COMM 330 - Emerging Technologies

 I have been seeing a lot of discourse on social media lately regarding censorship and the use of AI, especially Chatgpt. The discussions for both topics are polarizing, and I see both sides of the arguments. I need to do more research on these topics before I fully formulate my own opinions because I do not want to rely on others' opinions before my own.  I need to be more active in pursuing resources outside of social media to educate myself on specific topics. But since we created a list of resources from week 1, I have been better at checking my list of sources for these discussions and more.  It is essential to be informed about emerging technologies because they shape how certain things operate, how information spreads, and how these technologies become integrated into society. 

I use my phone for entertainment, navigation, contacting people, school, work, reading, etc. My phone is essential to me because of the reasons I listed above. I use my phone to engage with the world by going on social media and using it to learn about almost anything. Occasionally, I'll share things on my social media for others to interact with. If I lost my phone access, I would feel destitute. My phone is crucial to me and holds all my information and access to resources. 

A technology that I use daily is my smartphone. While I acknowledge the significance of having a smartphone due to its instantaneousness and interconnectivity, I am too dependent on it and on it way too often. I never really paid attention to how often I used my phone until I started receiving notifications that I was accumulating 7+ hours of screen time daily. On my phone, I mostly scroll through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and time passes extremely fast when I am “doom” scrolling through social media. Because of this reliance on my phone, it does make me feel somewhat bad because it almost feels like a phone addiction.  On the other hand, having access to my phone is necessary because it is the number one tool I use to reach people and vice versa. It also gives me access to information happening worldwide with internet access and numerous online resources.  Overall, however, I can be more thoughtful with my phone usage.