How does technology progress impact our world ?
Technology is constantly reinventing itself and changing at a fast pace. According to the new 2018 Global Digital suite, more than 4 billion people are currently using the internet and every second 11 new people create accounts on social media . The growth is driven by easier access to affordable smartphones and cheap internet plans. Having an abundant internet experience is easier than ever before. Less than ⅓ of the world doesn’t have a smartphone nowadays. People are moving on mobile app platforms and slowly distance themselves from web browsers.
The exponential rate at which technology and the online networking are adjusting themselves affect both us and the business world. Governments around the world admit that new technologies constantly develop. According to the ITU target, 1.5 billion people will be connected by 2020. Social media, internet and smartphones inevitably empowered us with an unrestricted amount of information that can both benefit and put us in danger. Through virtual connection, we are able to communicate in a quick and efficient manner that doesn’t rely on factors such as geographical position or cultural proximity. Paradoxically though, what is meant to help us connect, is in fact leading to detachment. User growth in social media and smartphones is creating a false sense of belonging and leads to social anxiety and depression. We became digital natives: we prefer text messaging and Facetime to real life interactions, allowing ourselves to become an antisocial, disconnected generation. So the question is: are we deliberately changing ourselves or is internet changing us ? Below are some of the ways in which our world is affected both by internet and text messaging.
They create a sense of urgency
Mainstream culture started questioning the need to spend time and energy on real life interactions. We are forced to act fast, think fast, work fast. The availability of gadgets, applications, and smart devices grows daily and that automatically forces us to step up our game and act accordingly. A work environment in which technology progress dictates the work pace triggers a desire to keep up with things. Which leads to less time spent doing things in a slow, traditional way. More Whatsapp and less What´s up: the online world suddenly becomes a dopamine rush fed by carelessness. Although initially beneficial, information abundance gives things an expiry date, which leads to the so called ´´future´’ shock syndrome.
They make the world smaller
Globalization is shrinking the world. Connecting, getting informed and learning about new things makes it possible for us to reach a larger audience than ever before. No matter the question, anything is just one google click away. We can network, we can get to know someone very well before even seeing them face to face, we can read and share tv news online, we can send emails instead of physical letters, we can come together in a better way. More and more entrepreneurs started generating business ideas inspired by our need to connect. For instance, at Netfors we mediate communication between people and telecom operators. service providers, aggregators and application providers. We are motivated by the desire to provide customized high quality networking services and we believe in smart connection.
They can improve the learning process
E-learning and smart messaging makes it possible to self teach ourselves everywhere, at anytime. Even school teachers now provide students with online materials that can be watched over and over again. Ios and android learning apps such as Duolingo, Udacity, Memrise, Brainscape are just a few of the hundreds of tools available to educate the user. Furthermore, we can connect with experts on topics, we benefit from learning management platforms. In business, the use of online sources is not even optional anymore. The online world naturally became the perfect environment to grow brand awareness, website traffic, sales and partnerships regardless of the business area.
Despite obvious negative side effects such as the rise of artificial relationships, cyberbullying, and health disturbance, technology does shape our future in a better way: development in the field of solar energy, the rise of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, easier access to education through online platforms and apps, and last but not least the launch of flying cars which is way closer than most of us think. Together with blockchain and Iot, all these new technologies will generate informational value which will result in a better overall life quality.