Technology Is it Friend or Foe?

Is technology changing the world for the better? for worse?

It depends on the ‘lens’ you view it through- if you are a believer that technology is changing the world for the better than you will embrace new technology, you embrace the openness that technology and social media is creating in the world. You are excited about the potential of increasing connection and value through the tools of technology.

If you view technology through the lens that is making things worse then you resist new technology, you will fear the loss of privacy, you will mourn the use of mobile phones, texting and social media. You will think that we have ‘lost’ something rather than ‘gained’ and you may even choose to not participate with technology at all.

I am a believer that technology is changing the world for the better, just the fact that there are in roads being made in third world countries with the use of Nokia phones which means someone in one village can inform someone in another village of how they are getting water or food. Or how about that young people are using technology to innovate and create solutions to problems at an alarmingly fast rate of innovation.

You Tube has thousands of videos on young people and things they are creating to make the world a better place. I often tell the story of the young science buff student who after seeing a hearing impaired person order a meal with an interpreter the science buff student went home and invented a glove that can be worn by hearing impaired individuals and as they sign language it is interpreted onto a mobile device!

Yes there is cyber bullying and there is abuse of access but I believe technology is leading us to be able to create a safer and more peaceful society. Now when someone is doing something wrong they could be caught on camera and ‘outed’ within minutes.

In business technology allows us to connect rapidly with our clients, to receive instant feedback, to have to constantly find ways to add value and it is helping us to redefine our definition of work, how hard we work and what we do for work.

In life technology allows us to Skype or Face Time with family and friends all over the world, where in the past we might not see family except for on special holidays we now can be connected to them 24/7.

I recently read an article that Julia Roberts has avoided social media and I also read another celebrity Wendy Williams who doesn’t even send her own emails and she admits she doesn’t know how. It’s like there’s a ‘badge’ for those who are shunning technology and that somehow technology is evil.

I think like everything else in life there is a balance, you leverage technology for the positives and you do not let it take over your life or your relationships. I keep my Iphone on silent ALL THE TIME I do not want alerts, bells and whistles to increase my adrenaline every time they go off.

BUT I do check my phone periodically to see if there is an urgent email, text or instant message.

I keep my phone on silent when talking with others on the phone or in person- I think its rude and arrogant to have it on loud ringing.

I use Facebook, Twitter and all other social media but I am only on there in the morning and again late afternoon and then I ignore it.

When I travel I use Skype and Face Time and I love it because I feel less stressed when I am away because I can connect with those I love.

Is technology friend or foe? It depends on how you look at it!