How Technology is Changing the World

Technology has changed the world of today. The social world, work world, and just the world in general now completely focuses and relies on technology and technological devices to function. Technology has spread to the social world because many people form and maintain their interpersonal relationships through social media. It has almost become a requirement for people to be on social media to actually be included in their interpersonal relationships (Packard, 2013). What this really means is that a whole new set of skills is required to successfully manage interpersonal connections with others (Packard, 2013).

Furthering that are the new skills that are required to remain as a viable employee in the workforce of today (Shea, 2010). Technology has changed how workers communicate with each other, how work is accomplished, and even what work actually needs to be completed (Shea, 2010). For example, e-mail communication has become one of the most prominent forms of work communication (Shea, 2010). Without the skills to communicate effectively through e-mail, a person may not be able to contribute to the working world of today (Shea, 2010). That exemplifies how a generation of people that are not willing to adapt to technology and learn to use the necessary skills associated with technology will likely not prosper in today’s working world (Shea, 2010). Even more than that, many of the jobs required today are technology related and thus require people to have the skills necessary to obtain those jobs. This has caused people to have difficulty competing in the workforce of today, if they do not have the technological skills necessary to do so (Shea, 2010).

The negative effect of this is that it can be creating a generational gap between those that are able to use and fully adapt to the technological world and those that are not (Shea, 2010). This can be seen both socially and professionally. Socially, the general population keeps in contact with each other through social media. If people do not use social media, then they are losing out on those interactions, which can lead to the gap between those using technology and those not using it (Shea, 2010). Even more noticeable, and probably more important, is the professional gap that occurs between those that know and understand new technology and those that do not (Shea, 2010). Technology is rapidly changing. Those that do not or cannot adapt to that, are likely to become no longer necessary in the workforce (Shea, 2010). They will no longer be a necessity to a company that is fully digital, now (Shea, 2010).

Technology is literally changing the way our brains function (Keegan, 2012). Because of that, to successfully navigate both the social and professional world of today, people have to adapt and learn the new skill sets necessary (Keegan, 2012).

References:

Keegan, S. (2012). Digital technologies are re-shaping our brains. Qualitative Market Research, 15(3), 328-346.

Packard, A. (2013). Digital media law (2^nd edition). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Shea, B. (2010). How the Internet changed everything. Crain’s Detroit Business, 1, EO50.

 

The videos below were created to explain how technology has changed the world. This first video was created in 2008. Though that makes the video already six years old, it still holds some interesting information about how new technology has influenced the world.

 

This second video is actually the updated version of the first video. This was created in 2014 to update the facts that were released six years ago. Watching these videos one after the other is particularly interesting because people can see what facts have changed and what facts have not changed over the last six years.

References:

Mesjms. (2014). Did You Know 2014 [YouTube Video]. United States.

Skikull, R. (2008). Technology- Changes [YouTube Video]. United States.