Communications and Technology: The Threats We Face - Research Proposal Example

? Communications and Technology: The Threats We Face Proposal The current global advancement in communication and technology that is changing rapidly has changed our interactions on a global scale, to some extent, this has been helpful since it is easier to communicate with people globally and at a relatively cheap rates. However these technological advancements have come with some challenges and threats which if not properly addressed may negate the gains that have been made, therefore in this essay I will look at the challenges and the threats that we face in the use of technology in our interactions. Use of technology is almost being embraced in almost all human activities, from communicating with friends and relatives to our daily activities such as cooking, driving, cleaning and conducting lectures or listening to them in a school setting. While the use of technology in these activities has for the most part brought great benefits to the human race, there have been several challenges and demerits that are associated with their use. Some issues like cyber crime, sophisticated break-in in banks and homes, spread of immorality and even some diseases have been accelerated by technology. Such issues inspired me to write this paper to look in to them and analyse how technology is related to these vices in detail. In addition, the vices that are associated with technology seem to be concentrated in some regions of the world more than in others; this proposition also inspired this essay to look at the level in which this statement is true or false. In writing the paper, the main sources of information will be secondary sources that include recent books on communication and technology, peer reviewed journals from authors who have a vast experience in communication and technology and the threats facing the sector. In addition, any websites that have information on current issue on communication and technology will come in handy in writing this paper. In researching and writing this paper, I estimate it will take a duration of two week to complete it and hand it in. Below is the schedule of activities that will be involved in completing this paper and the specific duration thy will take to be complete. The research will begin by collecting the appropriate reading materials, which contain relevant and factual information on the topic, this process is expected to take three days and should be complete by July 13th. The second phase will be the reading of the materials and noting the major points that will be used in the paper, this will be the longest phase and will take about four days and will complete by July 17th. The third phase will be preparing the rough draft, which will be completed by 18th of July. Proofreading and correcting of errors will take a day and July 19th it will be complete. The next phase will be cross checking of information to ensure the accuracy of the facts and their relevance to the current trends. Preparing of the final copy to be handed in will be done on July 20th and the paper will be ready for submission July 21st. Research Report Introduction In the recent past, the world has made major strides in easing and improving the way human beings interact with each other, the means of communication have changed from situations where people would walk from one point to another in order to convey messages to the current forms. This is where in order to pass any information, one just need to be in possession of a mobile phone, a tablet, a computer or any modern communication gadget and he can pass all forms of information. The use of technology in communication was initially reserved for those who had the means to own them, as they were initially prohibitively expensive, however with time, new discoveries have made access of these technologies easier and cheaper to everyone (Charness, Parks & Sabel, 2001). With the increased unlimited access to these technologies, several threats have risen from their use that have made people have a second thought in their usage, these threats have ranged from less serious threats to the more dangerous ones that have caused loss of properties and lives to the victims. In this paper, we will look critically at the threats that are facing communication and technology and how they affect the society, in addition, the paper will give some recommendations on ways to tackle or mitigate some of the threats. One of the greatest threat that is facing the use of communication and technology in the current world is crime. With the advancement in technology levels, criminals have also started using technology in their activities, which has made unsuspicious people to fall to their ways. Criminals are now robbing people of their assets using technology, for instance, groups of criminals have formed import and export websites where the clients who want to save on going to purchase items physically send money online to the seller and the good are delivered to them (Goldsmith & Wu, 2006). These criminals receive the money but they never send the goods, prosecuting them has proved difficult since they have devised ways to ensure that they are not identified, another example is cases of prisoners in Kenyan jails who con unsuspecting mobile users of their money through the mobile money transfer by pretending to be agents of the service provider. In other instances of crime through the use of technology, hackers have been gaining access to websites belonging to organisations or governments where they gain confidential information. With the information they collect, they decide to either use or sell it to be used against the source organisation; the hackers mainly look for credit card information, a recent example is the hacking of the Master Card website in December 2012. Within social sites such as facebook, twitter and my space among others, interactions with people from all parts of the globe have increased, some of the users have planned meeting online with strangers who have turned out to be criminals, these criminals have either raped, killed or stolen property belonging to the victims (Lars, et. al, n.d) . Another threat that has faced the society with the use of technology is the decay of moral values. With the coming of the internet, all forms of information can be accessed including such information as pornography violent real life scenes among others. This information has increased the levels of immorality in society since most of the websites that display such information so as to glorify the acts. For instance, some of the websites sell pornographic films without following the laid down procedures for accessing such information by the law in the respective countries, this has increased the young generation’s curiosity to try what they see in these sites therefore leading to promiscuity which in turn has increased the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions globally. In addition, violence is also attributable to the information that people access on the new forms of media as it is not edited or controlled to people below the recommended minimum age; studies conducted have also attributed violence, especially gun violence, in the United States of America to the Hollywood movies that contain violent scenes. With technological advancements in communication, the world has become a global village, which is heading towards full integration of cultural and social values. This in essence leads to some groups losing their cultural identity as they try to imitate the culture of another part of the world, which they perceive as superior to theirs. Since there is no single culture is perfect as each has some of its strong and weak points, the assimilation of those cultures makes the world lose the cultural diversity and therefore the benefits that come with it. A very clear example is the global trend that is embracing the westernisation culture where other regions are imitating the European and American cultures (Hachten, & Scotton, 2011). Use of technology has also led to some technologically related disorders in individuals who frequently use them. With research still ongoing, there have been reports of some disorders that have been linked to use of technology in communication. For instance, continued use of platforms such as social sites and text messaging to communicate has been demonstrated to lower a person’s interpersonal skills when they engaged in a face-to-face communication as the individuals prefers solitude to the presence of people. Radiations from the technological gadgets that are used in communication have been in several cases linked to having some harmful effects on the human body. With proper use, control and regulation of the use of technology, the benefit that come with their use can be improved and the threats faced in using them reduced, some of the measures that can be put in place include the following. In order to reduce the instances of crimes that are related with the use of technology in communication, the governments in the various states should enact laws that protect the users of technology in communication, these laws should ensure that the people caught committing crime using these channels are heavily punished to discourage others from the same. In addition, organisations should increase their security policies in order to protect themselves from cyber criminals and information belonging to their clients (Fuchs, 2012). Social sites users should also be educated on safe ways of meeting and interacting online to avoid being victims of criminals who want to meet them physically by meeting in a public place or accompanied by other people. Regulation on the usage of tools of communication will help in reducing accessing of information that promotes immorality or violence among the young generation. Some of the ways that it can be done include parents limiting the type of films of that their children watch, protecting the students from immoral information on the computer through use of passwords on websites that promote immorality (Griffith, 2000). In addition, internet should be regulated and the pornographic sites brought down in order to restore the morality in the society. Further research should be conducted on technology related disorders in order to ascertain the claims and come up with medical solutions to those cases in addition to finding ways of minimising on these disorders. Communication and technology in the current global environment has been one of the areas that the society has put more emphasis on with almost every technological advancement being related to communication and interactions between people. Due to this, several concerns about its use have come up such as criminal activities, moral decadence, loss of cultural values among communities and health disorders related to technology, governments and organisations have been putting in place measures to mitigate these issues in order for the users to benefit. References Charness, N., Parks, D. C., & Sabel, B. A. (2001). Communication, technology and aging: Opportunities and challenges for the future. New York: Springer Pub. Co. Fuchs, C. (2012). Internet and surveillance: The challenges of Web 2.0 and social media. New York: Routledge. Goldsmith, J. L., & Wu, T. (2006). Who controls the Internet?: Illusions of a borderless world. New York: Oxford University Press. Griffith, T. (2000). Technology. Stamford, Conn: JAI Press. Hachten, W. A., & Scotton, J. F. (2011). The world news prism: Challenges of digital communication. Chichester, West Sussex ; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Lars, V., Marcel, N., Oliver P., W., Christoph, W., & Christoph, S. (n.d). Can internet users protect themselves? Challenges and techniques of automated protection of HTTP communication. Computer Communications, 34(Special Issue of Computer Communications on Information and Future Communication Security), 457-467. print Read More