The Pros And Cons Of Technological Dystopianism

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Social media is like a multi-talented limitless sponge, but without any holes. This sponge has become a place where everyone can post almost anything from one location and have others in another location be able to view and comment on it. It allows relatives to stay connected through the use of social media, by just pushing a few buttons on the keyboard on either a smartphone or a computer. The distances between them would not matter as long as they had internet access. Social media could, however, be used to embarrass people to the point of no return, like having an enemy post a video of you confessing that you hate your job. However, you were drunk at the time and had no idea there was a smartphone in your face while you made your shameful …show more content…

These extremes, however, claim that social media is either completely flawed or it is flawless. These two views are called technological dystopianism, the belief that technology is destroying the way we interact with each other, and technological utopianism, the belief that digital technology will make us smarter which and, as a result, will make the world a better place (Jones and Hafner 11). Rodney H. Jones, a Sociolinguistics professor at the University of Reading, and Christoph A. Hafner, an Associate Professor in the English department at the University of Hong Kong, say, “We wish to avoid these two extremes. Mediational means like the computer or the Internet are neither good nor bad - they simply introduce into our social interaction certain affordances and constraints in particular social contexts which we have the ability to respond and adapt to in any number of creative ways, some with positive social consequences and other with negative ones (11).” In other words, Jones and Hafner are saying that both dystopianism and utopianism are bad. Social media, as a whole, is not bad nor good because it all just depends on the user and what their motives are. People can use this method of communication in a positive way that benefits themselves, others, or both. However there are some people out there that wish to harm others as …show more content…

All you need to do is tap a few buttons on your smartphone and you’ll be able to find the person you’ve been looking for. Although that sounds easy and like something everyone should do, there’s always that group of people who tends to ruin the fun for everyone. These people are catfishes; they like to use profile pictures that aren’t theirs and pretend to be someone they aren’t to lure unsuspecting victims into their traps. Some of these victims have gotten so emotionally attached to the person they think they are talking to and get on a plane to meet them in person. The saddest part is that these hopeful individuals usually get stood up or they could be completely disappointed because the person in front of them is not who they said they were online. Sometimes the couple will put this in the past and move on but there still is the scary part about online dating apps. The scarier part is that these innocent people could get kidnapped because they went to go meet this stranger who wasn’t who they said they were. Not all online dating experiences end up with a sad or scary ending.It just depends who that person is on the other side of the screen. Are they really who they say they are or are they trying to harm you? This isn’t the only aspect of social media where someone can get hurt. Using something like LinkedIn, an online

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