Blog #3 Critical Question and Artifact

The critical question that I chose was “How does the use of modern technology affect its society?” After class today I have been thinking about revising it to something different but I am not completely sure. After talking with a writing consultant and the activities in class today I am more confident in my Critical Question.  For now I am planning to keep it the same. My question fits well into all of the categories.  My question is personally meaningful because I have been thinking and having a lot of ironic happenings with technology lately and how it is affecting us.  Technology is affecting our whole society and that is evident in our everyday lives.  Some sub questions that I could ask from the main point are if these changes are for bad or good and what are some advantages and disadvantages.  Modern technology is sort of a broad topic but once I narrow it down to cell phones and interaction in my paper it wont be as broad.  Technology has affected us negatively and positively over the ages so this is not an opinionated question.  I want to explore one side of this though.  Technology is such an interesting topic that I will definitely be able to explore it through three different projects. 

Artifact:

Cell phones

Television

Ipod

Music

Social media

Twitter

Texting

Apps

Teenagers

Calling

The artifact that I am probably going to use is cell phone.  For all of these prompts and blog questions my mind and writing seems to come back to cell phones. There are so many directions that I could take this paper and I am excited about that.  I work best when I know the material and have examples to connect it back to.  Every time I look around the room I notice cell phones first.  Before I came to college I was having major cell phone problems.  I could not go two minutes without wanting to check my phone or have a thought about who might be texting me.  Now that college has started, I have found that I barely have five minutes to look at social media during the day.  My thoughts have completely changed since I no longer use my phone as much.  When I see others using their phone constantly, it annoys me and I finally see how pointless it is.  Before this week though I thought it was a necessity to check social media. I was so caught up in myself I would forget to notice others around me and interact appropriately.  In today’s society, everywhere you look there are people using their phones.  It has become a way to escape awkwardness and social interaction.  An example would be at a restaurant or social gathering.  My favorite is when you walk by someone and quickly turn to a cell phone to avoid eye contact and awkwardness instead of just saying “hello.”g  Even in pre-teenagers I have noticed some changes.  They hide behind their cellphone to text a crush or girl they are afraid to talk to.  Bullying is often started on social media because it helps people avoid human contact. There are so many topics I could explore with the cell phone artifact and through my “so what” point, I hope to give readers a different perspective on how to change their cell phone use to better our society.