A word from be filterless
Mental health is a vital component of our existence; as a human race, we should understand it deeper through time, making it possible to navigate our distinct lives. The Internet evolved and developed in the 1980s. In 1971, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network gained twenty-three users. Thirty years later, the Internet exponentially grew from the ARPANET company with a total of 625 million users and 180 million in the United States. This development in less than a decade caused a revolution within development systems. However, over time, the Internet has become a weapon; we are now subservient to it. The reason this subconscious act of reliance is justified is due to us as a species partaking in technological volunteerism to benefit the engagement level of the corporations’ program.
When Google came out in 1983, they wanted to expand and connect their franchises in both advertising and researching to cater to users using the platform. They used indirect effects instead of direct, making the engagement and activity personalized and tailored to users. Computer scientist and futurist, Jaron Lanier states, “When developers of digital technologies design a program that requires you to interact with a computer as if it were a person, they ask you to accept in some corner of your brain that you might also be conceived of as a program”. Tech companies use marketing strategies like ads, products, and data collection to make profit off of us. The enticing form of media designs affect us in different ways with both our reactions and emotions. According to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, “Researchers have found evidence that people who overuse technology may develop similar brain chemistry and neural patterning to those who are addicted to substances”. Instead of succumbing to reliance and addiction, we should rely on our individual intelligence rather than artificial intelligence as it has the ability to corrupt our minds.
Social media can be interacted with in various ways, it can become a space where users want to reconnect with those they feel disconnected from, or it could be a space where users yearn for short-term dopamine. Passive and detrimental use of social media are both dual-driving factors that can either help someone or hurt someone. This form of intention while creating a digital platform comes with a high risk of users succumbing to addiction. The rise of the Internet and social media platforms challenges our self-perception and establishes a norm of technological misuse and corruption of mental-health. As a rising generation, we should reflect on our personal technology use and find ways to use that time in beneficial ways and healthy increments.
