The Impact of Digital Technology Essay Example

Use of Technology in Digital World

The use of digital technology has increased exponentially over the years. Users from all spheres and age groups have been induced on various social networking sites. These social sites are addictive, and a lot of people spend at least 3-4 hours a day on social media. Some of the most popular platforms of social media include Twitter, Facebook, Google, Instagram and Myspace among others. There are various negative impacts to the student that roots from the use of these social networking sites. The social media has reduced the meeting of people on a one to one basis, with people opting to communicate online (Sherry turtle, 2). Digital technology is influenced largely in learner’s personal lives, and there is need to exercise it with caution so that they may not put their lives at risk or infringe their privacy. This study will look at some of the biggest problems that have been caused by overexposure to social media in the learning environment and how it has threatened the learners’ performance.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Social networking sites have been found to be occupying the activities of the bedroom among the young as they find it being a more secure place where their parents do not invade their privacy. According to O'Keeffe, Schurgin, and Kathleen (4), socal networking has grown very fast and is spreading to many youths. Today, most of the young people use social networking, and the number is steadily growing. Some of the few students who are not yet into social media are mostly influenced by social pressure from other young students who are already addicted. This usually affects their mode of sleep as they use most of their time on phones, computers, and other digital gadgets chatting with their peers or even in some cases with older people on the internet. The time they spend on social media is lost and the little time left to cover for sleeping is not enough to concentrate in their daily routine while attending their lectures.

Technology and Social Media Impact of its Digital Side

Learners tend to spend more and more time on social media as it is addictive in nature. Most students tend to neglect their studies and duties because of frequent spending time on social media. High exposure to social media in the learning environment has affected some of the student mentally and emotionally which has affected their ability to perform their duties. Many times the student end up in a conflict with their teachers because of being reminded from time to time to concentrate on their work. It also causes a mental dissatisfaction for not participating actively. Failure to check on the social media may create boredom, depression, anxiety and slumber. To solve this, students may be advised to seek other hobbies that may not include social media (Khan, et al, 4). Such activities may include the physical exercises as they may drop the addition level of social media.

The research indicate that college students go to school feeling tired because they lack enough time to sleep and wake up when their minds are fresh. They are addicted to the use of social media like chatting with friends and checking the currents trends, hence spend a lot of time. Also, during the night they are not restricted as others are asleep and thus can engage on the social media for a long time (Journal of Youth Studies, 1). This in return affects the performance of these students in school. When a student attends a lecture being so tired in the morning the day would be ruined because he or she would be feeling sleepy during the session. Some would even boycott classes just to sleep. Their social life and development are affected significantly because they have wasted their time on social media. Students who attended classes being tired said that they were very unhappy. Staying up late at night for these young generations has so many adverse consequences to their health and mental development. Students’ grades are lowered significantly as they do not use the digital gadgets they have for the appropriate need. For instance, they use a computer, phone or tablet to play video games and chat with their fans. This research ascertains that social networking sites forms as a platform of distraction to college students which affect their studies adversely.

Research indicates that the time spent on social media is more for personal reasons than learning reasons, with few students showing that they engage on social media solely for learning purposes and agenda. Social sites on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Google have shattered the divide between personal and learning use. The most intriguing and concerning issue is that the students visit social sites constantly and thus interrupting their studies. From an objective point of view, multitasking inhibits or rather reduces productivity. Also, it is noted that most of the students who were given computers dropped in their grades, which was not expected (Chad A. Krueger, 1). Rather than use the computer for studies, they used them for social media purposes like Facebook and email.

Problems in Digital Area of Technology

Cybercrimes and sexual harassments are often initiated through social media. Many students often share their personal information publicly. Students face harassment because of the things they post in the social media, which express their personality and their peers may start mocking and threatening these students. This makes a student who is not bold enough to even skip class to avoid others who may have seen their personal information on the social networking sites. For example, a cyber bully will pop up immediately a student gets home and continue to engage him/her in similar hurtful messages that he sent during the day (Kite, et al. 1). This would affect their performances in the college. In additional, there are some internet predators that harass college students in the social media and end up bullying them instantly, and this may relate to a student developing depression (Barber and Vernon 389).

Social networking sites can affect the Psychological behaviour of students in learning institutions. For instance, depression can lead to a lack of concentration in class. As a result, they turn to their phones or tablets to distract themselves. This psychological effect would make these students spend most of their time on the internet than paying attention to the lectures. This has a very adverse effect on their social life because psychologically they are disturbed. Time management would be lost by these students, and they would pay less attention in class, which affect their performance. Also, the students may influence one another through texting jokes and other things that are fun to read, yet adding no value to their education. This may shift their attention from education matters to social media things especially through their phones.

Social Networking as a Result of Advanced Technology

Social networking as a result of advanced technology has become problematic to many young students as they sleep fewer hours and this alters their studying routine. This affects their school performance significantly as they cannot pay attention in class, and mostly miss important lectures. The more these students use their time multitasking during the night with their digital gargets chatting interferes with their sleeping time, and this would force them to use some of their time during the day to sleep and miss their classes. When student daily routine is altered due to social networking and mostly their daily cognitive needs are affected significantly.

In conclusion, digital technology has multiple positives, but it has curtailed face to face communications. As such, people are less empathetic towards each other. Computer-based interactions are making face-to-face communication unnecessary for most people. Thus, I could not agree more with Sherry Turkle. The continued use of social media to communicate with friends or for business purposes is leading to a situation where digital media is being overused by a majority people. Social media such as Facebook, Snapchat or video games is really popular among young people. Students think they can multitask, thus, do not pay attention in class because they either too busy texting their friends or posting pictures on social media. Digital technology has changed over years and most people rely too much on it; therefore, social network, texting in class can have a negative impact on students and learning outcomes.

Works Cited

Barber, Bonnie and Vernon, Lynette. “Adolescent Problematic Social Networking and School Experiences: The Mediating Effects Of Sleep Disruptions And Sleep Quality.” Cyberpsychology, Behaviour And Social Networking, (2015): vol, 18, no.7, pp. 385-392.

Chad A. Krueger, MD. “The Downside of Smartphones, Tablets, and Computers”. 2013

Journal of Youth Studies. 1 in 5 Young People Lose Sleep Over Social Media. Educational Publishing Worldwide Ltd. (2017)

Khan, Muhammad Alamgir, Faizania Shabbir, and Tausif Ahmed Rajput. "Effect of Gender and Physical Activity on Internet Addiction in Medical Students." (2017).

Kite, Stacey L., Robert Gable, and Lawrence Filippelli. "Assessing middle school students’ knowledge of conduct and consequences and their behaviors regarding the use of social networking sites." The Clearing House 83.5 (2010): 158-163

Turkle, sherry. reclaiming conversation the power of talk in a digital agel. New York: John Wiley & Sons.