and take care of. The use of technology is addictive and most college students are so addicted that they are unable to stay without their media connections to the world. A survey was conducted where college students were asked to give up all their media for 24 hours and were asked to write a report on the experience, their successes, and failures. The students were able to write more than 110,000 words. Many students admitted they were addicted to media and they did not like the experience of not having their personal connections with them (Maasik & Jack, 483). To them this meant a world without their family and friends. They also complained that it was boring to go anywhere without their MP3 players. Many commented how difficult it was to avoid TV on the background at all times. The lack of texting, instant messaging, email, and facebook were the strongest terms they used to explain how difficult it was to stay without the devices. In addition, it made them not able to connect with close friends and family as well as those who lived far. The students admitted that texting gives them a feeling of comfort and the fact that they were not able to communicate with others via technology made life almost unbearable (Maasik & Jack, 484). In addition, few students listen to news, watch news on television, or even read newspaper yet they are informed of the news around the world. These students are able to get news through blog post or socialites. These students care about what happens in their families, friends, and the world. They also care about being cut off from constant flow of information. The students further admitted that only the significant news like Olympics make them tune into a television otherwise all news and information is gotten through personal interactions. Additionally, research shows that most of these students own expensive media devices. Most of them use blackberries or Iphone to interact with their friends and families. Finally, the use of technology and home appliances has made people become lazy. This is because they prefer eating fast foods or make light foods with the use of microwave so as to save time. Moreover, people are becoming obese because they are not doing exercises, all they want to do is sit down and play games, chat with friends and post photos on social media sites. This unhealthy practice should not be encouraged at all. Parents should make sure that their children engage in games and other activities that are involving to avoid all these diseases. In conclusion, the world has changed and technology has contributed to these changes. Connections of the world have become very thin and it is important for people to acknowledge this fact. People need to embrace technology because it is a new thing, times of the world have changed, and people cannot survive without technology. In today’s world that is growing so fast, technology is ideal to make things happen. However, people need to be cautions of the negative effects that come with technology. People need to be wary of the negativity of technology and find ways to focus on the positivity because technology is ruling the world. Work Cited Maasik, Sonia, & Jack Solomon. Signs of Life in the USA. 7th ed. Boston, 2012. Print. Read More