Whether we like it or not, technology had a huge impact on our lives since forever. From the Black and white screen TV to the Smart Touch phones, technology has become an integral part of our lives. Historically, it all started when advances in tool-making technology led to advances in agriculture. And farming revolutionized the world and set prehistoric humans on a course toward modernity. From that point on, everything has been developing in a very short time, and technology has successfully made the communication aspect much easier and better for us humans. In this blog, I’ll show you my own timeline and how technology made my life easier.
I still remember how excited I was when I got the news that my father was going to bring his computer home. My brother and I kept bragging about it for a week especially that we were the first, out of all the people we knew, to have a
But soon, we started downloading more games on it bought externally . At that time, we were fascinated by this incredible invention and all what it could achieve. It was my first experience with technology; and before I knew it, new technologies were upon us, online communication networks were established, new innovations and features emerged. The communication platforms grew exponentially then, and everyone used them at the time.
The major trend was the MSN messenger, it was the most used communication platform back then. I used it all the time to keep up with my friends and family, and chat occasionally. It has shaped my childhood as it represented my first step into the world of communication and media. It was so amusing to experience an application breaking physical barriers of communication and reaching out to the world.
A bunch of years later, my father bought me a laptop. I always had it with me. I used to spend hours on it everyday, especially to watch YouTube that allowed me to access many interesting movies and documentaries. It was the replacement of my TV, but with better features and suggestions. I also used to download my favorite songs online for free instead of having to go buy them from any nearby store. It granted me the opportunity to be active socially and arouse my interest in social media even more.
And As I was given my first smart phone in high school, my whole world changed. Although at some times it may be addictive, it helped me be the person I am today, it had a huge impact on my character; it helped me gain access to a lot of useful information and connect with with my relatives and my beloved ones.
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The bunch of social media platforms like Whats app, Facebook, Instagram, Linked in and others have all occupied a fair share of my time and offered a unique use of technology that was beneficial and impactful on my life. However the platforms i mostly use are whats app and Facebook. It fascinates me how these applications keep me instantly connected with the world and occasionally updated on the latest world news! Not only that, but it made my life much more efficient. I personally find them extremely helpful in setting plans and meetings with people who are thousands of miles away. And instead of spending time searching for a books and articles in libraries, I can simply load from any website or relevant Application.
I think that I made huge progress in using social media. I went from using Computer games filled with pixels, to holding a palm-sized smartphone that allows me to connect with others, capture momentous images, and do so much research. Social media is undeniably the most important part of technology nowadays, in a constantly growing world.
However, in the last couple of years, I came to realize that Technology has also impacted me negatively in a way that has reduced my physical communications and interactions with other people along with sociability. That is when I realized I should step up and reduce my technology interaction for a certain period of time and limit its use. For example, I only use Facebook now for educational purposes. Although it’s right that technology has made our life easier and more connected, but at the same time if we don’t pay attention to its risks, it might become dangerous!
Although I have little knowledge about the intersection between Digital Data and Humanities, I’m very excited to learn and discuss this interesting concept throughout my blog. I will be sharing my learning from my course “Engl 256 B: Introduction to Digital Humanities” on my blogs regularly and hopefully reach a point where the ties are made and cleared. For now, this is a video in which specialists in the digital humanities from Oxford University talk about what this exciting field means to them, and how the use of digital technology in the humanities is allowing the emergence of new fields of research.
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