As someone born in the year 2004, new technology such as smartphones were slowly emerging in people’s lives. Not to say that I didn’t still grow up watching movies on VHS tapes and listening to music from CD’s and records, but the Apple iPod Shuffle was released only months after I was born. Although it may seem “ancient” nowadays, listening to music on a tiny electronic device was almost unfathomable considering the last similar technology was a Walkman. Social media was introduced to my generation around age 10-12 which filled our heads with bad words, knowledge of topics we shouldn’t have known about yet, and standards of all sorts. Ultimately, this forced me to think more as an adult rather than a middle schooler. This “new and amazing” technology cultivated my entire way of speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. 

            Occasionally while drafting an essay, I’ll find myself rereading my work and notice that the words flow almost like a report or an article of some sort. I feel as though the words are flowing from my brain smoothly, yet my essay results in a work that comes across almost “news anchor style”, as I would compare it. I have come to dislike writing almost anything except for research papers for this exact reason. I find myself at a loss for words when attempting to write with any other tone and cannot seem to reverse it back. In the act of physically writing, it is not writing anymore. Everything is now done on computers, and it is common for kids in school to complain about having to hand-write something. Handwriting is not as good as it used to be, and cursive is not even taught anymore. Not only is technology affecting the tone of how people write, but also the act of handwriting. Everything these days is abbreviated from the frequency of texting and few people use punctuation and grammar correctly. 

            Still, through all the effects of technology on every other aspect of my life, I have yet to observe a correlation between technology and my reading habits. According to Nick Carr, people’s attention span is rapidly decreasing, and no one wants to invest their time into a lengthy article or a book. Growing up in the age of TikTok that limit their videos to 60 seconds, that proves to be true for most individuals of my generation as well. They would rather scroll mindlessly and not have to focus for more than a minute at a time than invest their time in something productive. In my case, I have not noticed a change in my attention span, for

I still thoroughly enjoy sitting down and reading an interesting book and have no issue reading a lengthy article or essay. This is not to say that I do not witness this firsthand, for many of my close friends would not be able to sit through a book and would much rather use Sparknotes for the summery. 

            Through all the negatives of technology, many forget the positives that come along with it. Technology is not only computers and smartphones, but also simpler items such as pens, pencils, and almost everything else around us. Without those objects nothing would be as we know it today. This is not to say that there are not positives to the newer technology as well. For one, communication has never been so easy as it is today. One quick press of a button and you can call anyone you want without having to remember a single phone number. Additionally, phones provide and easy way to take and keep photos all in one place, so every part of your memories are together. 

            Technology had affected a majority of individuals in the aspects of reading, writing, and their cognitive abilities, yet many often forget the positives that technology brings into our lives. It would be unfair to say that technology is completely detrimental, yet incorrect to say there is no negative outcome from it all. Technology had gotten to the point where it is almost frightening to think of what they will invent next now that AI and Deepfakes has become prominent and smarter than ever. It is getting easier and more accessible to ruin people’s lives and we have no control over it.