Katie Coen

Since the internet was invented in 1983, technology has continued to develop. It started with smartphones, and now it’s all the social media platforms that people use everyday. Each platform has developed as it grew, and they continue to make changes today. 

There is a lot of competition now between social platforms. Once one does something, they all pick up the idea. For example, Instagram started their “Stories” after Snapchat had been doing them for many years. They all develop a similar idea into their own platform with a goal of keeping people on their app as long as possible. We continue to see this today as apps continue to develop and add new functions.

As technology has changed over time, many people have researched the multiple harmful effects it has on its users. These include addiction, worsened mental health, engaging in disinformation, exploitation, and more. One of the most relevant dangers of social media is deteriorating mental health. In America, people tend to post the best parts of their lives only. They leave out the negative aspects, and therefore give the vision of a perfect life. Seeing this over and over again can make someone think badly about themselves and the things they do in their lives.

People on the internet now can also make fake content to fool others. An example of this would be deep fakes, which are getting more and more popular online. There are software options that makes videos of people saying things, when in fact, they never said it. One that I’ve seen many times is a video of Former President Obama talking badly about Former President Trump. Anyone can make these fake videos and post them to the internet, which has caused controversy many times. Disinformation is a huge disadvantage to continuing to evolve the internet. As new softwares and apps become widely available, it allows people to fake more and more content.

Source:

“Foundations of Humane Technology.” Participate, Center for Humane Technology, https://app.participate.com/course-bundles/foundations-of-humane-technology/20a00320-edeb-4ffc-b43f-c394397deb3b.