the influence of technology on your behavior and hobbies essay

Convention Coverage

How technology shapes thoughts, feelings, and actions.

• Neuroscience

Technology is not just changing the way people interact with the world, it’s also changing the way scientists study human behavior and the brain. New technologies are allowing psychological scientists to take their research out of the lab and “into the wild,” where theories can be tested in real world settings.

San Francisco is a world-famous hub of technology, and a fitting locale for a symposium on research on tech and the human experience. In a Cross-Cutting Theme Program at the 30 th APS Annual Convention, speakers presented interdisciplinary work on the ways technology shapes learning, attention, behavior, and our social lives from childhood through old age.

Melina Uncapher

Technology Meets Neuroscience

Technology is allowing neuroscientist Melina Uncapher of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to take her science out of the brain-imaging lab and directly to the classrooms she studies.

“It’s not feasible, obviously, to bring an MRI scanner into every classroom, but we can start to use some of these mobile technologies…to map the cognitive domains of the brain,” Uncapher explained.

The Neuroscape Center at UCSF has developed ‘ACE’, a tablet-based cognitive assessment, which has allowed Uncapher and her colleagues to study executive function within a group of over 1,000 elementary and middle school students across nine different Bay Area schools. These customized Neuroscape video games use adaptive algorithms to adjust the level of game difficulty, allowing researchers to use the same exact cognitive tasks for children of all ages across experiments, and across time. Critically, this allows high-precision, high-dimensional measurement of cognition across development.

Uncapher and her team hope to use a technique called joint modeling to create models around the behavioral measures they’ve obtained, and how they relate to brain structure and function. The researchers ultimate goal is to create a sustainable cognitive enhancement loop whereby each child receives the most effective intervention (technology mediated or curriculum-based) to enhance their executive functioning — ultimately improving their learning, education, and life outcomes.

Aging and Tech

Rates of technology use ranging from smart phones to the Internet are significantly lower among older adults compared to younger generations, University of Miami psychological scientist Sara J. Czaja pointed out. Czaja’s field-based research demonstrates that technology potentially can help older adults avoid social isolation, as well as improve their access to vital medical care and services.

In a trial, Czaja and colleagues provided video phones to people caring for someone with dementia. The research team found that providing caregivers with access to interventions such as counseling via the phone was linked to several positive outcomes, including a reduced sense of burden.

“The thing they liked the most were the support groups, because they didn’t have to leave their home to participate in the groups, which is problematic for many caregivers,” Czaja explained.

Czaja also is working with Prism, a custom software system designed for use in the homes of socially isolated older adults. After a year-long trial, not only did participants learn how to use a computer, they felt less isolated and reporter increased emotional well-being.

Access to technology helps many people overcome logistic challenges, facilitating access to services, socialization, and information, Czaja said.

Jonathan Gratch

Virtual Humans

Jonathan Gratch’s lab at the University of Southern California builds strikingly realistic and interactive virtual humans reminiscent of the sentient robots on the television show “Westworld.”

“We build these social artifacts that have embodiment of various kinds and then we have people interact with those systems and examine the theoretical implications,” Gratch, a professor of computer science and psychology, explained.

These virtual humans have been used to help people learn negotiation tactics, to tell the stories of Holocaust survivors, and to help people disclose symptoms that could lead to the diagnosis of a stigmatized mental illness.

Building on social psychological theory, Gratch’s team trained a machine learning algorithm to mimic the verbal and non-verbal habits of non-judgmental listeners. Using a camera and microphone, this social agent also tracked relevant social information from their human partner’s voice, facial expressions, posture, and gestures in real time. A recently replicated study found that, in responding to questions related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, people disclosed twice as much intimate information to the virtual listener compared to what could be gleaned from an official online disclosure form.

Gloria Mark

Your Attention Please

It’s hard to believe that the internet has been in popular use for little more than two decades, psychological scientist Gloria Mark (University of California, Irvine) said. But what does it mean for our lives, and specifically our attention spans, to be immersed in digital media day in and day out?

“Working in a digital environment leads people to be polychronic, which means working on multiple tasks at the same time,” Mark, an expert on human-computer interaction, explained. “Human beings can’t literally work on multiple tasks at the same time, but what they generally do is switch their attention very rapidly between different sources of info.”

In a study observing the behavior of information workers, Mark and colleagues found that on the job people had a median attention duration of about 40 seconds. That is, they spent around 40 seconds on any given window on their computer before switching to something else.

Additional work on interruptions suggests that rather than being driven to distraction by external sources such as digital notifications or a busybody colleague, we seem to be conditioned to work with a short attention duration.

“One of the most surprising things about this research,” Mark said, “is that people interrupt themselves almost as much as they get interrupted from external sources.”

It is very true and as an Auditor and Fraud Examiner it is very relevant first to understand the inter relationahip between Technology and psychology of a person that helps at better thinking of fraud preventive methods.

APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines .

Please login with your APS account to comment.

Scientists Discuss How to Study the Psychology of Collectives, Not Just Individuals

In a set of articles appearing in Perspectives on Psychological Science, an international array of scientists discusses how the study of neighborhoods, work units, activist groups, and other collectives can help us better understand and respond to societal changes.

Artificial Intelligence: Your Thoughts and Concerns  

APS members weigh in on the biggest opportunities and/or ethical challenges involving AI within the field of psychological science. Will we witness vast and constructive cross-fertilization—or “a dystopian cyberpunk corporation-led hellscape”?

Hearing is Believing: Sounds Can Alter Our Visual Perception

Audio cues can not only help us to recognize objects more quickly but can even alter our visual perception. That is, pair birdsong with a bird and we see a bird—but replace that birdsong with a squirrel’s chatter, and we’re not quite so sure what we’re looking at. 

Privacy Overview

• Understanding Technology and Its Influence on Human Behavior

Featured in:

The proliferation of technology has made it an extremely influential part of human lives. Right from the time, we start our day all the way till we hit the sack. We utilize technology in every possible way to make our lives convenient. 

With the digital social revolution that exploded in the early 2000s, technology has changed —

• the way we socialize
• the way we work
• the way we communicate
• the way we gather information

This drastic change has brought us to an important question — Are we too reliant on technology to the point where technology has spoilt us, and are we able to exist without it?

Read on for a full depth answer and decide for yourself.

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE HUMAN MIND

One of the biggest inventions of human history was understanding how electromagnetism works. Nikola Tesla, the famous Serbian inventor, was an avid technological genius that discovered a way to pass electricity without the use of wires in the year 1894.

This technology was way ahead of its time and unfortunately, the secret to wireless energy died with the prominent inventor himself but that didn’t stop others from trying to recreate his work.

Although there wasn’t any success in achieving wireless energy the way Tesla would have wanted to.

Today, we have quite the technologies that have changed the way the world experiences life. Here are a few of them.

• Internet — Undoubtedly the biggest technology in this list. The internet has improved the way people receive information and the way we communicate. The internet is a daily part of our lives and it’s impossible to think that we existed without this incredible piece of technology in the past.
• Remote Controls — A device that you point to interact with other gadgets such as a television, a music player, an automobile, etc. The technology brought great convenience and allowed us to simply change a channel or lock/unlock our cars with a tap of a button.
• Digital Cameras — Digital cameras have played an important role in recording personal memories and capturing profound moments in full HD color. With new age smartphones and tablets, sharing images through a digital camera in seconds is now a reality.
• GPS — Imagine trying to find a location while looking at a paper map only to find out that you’ve been reading the map wrong all this time. In comes the GPS technology, making it easier to find our favorite shopping destinations and multiplexes in less than a second and at a tap of a finger. The U.S military originally developed this technology to be used in warfare.
• Smartphones — Life would be incredibly boring if all our phones were only used for a single purpose — to receive and make calls. If it wasn’t obvious already, the “smart” phone allows us to access our work data, act as a digital GPS device to find locations, surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, and much more in a tiny device that we carry in our pockets.

In fact, the world is so reliant on technology that people don’t just adopt technology into their business but shape their business around the current technology. Let’s take an example —

Jake wants to open a physical store and set up several artworks that he has created over the years to sell for a profit. If Jake were to calculate his expenses in opening a physical store, it would go something like this

Jake needs about $4400 dollars to run a physical store to sell his art. Now if Jake were to adopt the current technology and open a digitalized store while putting up his paintings online without having to open a physical store.

Here’s how much it would cost Jake.

An obvious choice, Jake would obviously opt for the digital store over a physical one as far as expenses are concerned.

It also allows him to gain an advantage in selling his artwork to a global audience compared to restricting his customers to a small vicinity in an area. Jake would also get more views for his artwork in a digital store without worrying about a crowd taking over his shop.

In this way, technology has recreated the way businesses and startups are launched. With every passing year, new technology forces businesses to either adopt it or miss out on valuable profits in the long run.

The next section will center around the negative aspect of technology and how it has affected creativity.

Is Technology Evil?

While technology has undoubtedly changed our lives to that of a convenient one. There are things that we’ve lost along the way while we search for newer technologies. Some of the negative points of technology are as follows —

Lack of Physical Human Bonding

Before the turn of the digital social revolution, people would hang out in parks and gardens and socialize in the good old-fashioned way by approaching each other and building relationships along the way. Technology has forced us back into a digital cave and enables us to forge these friendships in a virtual environment where there are no actual emotions felt and no physical touch and the complete lack of a bonding process.

Children who grow up in a technological world are also forced into a digital world at an early age. This restricts the cognitive abilities that a child develops and thus, as the child begins to grow into an adult, their emotions and feelings are purely synthetic as compared to a kid that was born before the 1990’s.

A study done by The Guardian in 2013 demonstrates how kids are addicted to smartphone apps and the most downloaded app was “Angry Birds” by kids whose age group was between 6 and 15 years.

In yet another research study conducted by the European Commission , kids were introduced to smart devices at an extremely young age where they couldn’t tell if it was harmful to them or not. Instances such as cyber-bullying, digital predators, and hijacking privacy were some of the worst affecting scenarios that the kids of the digital age face today.

Without a doubt, technology has a critical role to play in the negative side of how kids are being raised in a digital environment and how making a friend or two in a virtual environment has no emotional bonding behind it.

Plagiarism & False News

Prior to the digital age, copying another artist’s work was considered impossible or relatively hard to accomplish due to the strong private nature of a non-digitalized world.

Today, if an article is on the web, it can easily be converted into 20-different pseudo-articles in less than a minute thanks to various nefarious software.

Leaked movies are spread around the web before the actual premier that costs producers and directors millions of dollars due to piracy. Even music isn’t spared, it’s not uncommon to find a famous tune being turned into another song without the knowledge of the original artist, thanks to the digital age.

While the internet is a breeding medium for all the latest news and updates around the globe, there’s another emerging trend that has created havoc and chaos on the world wide web — Fake News. If you’ve recently read of an untimely demise of a popular actor and later, found out that he is alive and kicking, you’ve been a victim of fake news.

Fake news also spreads misinformation on various drugs helping with weight loss and cancer and causes people to blindly buy into these medications without verifying. This demonstrates how technology can be a wild card and how false news threatens the lives of people by misleading them.

Internet Scams & Hackers

With the internet age, a new wave of imposters has been unleashed on the world. If you aren’t careful you lose your life savings to a scam artist located in a remote corner of the globe and all this with a simple click of a button.

How do they do it?

Surely, you visit your bank’s official site to log in to your net banking section to access important financial information and updates. Imagine if a remarkably similar site such as your bank’s website existed, and you were sent an official email asking for verification of your account.

You’ll end up providing sensitive information and private data to these imposters and in less than 10 seconds, your funds are transferred to the imposter’s account. These funds are untraceable.

Websites that are fake but look like an original website are known as phishing sites. These types of sites exist to collect user information and then steal from them.

While technology has brought you and your bank closer, it has also left you vulnerable to internet threats such as phishing sites and hacking. That’s why we’ve created a to-do list to ensure you don’t fall prey to the dark side of technology.

Checklist to Secure Yourself on The Internet

• Always ensure your firewall is activated. Reject any program’s permission that seeks to disable your firewall. This is your first line of defense.
• Verify email addresses before opening your email, if you don’t know the sender, chances are it’s a hacker trying to get to your information. Use the “Spam” option to block future emails from this sender.
• A prefix at the start of your URL should always have “HTTPS” and not “HTTP”. The S stands for secure and it’s usually lit in a bright green color to notify the page is safe.
• Always upgrade your anti-virus to ensure your system is updated with the latest security files. An anti-virus is like a bodyguard to your private data.
• When using a wireless network, always provide an administrative password to deny hackers and invasive neighbors from using your home network.
• Never provide sensitive details such as login information and bank details to anonymous phone calls or emails. No company worth its salt ever needs this information through compromised sources.
• Keep a strong password of at least 9-15 letters long. Ensure the password isn’t just made up of numbers and alphabets and includes special characters and other random sequences that aren’t easily guessed by password generators.
• Finally, always update yourself with the latest information regarding internet technologies. The internet is a great place to be when safe-browsing is practiced. It’s also a nightmare when you let yourself be ignorant.

How Technology Governs Human Behavior

Today, a valid number of people would take out their smartphones to record a crime-in-progress rather than calling emergency services. Many of the actions we do are centered around technology.

We take out our phones when delicious food shows up on our table, we are more interested in taking a video of our favorite band at a concert and finally, our creativity is judged based on the technology we have in our homes.

There is a term for this type of dependence — it’s called Techno Addiction.

There is a fine line where we use technology to supplement our lives and where we are glued to technology for an unhealthy 16 hours a day. In fact, every one of us is familiar or know someone that is a techno addict.

That high school friend who’s always texting during lunchtime rather than spending time with you.

Maybe it’s the neighbor across the street who you haven’t seen for over a month and almost tried calling the emergency services only to discover they’ve buried themselves in front of their gaming screens.

So how do you truly find out if you’ve been a victim of technology? Let’s find out with an evaluation.

• Do you feel anxious when you leave home without your phone even when there are no important calls to be expected?
• Is it important for you to sleep with your phone beside you?
• Do you feel unhappy when a recently uploaded photo of yours on a social media site doesn’t get the intended likes and attention?
• Are you distracted from your work to constantly check your phones for notifications and other alerts?
• Do you prefer using video conferencing to stay in touch with your family instead of visiting them for the holidays?
• Have your family and friends ever complained about how disconnected you are with them because you’ve been spending time with your electronic devices?
• Have you ever been sleep deprived waiting for a message from your friend or loved one while using instant messengers?
• During the weekend, do you spend most of the time glued to a digital device? — Video games, online surfing, mobile phones, etc.
• Do you spend more time recording at a live concert over enjoying the spectacle?
• Do you share your pain with an online community rather than real life family and friends?

If you’ve answered Yes to —

None of the questions. Fabulous! You are a role model to today’s generation and a real adventurous person who can make do without technology for as long as he wants.

1-3 questions. You’ve got some level of addiction but with regular intervention, you should be able to beat it.

4-6 questions. There’s a serious addiction here.   You’ll need to immediately sort your life out by seeking help from family and friends. Spend time outdoors without any digital devices. Including your phone.

6-10 questions. Extremely dangerous. The only way out of this type of addiction is if you seek professional help. No amount of motivation can get you to switch off. Immediately dial the helpline number at Addiction.com and start your journey back to the real world today.

5 WAYS TECHNOLOGY HIJACKS PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOR

1. introducing fomo (fear of missing out).

Your favorite shopping site just announced a shopping bonanza. Plenty of gifts, prizes, and discounts are to be won. All for just visiting their site multiple times a day to check the different flash sales that are on. If you don’t find enough time to log on, you’ll miss out on a lot of exciting deals and prizes.

This is how a typical advertising campaign usually sets itself out and gets a ton of customers to visit their page during different times of the day. In fact, your product wishlist is empty since your last purchase but you still decide to make the best use of the shopping festival. All because of one important factor — Fear of Missing Out.

The modern shoppers feel that they need to be connected to every brand and newsletter to ensure they don’t miss out on a sweet deal. It’s great to save $25 from a juicer brand that costs $100 and it’s on sale for a limited time at $75. Great investment, right?

Not exactly.

People don’t understand this, but technology manipulates us to buy products that we don’t need or desire. You don’t really want to buy a pair of boots, but the online discount coupon is super tempting. You end up buying it rather than missing out an irresistible offer. We psychologically react to any tempting sale. That’s what FOMO does to us.

We end up spending more money on products and this can bring down our monthly budget which means less savings for the year. Had we not seen the offer, we wouldn’t even know the item exists and we wouldn’t be buying it and would rather invest our money in wealth creation.

It’s always better to live in the moment than to live thinking of the future. Don’t buy products for tomorrow buy it for the immediate present. If a winter coat helps keep you warm, then go ahead and shop for a winter coat during the winter months. Buying a winter coat during spring just because you save a whopping 30% on the total price is the not smart shopping but a complete waste of money.

2. Pretends to Give People Control on Their Buying Options

When presented with the menu in a fine-dining restaurant, you have the freedom of choice to choose the food that you want to eat. And that’s exactly what technology makes us feel, that we are in control. We forget to realize that the choice is already made for us.

By controlling the type of menu, the restaurant indirectly controls the type of food you can order.

While it’s your choice to walk into any cuisine you may seem fit, but the ultimate decision is with the hotel serving you. They decide what goes through their menu.

Let’s say you search for lawyer services on Google. The search engine will pop up links to lawyers that have a high SEO rating with Google or are being advertised. So, are you getting the best lawyers in the world based on expertise? Quite frankly, No! You’re only being served the popular options from Google’s own search indexing menu.

Similarly, when visiting a shopping site, you’ll be shown a variety of choices and garments on display. When we shop we think we have the freedom to choose the color of the dress, the type of dress, the fitting of the dress.

Ultimately, the dress itself has been displayed on the shopping site because the website wants to show you exactly what they want you to see.

In this way, we surrender our ability to make choices while we fool ourselves thinking we have the freedom of choice with technology on our side.

3. Endless Entertainment Feed

Surely there can’t be anything wrong with video streaming sites such as Netflix and Hulu. They’ve only made it easier for us to watch the movies that we want at a cost-effective pricing. So why would we present something that’s completely positive in a negative light?

We did say the topic was about “hijacking people’s behavior” and how it causes you to spend more time and money without a full stop to it.

Let’s say you buy a year worth of Netflix entertainment, you’ll be greeted to create a selection of your favorite genres and to choose the movies and tv shows that you’ve already watched and would like similar recommendations.

Well, every time you finish an episode or a movie, you’ll be greeted with a recommendation screen to move on to the next movie or episode. The average user will sign out and proceed with his daily life. But what if you’re a binge-watcher.

A binge-watcher is someone who spends several hours of continuously watching entertainment in a single stretch of time. We might be closer to our favorite tv shows and movies with a tap of a button thanks to technology but unfortunately, unlike our remote controls, there isn’t a stop button to stop us from enjoying endless entertainment.

Binge-watching has the following cases of negative health effects related to it —

• 56% of users develop an antisocial behavior
• Watchers usually tend to forget their real-life responsibilities and end up wasting valuable time
• Real life relationships are affected due to less time spent in family bonding
• An addictive behavior begins to manifest which can take months or even years to treat
• Watching videos without resting can cause you to experience — fatigue, gain weight, increase health issues such as stroke and heart attack, etc.

Binge-watching has been a recent phenomenon due to the ease of accessibility of home entertainment. You can watch a movie while on a subway thanks to smartphones. You’ll never leave home without entertainment and that’s caused a negative phenomenon called binge-watching to spread.

4. Inconvenient Choices

Ever been provided a free 14-day trial to try a service or product. From your perspective, it’s completely free. After all, what possible ulterior motive can be brewing behind providing people with a trial.

While signing up for your trial, you’ll be asked for your information — personal and business. After which you’ll be asked to hook your credit card information on the basis that it won’t be charged until after the trial period has passed.

With this, you’ve just provided the following information for a 14-day free trial

• Credit card accessibility
• Personal Information
• Product purchase history matched with other sites against your personal information

They’ve now got everything they need to know about you and the brand will begin to send personalized ads your way. The telemarketers that call and waste 20 minutes of your daily life? Blame it on the information that you’ve just given to an unknown company that’s been giving you a free trial period.

Technology has cleverly manipulated you into providing all your information without you realizing it. It’s only when you are spammed with ads when opening an app do you realize that something’s truly wrong.

You realize every ad that you get from that point on is based around the products that you just bought from another website. How did they get so much access to your information? Well because you just happened to give it to them.

Your emails won’t be spared either as you’ll be spammed until your inbox is full of advertising emails that you manually must block every individual sender. A very time-consuming process.

5. Shortened Attention Span

Did you know technology has in adversely affected your attention span without you knowing about it?

The number of book readers in America alone has declined to 43% in 2016 from 57% in 1982. With every technological revolution that we enter, our attention span is declining to dangerous levels. In the future, we might not even hold a conversation with our family members for more than a minute before getting up to leave.

The cause of this is the dangerous trend of technology and its offerings. According to Microsoft Corp., the average attention span of a human has been reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Which means a goldfish which has an attention span of 9 seconds has beaten a full-grown human being.

The age of technology has let us access countless articles on the cyberspace that we prefer scanning them instead of reading and understanding the articles. Microsoft Corp. demonstrates that weaker attention span is linked to the evolving internet age along with the availability of devices such as tablets and mobile phones.

To normalize your attention, it’s recommended to quit using electronic devices before bedtime. Follow the below 3 habits and you’ll be on your way to paying attention to everything in detail in no time.

Areas of the brain that were exposed to music were shown to share the same space with the attentive areas of the brain.

This makes sense when you listen to a soundtrack and you attentively try to track the number of instruments that are being used in a song.

You try to break down the bass, rhythm, drums, vocals, and other sounds.

Write your notes down on pen and paper, don’t have the habit of typing your notes using Google Keep or other software on your devices.

Writing down notes also allows you to fully explore the idea rather than typing it down on a computer screen where your attention span is lowered thanks to our minds using the scan-and-go approach.

Ask questions

We don’t mean Google all your questions but develop a conversation with someone and pay attention to them by listening to their answers. This way, your brain begins to analyze what’s being heard by the other person and you’ll have a better attention span when listening to words that are being heard rather than scanning through articles for your answers.

CLOSING WORDS

Beware! While technology is a great access point, it also allows others to access you. It’s a two-way tunnel connecting you to the world and connecting the world to you.

Just as you can watch a movie that is available online, companies are able to view your information without entering your homes. Privacy is a concern due to technology’s grasp of everything that happens around the world. I

t’s always a good idea to think twice before you provide information to unknown sources or face the danger of becoming a victim.

Comments are closed.

Related posts

Financial Statements: How Does Currency Translation Work

If your business entity operates in several countries, chances are you also use different currencies …

9 Ways to Welcome a New Employee to Your Team

Having advertised a vacant role to recruit the best talent in your organization, and you’ve scaled …

Customer Development Model: Understanding Company Building

In the first three steps of the Customer Development model, you focused on learning more about your …

408,000 + job opportunities

Not yet a member? Sign Up

join cleverism

Find your dream job. Get on promotion fasstrack and increase tour lifetime salary.

Post your jobs & get access to millions of ambitious, well-educated talents that are going the extra mile.

First name*

Company name*

Company Website*

E-mail (work)*

Login or Register

Password reset instructions will be sent to your E-mail.

Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life Essay

Introduction, part i: science in personal and professional life, part ii: science and technology in a multicultural world.

Science plays an important role in everyday life, and people depend on technologies in a variety of ways by creating, using, and improving them regularly. Sometimes, a person hardly notes how inevitable the impact of science can be on personal or professional life. Evaluating such technologies as the Internet, smartphones, notebooks, smartwatches, and brain-medicine interfaces helps recognize their positive and negative outcomes compared to the period when traditional lifestyles and natural resources like ginger were highly appreciated.

Most people are confident in their independence and neglect multiple technologies that determine their lives. During the last 25 years, technology has dramatically changed human interactions (Muslin, 2020). In addition to domestic technological discoveries like washing machines and stoves, four technologies, namely, the Internet, smartphones, notebooks, and smartwatches, are used throughout the day. Despite their evident advantages in communication, data exchange, and connection, some negative impacts should not be ignored.

Regarding my personal life changes, these technologies provoke mental health changes such as depression. I prefer to avoid my dependence on all these technologies that imperceptibly shape everyday activities. However, I constantly check my vitals, messengers, and calls not to miss something important. On the one hand, this idea of control helps improve my life and makes it logical. On the other hand, I am concerned about such relationships with technologies in my life. Similar negative impacts on society emerge when people prefer to communicate virtually instead of paying attention to reality. Technologies compromise social relationships because individuals are eager to choose something easier that requires less movement or participation, neglecting their unique chances to live a real life. They also challenge even the environment because either smartwatches or notebooks need energy that is associated with air pollution, climate change, and other harmful emissions (Trefil & Hazen, 2016). Modern technologies facilitate human life, but health, social, and environmental outcomes remain dangerous.

Thinking about my day, I cannot imagine another scientific discovery that makes this life possible except the Internet. Today, more devices have become connected to the Internet, including cars, appliances, and personal computers (Thompson, 2016). With time, people get an opportunity to use the Internet for multiple purposes to store their personal information, business documentation, music, and other files that have a meaning in their lives. The Internet defines the quality of human relationships, starting with healthcare data about a child and ending with online photos after the person’s death.

Although the Internet was invented at the end of the 1980s, this technology was implemented for everyday use in the middle of the 1990s. All people admired such possibilities as a connection across the globe, increased job opportunities, regular information flows, a variety of choices, online purchases, and good education opportunities (Olenski, 2018). It was a true belief that the Internet made society free from real-life boundaries and limitations. However, with time, its negative sides were revealed, including decreased face-to-face engagement, laziness, and the promotion of inappropriate content (Olenski, 2018). When people prefer their virtual achievements and progress but forget about real obligations like parenting, education, or keeping a healthy lifestyle, the Internet is no longer a positive scientific discovery but a serious problem.

Many discussions are developed to identify the overall impact of the Internet as a major scientific discovery. Modern people cannot imagine a day without using the Internet for working, educational, or personal purposes. However, when online life becomes someone’s obsession, the negatives prevail over its positives. Therefore, the human factor and real-life preferences should always be recognized and promoted. During the pandemic, the Internet is a priceless contribution that helps deal with isolation and mental health challenges. Some people cannot reach each other because of family issues or business trips, and the Internet is the only reliable and permanent means of connection. Thus, such positives overweight the negatives overall if everything is used rationally.

The Internet makes it possible for healthcare providers to exchange their knowledge and experiences from different parts of the world. This possibility explains the spread of the westernized high-tech research approach to medical treatment and the promotion of science in a multicultural care world. Biomedical research changes the way how people are diagnosed and treated. Recent genomic discoveries help predict the possibility of cancer and human predisposition to other incurable diseases to improve awareness of health conditions. The benefit of new brain-interface technologies (BMI) is life improvement for disabled people to move their prosthetics easily (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2016). Instead of staying passive, individuals use smart technology to hold subjects, open doors, and receive calls. BMI has a high price, but its impact is priceless. At the same time, some risks of high-tech research exist in medical treatment. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2016) underlines damaged neurons and fibers depend on what drugs are delivered to the system and how. The transmission of electrical signals is not always stable, and the safety of BMI processes is hardly guaranteed.

Some populations reject technologies in medical treatment and prefer to use natural resources to stabilize their health. For example, ginger is characterized by several positive clinical applications in China. Researchers believe that this type of alternative medicine effectively manages nausea, vomiting, and dizziness (Anh et al., 2020). Its major advantage is reported by pregnant patients who use ginger to predict morning sickness, unnecessary inflammation, and nausea. However, like any medication, ginger has its adverse effects, covering gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms (Anh et al., 2020). The disadvantage of using traditional medicine is its unpredictable action time. When immediate help is required, herbs and other products are less effective than a specially created drug or injection.

There are many reasons for having multicultural approaches to medical treatment, including ethical recognition, respect, diversity, and improved understanding of health issues. It is not enough to diagnose a patient and choose a care plan. People want to feel support, and if one culture misses some perspectives, another culture improves the situation. Western and traditional cultural approaches may be improved by drawing upon the other. However, this combination diminishes the effects of traditions and the worth of technology in medical treatment. Instead of uniting options, it is better to enhance differences and underline the importance of each approach separately. The challenges of combining these approaches vary from differences in religious beliefs to financial problems. All these controversies between science and culture are necessary for medical treatment because they offer options for people and underline the uniqueness of populations and technological progress.

In general, science and traditions are two integral elements of human life. People strive to make their unique contributions to technology and invent the devices that facilitate human activities. At the same time, they never neglect respect for traditions and cultural diversity. Therefore, high-tech and traditional medicine approaches are commonly discussed and promoted today to identify more positive impacts and reduce negative associations and challenges.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. (2016). Top 5 advances in medical technology . ASME. Web.

Anh, N. H., Kim, S. J., Long, N. P., Min, J. E., Yoon, Y. C., Lee, E. G., Kim, M., Kim, T. J., Yang, Y. Y., Son, E. Y., Yoon, S. J., Diem, N. C., Kim, H. M., & Kwon, S. W. (2020). Ginger on human health: A comprehensive systematic review of 109 randomized controlled trials. Nutrients, 12 (1). Web.

Musil, S. (2020). 25 technologies that have changed the world . Cnet. Web.

Olenski, S. (2018). The benefits and challenges of being an online – Only brand. Forbes . Web.

Thompson, C. (2016). 21 technology tipping points we will reach by 2030 . Insider. Web.

Trefil, J., & Hazen, R. M. (2016). The sciences: An integrated approach (8th ed.). Wiley.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, December 24). Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life. https://ivypanda.com/essays/science-and-technology-impact-on-human-life/

"Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life." IvyPanda , 24 Dec. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/science-and-technology-impact-on-human-life/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life'. 24 December.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life." December 24, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/science-and-technology-impact-on-human-life/.

1. IvyPanda . "Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life." December 24, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/science-and-technology-impact-on-human-life/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Science and Technology: Impact on Human Life." December 24, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/science-and-technology-impact-on-human-life/.

• Smart Watches for Cardiac Arrest Alerts in the Elderly
• Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society
• The Smartwatch Bands Firm's Business Model
• Discussion: Electric Cars and the Future
• Phones and Teenagers’ Mental Health Connection
• Synthetic Fabrics as Technological Development
• Technological Challenges in Business
• Smart Technology for Enhancing Guest Experience in Luxury Hotels

Chapter 8: COVID and learning

8.2.3 The overwhelming influence of technology (research essay)

English 102, april 2021, introduction.

Before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, no one believed that it would have the capability of being able to shut down schools, restricting human contact, and forcing individuals of every social class to rely upon technology. These three main issues have a connection with technological communication, being their main source of keeping in contact with their needs. As a college student living within the beginning and until the end of the pandemic, I can say that society has involuntarily been forced to use technology as a compromise to spread the virus. Places filled with students and teachers are most affected in these times as they are told to decide whether they would like to be in-person or online. This major decision will affect how students and teachers can communicate with each other more effectively.

However, the school system is still not fully prepared to make such a sudden change because of how it was based to be taught in-person. Students need to have strong communication with their teachers in order to keep up with work and understand the material. This idea is also vice versa with teachers to understand if their students are struggling or need help. This is a very difficult period to survive, but both groups need to work together with technology. As a source of knowledge and power, there is only so much that technology can do before it all depends on how students and teachers use it to keep up with their studies.

The main reason why schools along with their boards of education are still running is because of the power of technology. The idea of recreating a classroom with teachers, students, and a smart/black board, creates a virtual environment that mimics the feeling of being in an actual classroom. I have begun to realize more that since I am going to continue into my major of health sciences and knowing that the pandemic will not go away shows me that we will have to rely upon technology fully until the end of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of this semester, the opportunity of being able to research the topic of how COVID-19 has affected communication between teachers and students has taught me a lot of what goes on in terms of communication and literacy. I learned more about how the pandemic has affected different social classes and their struggles, and how other students have combated against the hardships of the virus. Through research, it has allowed me to agree with myself and change my major for how things will continue in the future of relying on technology to teach students difficult material and hoping that an online curriculum will lead to the same results of an in-person school.

One compromise that the boards of education and government officials decided on was to close schools. This generally seems like a good idea to restrict human contact and relieve the stress surrounding the pandemic. However, closing schools over long periods of time will lead to affecting the academic records of students (Kuhfeld et al). With how the pandemic has continued to spread it may take at least 2 or more years to recover from the closing of schools (Kuhfeld et al). There was a research study conducted within china on young individuals with their mental health. It was revealed in the study that young people had serious mental problems (Leilei et al). There were other factors incorporated, however this simple main idea of the pandemic causing stress and anxiety for young people can be compared to other individuals around the world. Since a year has passed, the pandemic has had the power to reach most ends of the earth and we are only now creating a vaccine. These are only a few examples of the effects that the pandemic has had on a general group of individuals to show what could possibly affect students and teachers around the world.

For some additional support in my topic and outside scholarly resources, I decided to create my own study on the peers around me. The individuals included within my experiment were high school and college students as they are the population, I am surrounding my topic on. The experiment was a 6-question survey on google forms with answers of yes, no, or just a little. My thought process on only having two options was so that the students would make up their mind and to not give me confused data. I felt that it was better if I got responses that my peers were forced to think about, rather than taking the easy route and saying an in-between answer.

The first question that greeted my classmates was “Have you ever struggled with online schooling?” The reason behind this question was to see how my peers have felt about online schooling since it has been a year since the lockdown protocol. Of my 52 responses, 48.1% said yes, 19.2% said no, and 32.7% said just a little. I was not surprised so see that at least half of the responses felt that online schooling has been unpleasant. The other half of the responses felt mixed about online schooling, being average and just a little difficult. The reason this question is the only one to have a third choice was because I did not want my experiment to be boring or suffocating with just two choices to choose from. Allowing my peers to effortlessly think about their answers and respond was my thought process for getting responses that came to their mind instantly.

The second question is a follow-up to the first because I wanted to make my experiment known that this is the topic I am researching. The second question asked, “Do you prefer to take school online?” With this question, I wanted to see that if my peers enjoy online schooling then that could explain why there were people who did not find online schooling hard in the first question. The results showed that 78.8% of the responses said no, and 21.1% said yes to preferring online schooling. I was also not surprised by these results because of the research I have been conducting on my topic for the past couple of months. This entire experiment cannot be used to represent the entire population of high school and college students; however, it is a good representation of a small strata of students who live in Ohio and go to public schools. The location and environment of my peers is an advantage to other students who live with low-income, or do not have the technology to know what online schooling feels like.

With the months of doing research on how the pandemic has affected students with their studies or just living a normal life, I wanted to ask my own question about technology. Through my research I learned that there were a decent number of students around the country who did not have access to the internet or have sufficient technological devices to go to class or do homework. This frightened me because the pandemic could continue and involuntary hurt students of the lower social class. My final question was, “Do you own a device that can easily help you access your classes and homework?” Of the 52 responses, no one was able to say no, which is surprising and frightening. The idea of technology having such an impact on how students view schooling, or even having access to technology can impact on how students can go to school. This experiment has been done before on larger scales and with the same outcomes, however I wanted to create my own in order to see for myself that I could trust the scholarly articles I have been using to justify my research. With these discoveries in mind, it will be much easier to understand the reason behind the research questions I will base my topic on.

Research Questions

My first question dealing with communication affecting schools: How do teachers use technology to communicate with students during the pandemic? My next question is similar; however, it is more specific to college students today. How do teachers incorporate the use of blackboard collaborate and student emails to rely on the information about the course?

Research Question One

So how do teachers use technology to communicate with students during the pandemic? The purpose of my first question being so simple-worded was because I wanted to generalize about the studies and conversations that went on under this question. The idea of communication is that it requires the effort of both sides. But since the pandemic has begun exposing food insecurities around the country, students in a difficult home environment are now struggling to have something to eat daily (Lancker). In addition to their food struggles, students also do not have suitable online learning environments with no heat or reliable internet access (Lancker). Knowing that these unfortunate students exist, I still have not seen any compromises made in order to help students in general. Students with bad internet connection, unusable devices, and struggling to stay healthy are all problems that poor families have begun to face. This is the hard truth where schools and their boards of education are still going through academic year like the pandemic does not exist. However, this my biased point of view comes from the fact that I know that I am not the only student facing challenges during this difficult time.

There are not many chances where adults and children alike, get to experience a long period of struggle and distress. Some could argue that with COVID-19 having impacted face-to-face interactions it has the advantage of positively affecting our daily lives. One positive impact that the pandemic has had, is that it created a time period where we would learn new skills for the time being of staying inside all the time. New hobbies, catching up with old friends, reading books, and or having time to relax. However, James Gee’s article supports the idea that COVID-19 is negatively affecting the communication between individuals. Gee goes into detail on the ideas of “discourses” and “identity kits;” he associates these terms with the requirements of using language and where it comes from. Gee describes a discourse as an identity kit that is comes with the complete package of how an individual interacts with others to be recognized (Gee 18). He also categorizes different discourses by “primary” or “secondary” to separate the communication that goes on between and individual with their family versus outside experiences. For the purpose of this research paper, the term secondary discourse will be focused on because of its importance. In Gee’s article he states that, “beyond the primary discourse, however, are other discourses which crucially involve social institutions beyond the family.” Gee describes secondary discourses to be an identity kit that is created from interacting with outside experiences where social interaction occurs. These social institutions that Gee writes tries to explain places of work, school grounds, stores, or business buildings.

The reason why I use Gee’s idea of secondary discourses is to show that with COVID-19 coming into existence means that if the pandemic continues, then that will lead to the end of secondary discourses. In logical sense, this will also mean that people in the future will only have a primary discourse. Meaning that they will only know how to speak with family members, and not knowing how to communicate with others in the outside world. On the other hand, there is also the existence of technology which can temporarily keep secondary discourses alive. There have not been any academic articles where scientists have conducted research on the rate at which secondary discourses are disappearing, but that does not debunk the idea of that this could negatively impact society in the future.

Mental Health

As a freshman college student, I realized that in high school we did not get mental health awareness week. But last month from March 8-12, the college sent out emails and created PowerPoints to portray how they were trying to help their students. It was a good effort to show that the Board of Education knew that their students were facing hard times during their studies. On April 20, 2020, there was a study conducted on 584 participants ranging from the ages of 14-35. The purpose of this experiment was to understand the mental health of young people a couple weeks after there was worldwide news of the pandemic (Leilei et al). The results came out to show that about 40.4% of the participants had psychological problems, and about 14.4% had PTSD symptoms (Leilei et al). As with every experiment, we cannot use this small substratum of data to represent every young person living within the United States. For example, during the first 2 weeks of hearing about the pandemic I did not feel any sort of trauma or stress until after a couple months of being in lockdown. Correlation does not mean causation . This sentence usually shows up in academic areas of statistics or math generally. Just because this experiment has shown that COVID-19 has negatively affected the mental health of young people does not mean causation. However, with the assistance of more studies being conducted over a long period of time it will eventually justify the prediction.

There was another study conducted on the mental health of young people during the pandemic, however this time it was with college students from April 25 to May 8. So, this study was conducted around the same time with article from Leilei Liang, but with a different population of participants. There was a total of 530 college students who responded to their survey, and on average about 80% of the respondents knew of how the virus was transmitted and the importance of social distancing (Baloran). Within the study, it was found that even though students responded with having anxiety there was still several students who were able to deal with their own anxiety.

From the experiments with Leilei Liang and Erick Baloran, the only difference is that population that was used. One study had a general group of young people, and the other had students from two local colleges in the Philippines. I feel that both experiments have enough similarities to be compared with each other and I can see that I am somewhat correct in my assumption. Both were conducted at the same time, had a similar size in participants, conducted on a similar age group, and reporting on the same conclusions. These similarities can be used to support my idea of the pandemic students academically and mentally. My own research experiment, the loss of Gee’s secondary discourses, and the decline of the mental health of young people and eventually society can all be supported by these two scholarly articles. With that in mind, COVID-19 has been affecting the mental health of young people and could potentially force society to lose their ability of talking with others outside of their family. Online learning has been the main source of continuing academics, but to say that it is keeping students learning and motivated is not correct as seen from their mental health. There is only so much that technology can do in order to preserve the face-to-face communication before society reaches its breaking point.

Research Question Two

How do teachers incorporate the use of blackboard collaborate and student emails to relay information about the course? From my first research question, we found that COVID-19 affected the mental health of young people and forced them to only have primary discourses. These issues in return affect how students communicate with their teachers as seen from how students nowadays do not turn on their cameras in online classes. I have experienced this firsthand where in my biology class that only meets once a week. There are roughly 100-110 students in my section, and only about 7 students on average are willing to turn on their cameras. From a professor’s viewpoint on this situation, I would assume that they would be frustrated and confused with the sudden change of scenery. Teaching in front of a class face-to-face is very different to teaching a list of names that are blank staring back at you.

In the article, “ Teachers’ Covid-19 awareness, distance learning education experiences and perceptions towards institutional readiness and challenges ” the study concluded that teachers were fully aware of how the pandemic would affect classrooms. However, one big issue that comes to mind is colleges and universities who are asking for thousands of dollars in return for online schooling. Boards of education across the country have still not been able to create a solution that makes the life of their students easier. Their response to COVID-19 was to train teachers to be fluent in online learning education (Alea et al). From this, teachers will create recorded lectures, notes, and online homework assignments from prepaid textbooks. Colleges with Blackboard Collaborate have an auto messenger that sends students assignments or lectures that have not been finished yet. Professors want to keep their students on top of things, so they try to always notify their students of work that is to be completed soon. They are also trying to be innovative so that they can keep the attention of their students and to promote and enjoyable work environment at home (Suryaman, Maman, et al).

As a college student, checking your email is part of the daily routine because a professor could have an issue with the class, or wants to give information on the coming days. For me, having Blackboard Collaborate remind me of assignments is very helpful because even though I finished the assignments early it tells me that I am keeping up with my work. However, not many students can just casually do their work whenever they would like without and issues.

In the article, “ Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic ” the study goes into detail about the relationship between teachers and students on online teaching. Overall, there seemed to be no issue within the data but there was an issue between students and technology. Students from different socio-economic backgrounds were seen to be having more trouble with keeping up with school as they do not meet the technological requirements (Mishra el al). This article also noted that professors were sending out weekly emails in order to keep their students informed. I would say that it is important for teachers and professors to be persistent in their emails and messages to students to keep us at ease. I am still only a freshman college student and I imagined myself to be on campus and talking with my peers. However, I am left with a computer screen with a list of names and a professor who is lecturing from past notes.

These 2 scholarly articles allowed me to realize the importance of teachers to be prepared and ready to compromises. From emails to a full access online system that allows students to work on homework and to obtain lectures/notes. With an additional article from 3 researchers, they found that technology is one of the many factors that ensures a successful transition into online learning (Almaiah et al). A similarity that all 3 articles share is that they heavily rely upon the strength of technology to recreate a classroom environment. So far, technology has been doing well enough to keep students on track with their academics. However, at the same time pushing students back because of whether they come from different socio-economic backgrounds or rural or urban communities. Even if every student was able to have sufficient access the internet, there is nothing that says servers may crash or malfunctions when being used. Not usually, but there will be students who will face issues with their technology, and they will have to tell their teacher/professor.

For example, there is nothing in a college syllabus that protects and individual who will occasionally not be able to use their technology. Their technological constraints, along with their teachers having feedback and not knowing how to handle the technology can be a huge setback (Muthuprasad et al). Some might say to move to a different location for a better connection, however in the period we are in that is not practical. If this individual also does not have enough money to afford a new laptop, then I can assume this will cause a lot of stress for them. In the end, technology plays a huge role in whether students will succeed or fail in keeping up with their academics.

After answering both research questions, COVID-19 has been seen to have a negative impact on both students and teachers. From the multiple scholarly articles and conducting my own experiment, this is enough evidence to prove how heavily influenced communication is by technology, and how schools are not readily prepared for such a change. With how advanced technology has become, there is only so much that it can do before it all depends on how students and teachers use it to keep up with higher levels of education. With mental health and secondary discourses being affected, students are also required to fully rely upon technology in order to succeed for their own benefit. I would say that both students and teachers are required to work hard in order to keep up with the curriculum they are given. From my evidence and research questions I hope that I bring to light at how classrooms have changed due to the existence of COVID-19. This is a time where mistakes should be allowed, and teachers along with students should be ready to make compromises.

Works Cited

Alea, Lapada Aris, et al. “Teachers’ Covid-19 awareness, distance learning education experiences and perceptions towards institutional readiness and challenges.” International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research 19.6 (2020): 127-144. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Almaiah, Mohammed Amin, Ahmad Al-Khasawneh, and Ahmad Althunibat. “Exploring the critical challenges and factors influencing the E-learning system usage during COVID-19 pandemic.” Education and Information Technologies 25 (2020): 5261-5280. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Baloran, Erick T. “Knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and coping strategies of students during COVID-19 pandemic.” Journal of Loss and Trauma 25.8 (2020): 635-642. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Gee, James Paul. “What is literacy.” Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning   across languages and cultures (1998): 18-25. Accessed February 9, 2021.

Kuhfeld, Megan, et al. “Projecting the potential impact of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement.” Educational Researcher 49.8 (2020): 549-565. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Liang, Leilei, et al. “The effect of COVID-19 on youth mental health.” Psychiatric quarterly 91.3 (2020): 841-852. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Mishra, Lokanath, Tushar Gupta, and Abha Shree. “Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic.” International Journal of Educational   Research Open 1 (2020): 100012. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Muthuprasad, T., et al. “Students’ perception and preference for online education in India during COVID-19 pandemic.” Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3.1 (2021): 100101. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Suryaman, Maman, et al. “COVID-19 pandemic and home online learning system: Does it affect the quality of pharmacy school learning?.” Syst. Rev. Pharm 11 (2020): 524-530. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Van Lancker, Wim, and Zachary Parolin. “COVID-19, school closures, and child poverty: a social crisis in the making.” The Lancet Public Health 5.5 (2020): e243-e244. Accessed March 16, 2021.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Max is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

The benefits of spending time outdoors for your health

Understanding the role of technology in education and learning

The importance of communication and trust in maintaining strong, fulfilling relationships.

The impact of technology on hobbies and how it has changed the way we pursue them.

The impact of technology on travel and how to use it to enhance your travel experience.

The benefits of technology.

Technology has had a huge impact on the way we pursue our hobbies. Here are some of the benefits of technology when it comes to hobbies:

• Easier access to information: With the internet, it is easier than ever to find information about any hobby. You can learn about the basics of a hobby, find tutorials, and even connect with other hobbyists.
• Better tools: Technology has made it easier to access tools and materials needed for a hobby. For example, 3D printing has made it easier to create models and prototypes.
• More opportunities to connect with others: Technology has made it easier to connect with others who share the same hobbies as you. You can join online forums, attend virtual events, and even collaborate with others.

The Challenges of Technology

While technology has made it easier to pursue our hobbies, there are some challenges that come with it. Here are some of the challenges of technology when it comes to hobbies:

• Too much information: With the internet, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of information available. It can be difficult to know what is accurate and what is not.
• Over-reliance on technology: Technology can make it easy to rely too much on technology and not enough on our own skills. This can lead to a lack of creativity and innovation.
• Social media pressure: Social media can make it easy to compare ourselves to others and feel pressure to be perfect. This can lead to a lack of enjoyment in our hobbies.

Technology has had a huge impact on the way we pursue our hobbies. It has made it easier to access information and tools, as well as connect with others. However, there are some challenges that come with technology such as too much information, over-reliance on technology, and social media pressure. It is important to be mindful of these challenges and use technology in a way that enhances our hobbies, rather than detracts from them.

The role of composition and framing in taking better photos

The impact of technology on photography and how to use it to enhance your photos

The future of hobbies and the potential for new forms of leisure and entertainment to emerge.

The role of self-reflection and personal growth in maintaining healthy relationships

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

How Tech Has Changed Our Lives In The Last 10 Years

Several tech experts weigh in on the technologies of the past decade that had the greatest impact on society.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

• Future Students
• Current Students
• Faculty/Staff

You are here

• News Center
• in the Media

Does technology affect happiness?

As young people spend more time on computers, smartphones and other devices, researchers are asking how all that screen time and multitasking affects children’s and teenagers’ ability to focus and learn — even drive cars. A study from Stanford University , published Wednesday, wrestles with a new question: How is technology affecting their happiness and emotional development? The answer, in the peer-reviewed study of the online habits of girls ages 8 to 12, is that those who say they spend considerable amounts of time using multimedia describe themselves in ways that suggest they are less happy and less socially comfortable than peers who say they spend less time on screens. The research raises as many questions as it seeks to answer, as the scientists readily acknowledge. That is because the research was based on an online survey taken by more than 3,400 girls, a sample that may well not be representative of the larger population and, because the responses are self-reported, are not subject to follow-up or verification by the researchers.

Read more »

Stanford Graduate School of Education

482 Galvez Mall Stanford, CA 94305-3096 Tel: (650) 723-2109

• Contact Admissions
• GSE Leadership
• Site Feedback
• Web Accessibility
• Career Resources
• Faculty Open Positions
• Explore Courses
• Academic Calendar
• Office of the Registrar
• Cubberley Library
• StanfordWho
• StanfordYou

Improving lives through learning

• Stanford Home
• Maps & Directions
• Search Stanford
• Emergency Info
• Terms of Use
• Non-Discrimination
• Accessibility

© Stanford University , Stanford , California 94305 .

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Dialogues Clin Neurosci
• v.22(2); 2020 Jun

Language: English | Spanish | French

The impact of digital technology use on adolescent well-being


El impacto del empleo de la tecnología digital en el bienestar de los adolescents, impact de l’usage des technologies numériques sur le bien-être de l’adolescent, tobias dienlin.

School of Communication, University of Hohenheim, Germany

Niklas Johannes

Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK

This review provides an overview of the literature regarding digital technology use and adolescent well-being. Overall, findings imply that the general effects are on the negative end of the spectrum but very small. Effects differ depending on the type of use: whereas procrastination and passive use are related to more negative effects, social and active use are related to more positive effects. Digital technology use has stronger effects on short-term markers of hedonic well-being (eg, negative affect) than long-term measures of eudaimonic well-being (eg, life satisfaction). Although adolescents are more vulnerable, effects are comparable for both adolescents and adults. It appears that both low and excessive use are related to decreased well-being, whereas moderate use is related to increased well-being. The current research still has many limitations: High-quality studies with large-scale samples, objective measures of digital technology use, and experience sampling of well-being are missing.


Esta revisión entrega una panorámica de la literatura acerca del empleo de la tecnología digital y el bienestar de los adolescentes. En general, los resultados traducen que los efectos globales son negativos, aunque muy insignificantes. Los efectos difieren según el tipo de empleo: la procastinación y el empleo pasivo están relacionados con efectos más negativos; en cambio, el empleo social y activo se asocia con efectos más positivos. El empleo de la tecnología digital tiene efectos más potentes en los indicadores de corto plazo del bienestar hedónico (como los afectos negativos) que las mediciones a largo plazo del bienestar eudaimónico (como la satisfacción con la vida). Aunque los adolescentes son más vulnerables, los efectos son comparables para adolescentes y adultos. Parece que tanto el empleo reducido como el excesivo están relacionados con una disminución del bienestar, mientras que el empleo moderado se vincula con un mayor bienestar. La investigación actual todavía tiene muchas limitaciones: faltan estudios de alta calidad con muestras numerosas, mediciones objetivas del empleo de tecnología digital y muestras de experiencia de bienestar.

Nous proposons ici une revue de la littérature sur la pratique des technologies numériques et le bien-être de l’adolescent. Les données générales sont en faveur d’un effet négatif mais qui reste négligeable. L’usage définit la nature de l’effet : la procrastination et la passivité sont associées à un effet plus négatif alors qu’une pratique active et tournée vers la socialisation s’associe à un effet plus positif. Les effets sont plus importants sur les marqueurs à court terme du bien-être hédonique (comme les affects négatifs) que sur ceux à long terme du bien-être eudémonique (épanouissement personnel) ; ils sont comparables chez les adultes et les adolescents, même si ces derniers sont plus fragiles. Une utilisation excessive ou à l’inverse insuffisante semble diminuer le bien-être, alors qu’une pratique modérée l’augmenterait. Cependant, la recherche actuelle manque encore d’études de qualité élevée à grande échelle, de mesures objectives de la pratique des technologies numériques et d’expérience d’échantillonnage du bien-être.

With each new technology come concerns about its potential impact on (young) people’s well-being. 1 In recent years, both scholars and the public have voiced concerns about the rise of digital technology, with a focus on smartphones and social media. 2 To ascertain whether or not these concerns are justified, this review provides an overview of the literature regarding digital technology use and adolescent well-being. 


Digital technology use and well-being are broad and complex concepts. To understand how technology use might affect well-being, we first define and describe both concepts. Furthermore, adolescence is a distinct stage of life. To obtain a better picture of the context in which potential effects unfold, we then examine the psychological development of adolescents. Afterward, we present current empirical findings about the relation between digital technology use and adolescent well-being. Because the empirical evidence is mixed, we then formulate six implications in order to provide some general guidelines, and end with a brief conclusion.


Digital technology use


Digital technology use is an umbrella term that encompasses various devices, services, and types of use. Most adolescent digital technology use nowadays takes place on mobile devices. 3 , 4 Offering the functions and affordances of several other media, smartphones play a pivotal role in adolescent media use and are thus considered a “metamedium.” 5 Smartphones and other digital devices can host a vast range of different services. A representative survey of teens in the US showed that the most commonly used digital services are YouTube (85%), closely followed by the social media Instagram (72%), and Snapchat (69%). Notably, there exist two different types of social media: social networking sites such as Instagram or TikTok and instant messengers such as WhatsApp or Signal.


All devices and services offer different functionalities and affordances, which result in different types of use . 6 When on social media, adolescents can chat with others, post, like, or share. Such uses are generally considered active . In contrast, adolescents can also engage in passive use, merely lurking and watching the content of others. The binary distinction between active and passive use does not yet address whether behavior is considered as procrastination or goal-directed. 7 , 8 For example, chatting with others can be considered procrastination if it means delaying work on a more important task. Observing, but not interacting with others’ content can be considered to be goal-directed if the goal is to stay up to date with the lives of friends. Finally, there is another important distinction between different types of use: whether use is social or nonsocial. 9 Social use captures all kinds of active interpersonal communication, such as chatting and texting, but also liking photos or sharing posts. Nonsocial use includes (specific types of) reading and playing, but also listening to music or watching videos.


When conceptualizing and measuring these different types of digital technology use, there are several challenges. Collapsing all digital behaviors into a single predictor of well-being will inevitably decrease precision, both conceptually and empirically. Conceptually, subsuming all these activities and types of use under one umbrella term fails to acknowledge that they serve different functions and show different effects. 10 Understanding digital technology use as a general behavior neglects the many forms such behavior can take. Therefore, when asking about the impact of digital technology use on adolescent well-being, we need to be aware that digital technology use is not a monolithic concept.


Empirically, a lack of validated measures of technology use adds to this imprecision. 11 Most work relies on self-reports of technology use. Self-reports, however, have been shown to be imprecise and of low validity because they correlate poorly with objective measures of technology use. 12 In the case of smartphones, self-reported duration of use correlated moderately, at best, with objectively logged use. 13 These findings are mirrored when comparing self-reports of general internet use with objectively measured use. 14 Taken together, in addition to losing precision by subsuming all types of technology use under one behavioral category, the measurement of this category contributes to a lack of precision. To gain precision, it is necessary that we look at effects for different types of use, ideally objectively measured.


Well-being


Well-being is a subcategory of mental health. Mental health is generally considered to consist of two parts: negative and positive mental health. 15 Negative mental health includes subclinical negative mental health, such as stress or negative affect, and psychopathology, such as depression or schizophrenia. 16 Positive mental health is a synonym for well-being; it comprises hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being. 17 Whereas hedonic well-being is affective, focusing on emotions, pleasure, or need satisfaction, eudaimonic well-being is cognitive, addressing meaning, self-esteem, or fulfillment.


Somewhat surprisingly, worldwide mental health problems have not increased in recent decades. 18 Similarly, levels of general life satisfaction remained stable during the last 20 years. 19 , 20 Worth noting, the increase in mental health problems that has been reported 21 could merely reflect increased awareness of psychosocial problems. 22 , 23 In other words, an increase in diagnoses might not mean an increase in psychopathology.


Which part of mental health is the most likely to be affected by digital technology use? Empirically, eudaimonic well-being, such as life satisfaction, is stable. Although some researchers maintain that 40% of happiness is volatile and therefore malleable, 24 more recent investigations argued that the influences of potentially stabilizing factors such as genes and life circumstances are substantially larger. 25 These results are aligned with the so-called set-point hypothesis, which posits that life satisfaction varies around a fixed level, showing much interpersonal but little intrapersonal variance. 26 The hypothesis has repeatedly found support in empirical studies, which demonstrate the stability of life satisfaction measures. 27 , 28 Consequently, digital technology use is not likely to be a strong predictor of eudaimonic well-being. In contrast, hedonic well-being such as positive and negative affect is volatile and subject to substantial fluctuations. 17 Therefore, digital technology use might well be a driver of hedonic well-being: Watching entertaining content can make us laugh and raise our spirits, while reading hostile comments makes us angry and causes bad mood. In sum, life satisfaction is stable, and technology use is more likely to affect temporary measures of hedonic well-being instead of more robust eudaimonic well-being. If this is the case, we should expect small to medium-sized effects on short-term affect, but small to negligible effects on both long-term affect and life satisfaction.


Adolescents


Adolescence is defined as “the time between puberty and adult independence,” 29 during which adolescents actively develop their personalities. Compared with adults, adolescents are more open-minded, more social-oriented, less agreeable, and less conscientious 30 ; more impulsive and less capable of inhibiting behavior 31 ; more risk-taking and sensation seeking 29 ; and derive larger parts of their well-being and life satisfaction from other peers. 32 During adolescence, general levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem drop and are often at their all-time lowest. 33 , 34 At the same time, media use increases and reaches a first peak in late adolescence. 3 Analyzing the development of several well-being-related variables across the last two decades, the answers of 46 817 European adolescents and young adults show that, whereas overall internet use has risen strongly, both life satisfaction and health problems remained stable. 19 Hence, although adolescence is a critical life stage with substantial intrapersonal fluctuations related to well-being, the current generation does not seem to do better or worse than those before.


Does adolescent development make them particularly susceptible to the influence of digital technology? Several scholars argue that combining the naturally occurring trends of low self-esteem, a spike in technology use, and higher suggestibility into a causal narrative can take the form of a foregone conclusion. 35 For one, although adolescents are in a phase of development, there might be more similarities between adolescents and adults than differences. 30 Concerns about the effects of a new technology on an allegedly vulnerable group has historically often taken the form of paternalization. 36 For example, and maybe in contrast to popular opinion, adolescents already possess much media literacy or privacy literacy. 3 


This has two implications. First, asking what technology does to adolescents ascribes an unduly passive role to adolescents, putting them in the place of simply responding to technology stimuli. Recent theoretical developments challenge such a one-directional perspective and advise to rather ask what adolescents do with digital technology , including their type of use. 37 Second, in order to understand the effects of digital technology use on well-being, it might not be necessary to focus on adolescents. It is likely that similar effects can be found for both adolescents and adults. True, in light of the generally decreased life satisfaction and the generally increased suggestibility, results might be more pronounced for adolescents; however, it seems implausible that they are fundamentally different. When assessing how technology might affect adolescents compared with adults, we can think of adolescents as “canaries in the coalmine.” 38 If digital technology is indeed harmful, it will affect people from all ages, but adolescents are potentially more vulnerable.


Effects


What is the effect of digital technology use on well-being? If we ask US adolescents directly, 31% are of the opinion that the effects are mostly positive, 45% estimate the effects to be neither positive nor negative, and 24% believe that effects are mostly negative. 4 Teens who considered the effects to be positive stated that social media help (i) connect with friend; (ii) obtain information; and (c) find like-minded people. 4 Those who considered the effects to be negative explained that social media increase the risks of (i) bullying; (ii) neglecting face-to-face contacts; (iii) obtaining unrealistic impressions of other people’s lives. 4 


Myriad studies lend empirical support to adolescents’ mixed feelings, reporting a wide range of positive, 39 neutral, 40 or negative 41 relations between specific measures of digital technology use and well-being. Aligned with these mixed results of individual studies, several meta-analyses support the lack of a clear effect. 42 In an analysis of 43 studies on the effects of online technology use on adolescent mental well-being, Best et al 43 found that “[t]he majority of studies reported either mixed or no effect(s) of online social technologies on adolescent wellbeing.” Analyzing eleven studies on the relation between social media use and depressive symptoms, McCrae et al 44 report a small positive relationship. Similarly, Lissak 45 reports positive relations between excessive screen time and insufficient sleep, physiological stress, mind wandering, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behavior, nonadaptive/negative thinking styles, decreased life satisfaction, and potential health risks in adulthood. On the basis of 12 articles, Wu et al 46 find that “the use of [i]nternet technology leads to an increased sense of connectedness to friend[s] and school, while at the same time increasing levels of anxiety and loneliness among adolescents.” Relatedly, meta-analyses on the relation between social media use and adolescent academic performance find no or negligible effects. 47 


It is important to note that the overall quality of the literature these meta-analyses rely upon has been criticized. 48 This is problematic because low quality of individual studies biases meta-analyses. 49 To achieve higher quality, scholars have called for more large-scale studies using longitudinal designs, objective measures of digital technology use that differentiate types of use, experience sampling measures of well-being (ie, in-the-moment measures of well-being; also known as ambulant assessment or in situ assessment), and a statistical separation of between-person variance and within-person variance. 50 In addition, much research cannot be reproduced because the data and the analysis scripts are not shared. 51 In what follows, we look at studies that implemented some of these suggestions.


Longitudinal studies generally find a complex pattern of effects. In an 8 year study of 500 adolescents in the US, time spent on social media was positively related to anxiety and depression on the between-person level. 52 At the within-person level, these relationships disappeared. The study concludes that those who use social media more often might also be those with lower mental health; however, there does not seem to be a causal link between the two. A study on 1157 Croatians in late adolescence supports these findings. Over a period of 3 years, changes in social media use and life satisfaction were unrelated, speaking to the stability of life satisfaction. 40 In a sample of 1749 Australian adolescents, Houghton et al 53 distinguished between screen activities (eg, web browsing or gaming) and found overall low within-person relations between total screen time and depressive symptoms. Out of all activities, only web surfing was a significant within-person predictor of depressive symptoms. However, the authors argue that this effect might not survive corrections for multiple testing. Combining a longitudinal design with experience sampling in a sample of 388 US adolescents, Jensen et al 54 did not find a between-person association between baseline technology use and mental health. Interestingly, they only observed few and small within-person effects. Heffer et al 55 found no relation between screen use and depressive symptoms in 594 Canadian adolescents over 2 years. These results emphasize the growing need for more robust and transparent methods and analysis. In large adolescent samples from the UK and the US, a specification curve analysis, which provides an overview of many different plausible analyses, found small, negligible relations between screen use and well-being, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. 56 Employing a similar analytical approach, Orben, Dienlin, and Przybylski 57 found small negative between-person relations between social media use and life satisfaction in a large UK sample of adolescents over 7 years. However, there was no robust within-person effect. Similarly, negligible effect sizes between adolescent screen use and well-being are found in cross-sectional data sets representative of the population in the UK and US. 58 In analyzing the potential effects of social media abstinence on well-being, two large-scale studies using adult samples found small positive effects of abstinence on well-being. 59 , 60 Two studies with smaller and mostly student samples instead found mixed 61 or no effects of abstinence on well-being. 62 


The aforementioned studies often relied on composite measures of screen use, possibly explaining the overall small effects. In contrast, work distinguishing between different types of use shows that active use likely has different effects than passive use. Specifically, active use may contribute to making meaningful social connections, whereas passive use does not. 9 For example, meaningful social interactions have been shown to increase social gratification in adults, 63 , 64 whereas passive media use or media use as procrastination has been negatively related to well-being. 6 , 8 This distinction should also apply to adolescents. 6 The first evidence for this proposition already exists. In a large sample of Icelandic adolescents, passive social media use was positively related to anxiety and depressive symptoms; the opposite was the case for active use. 65 


Furthermore, longitudinal work so far relies on self-reports of media use. Self-reported media use has been shown to be inaccurate compared with objectively measured use. 14 Unfortunately, there is little work employing objective measures to test whether the results of longitudinal studies using self-reports hold up when objective use is examined. The limited existing evidence suggests that effects remain small. In a convenience sample of adults, only phone use at night negatively predicted well-being. 66 Another study that combined objective measures of social smartphone applications with experience sampling in young adults found a weak negative relation between objective use and well-being. 67 


Effects might also not be linear. Whereas both low and high levels of internet use have been shown to be associated with slightly decreased life satisfaction, moderate use has been shown to be related to slightly increased life satisfaction. 10 , 35 , 68 However, evidence for this position is mixed; other empirical studies did not find this pattern of effects. 53 , 54 


Taken together, do the positive or the negative effects prevail? The literature implies that the relationship between technology use and adolescent well-being is more complicated than an overall negative linear effect. In line with meta-analyses on adults, effects of digital technology use in general are mostly neutral to small. In their meta-review of 34 meta-analyses and systematic reviews, Meier and Reinecke 42 summarize that “[f]indings suggest an overall (very) small negative association between using SNS [social networking sites], the most researched CMC [computer mediated communication] application, and mental health.” In conclusion, the current literature is mostly ambivalent, although slightly emphasizing the negative effects of digital tech use.


Implications


Although there are several conflicting positions and research findings, some general implications emerge:


1. The general effects of digital technology use on well-being are likely in the negative spectrum, but very small—potentially too small to matter.


2. No screen time is created equal; different uses will lead to different effects.


3. Digital technology use is more likely to affect short-term positive or negative affect than long-term life satisfaction.


4. The dose makes the poison; it appears that both low and excessive use are related to decreased well-being, whereas moderate use is related to increased well-being.


5. Adolescents are likely more vulnerable to effects of digital technology use on well-being, but it is important not to patronize adolescents—effects are comparable and adolescents not powerless.


6. The current empirical research has several limitations: high-quality studies with large-scale samples, objective measures of digital technology use, and experience sampling of well-being are still missing.


Conclusion


Despite almost 30 years of research on digital technology, there is still no coherent empirical evidence as to whether digital technology hampers or fosters well-being. Most likely, general effects are small at best and probably in the negative spectrum. As soon as we take other factors into account, this conclusion does not hold up. Active use that aims to establish meaningful social connections can have positive effects. Passive use likely has negative effects. Both might follow a nonlinear trend. However, research showing causal effects of general digital technology use on well-being is scarce. In light of these limitations, several scholars argue that technology use has a mediating role69: already existing problems increase maladapted technology use, which then decreases life satisfaction. Extreme digital technology use is more likely to be a symptom of an underlying sociopsychological problem than vice versa. In sum, when assessing the effects of technology use on adolescent well-being, one of the best answers is that it’s complicated.


This lack of evidence is not surprising, because there is no consensus on central definitions, measures, and methods. 42 Specifically, digital technology use is an umbrella term that encompasses many different behaviors. Furthermore, it is theoretically unclear as to why adolescents in particular should be susceptible to the effects of technology and what forms of well-being are candidates for effects. At the same time, little research adopts longitudinal designs, differentiates different types of technology use, or measures technology use objectively. Much work in the field has also been criticized for a lack of transparency and rigor. 51 Last, research (including this review) is strongly biased toward a Western perspective. In other cultures, adolescents use markedly different services (such as WeChat or Renren, etc). Although we assume most effects to be comparable, problems seem to differ somewhat. For example, online gaming addiction is more prevalent in Asian than Western cultures. 70 


Adults have always criticized the younger generation, and media (novels, rock music, comic books, or computer games) have often been one of the culprits. 1 Media panics are cyclical, and we should refrain from simply blaming the unknown and the novel. 1 In view of the public debate, we should rather emphasize that digital technology is not good or bad per se. Digital technology does not “happen” to individuals. Individuals, instead, actively use technology, often with much competence. 3 The current evidence suggests that typical digital technology use will not harm a typical adolescent. That is not to say there are no individual cases and scenarios in which effects might be negative and large. Let’s be wary, but not alarmist.


Acknowledgments

Both authors declare no conflicts of interest. Both authors contributed equally to this manuscript. Tobias Dienlin receives funding from the Volkswagen Foundation. We would like to thank Amy Orben for valuable feedback and comments

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

• Teens, Technology and Friendships

Video games, social media and mobile phones play an integral role in how teens meet and interact with friends

Table of contents.

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Meeting, Hanging Out and Staying in Touch: The Role of Digital Technology in Teen Friendships
• Chapter 2: How Teens Hang Out and Stay in Touch With Their Closest Friends
• Chapter 3: Video Games Are Key Elements in Friendships for Many Boys
• Chapter 4: Social Media and Friendships
• Chapter 5: Conflict, Friendships and Technology
• About This Report

This report explores the new contours of friendship in the digital age. It covers the results of a national survey of teens ages 13 to 17; throughout the report, the word “teens” refers to those in that age bracket, unless otherwise specified. The survey was conducted online from Sept. 25 through Oct. 9, 2014, and Feb. 10 through March 16, 2015, and 16 online and in-person focus groups with teens were conducted in April 2014 and November 2014.

For today’s teens, friendships can start digitally: 57% of teens have met a new friend online. Social media and online gameplay are the most common digital venues for meeting friends

• Boys are more likely than girls to make online friends: 61% of boys compared to 52% of girls have done so.
• Older teens are also more likely than younger teens to make online friends. Some 60% of teens ages 15 to 17 have met a friend online, compared with 51% of 13- to 14-year-olds.

The most common spots for meeting friends online are social media sites like Facebook or Instagram (64% of teens who have made a friend online met someone via social media), followed by playing networked video games (36%). Girls who have met new friends online are more likely to meet them via social media (78% vs. 52% of boys), while boys are substantially more likely to meet new friends while playing games online (57% vs. 13% of girls).

Text messaging is a key component of day-to-day friend interactions: 55% of teens spend time every day texting with friends

The vast majority of teens (95%) spend time with their friends outside of school, in person, at least occasionally. But for most teens, this is not an everyday occurrence. Just 25% of teens spend time with friends in person (outside of school) on a daily basis.

• Instant messaging: 79% of all teens instant message their friends; 27% do so daily.
• Social media: 72% of all teens spend time with friends via social media; 23% do so daily.
• Email: 64% of all teens use email with friends; 6% do so daily.
• Video chat : 59% of all teens video chat with their friends; 7% video chat with friends daily.
• Video games: 52% of all teens spend time with friends playing video games; 13% play with friends daily.
• Messaging apps: 42% of all teens spend time with friends on messaging apps such as Kik and WhatsApp; 14% do so every day.

Video games play a critical role in the development and maintenance of boys’ friendships

Overall, 72% of teens ages 13 to 17 play video games on a computer, game console or portable device. Fully 84% of boys play video games, significantly higher than the 59% of girls who play games. Playing video games is not necessarily a solitary activity; teens frequently play video games with others. Teen gamers play games with others in person (83%) and online (75%), and they play games with friends they know in person (89%) and friends they know only online (54%). They also play online with others who are not friends (52%). With so much game-playing with other people, video gameplay, particularly over online networks, is an important activity through which boys form and maintain friendships with others:

• 38% of all teen boys share their gaming handle as one of the first three pieces of information exchanged when they meet someone they would like to be friends with; just 7% of girls share a gaming handle when meeting new friends.
• [tweetable url="http://pewrsr.ch/1JMmZ9W" alt="Of teens who have met a friend online, 57% of boys have made a friend playing video games."]Of teens who have met a friend online, 57% of boys have made a friend playing video games. That amounts to 34% of all teenage boys ages 13 to 17.

Much more than for girls, boys use video games as a way to spend time and engage in day-to-day interactions with their peers and friends. These interactions occur in face-to-face settings, as well as in networked gaming environments:

• 16% of boy gamers play in person with friends on a daily or near-daily basis, and an additional 35% do so weekly. That amounts to 42% of all teen boys ages 13 to 17.
• 34% of boy gamers play over the internet with friends on a daily or near-daily basis, and another 33% do so weekly. That amounts to 55% of all teen boys ages 13 to 17.

When playing games with others online, many teen gamers (especially boys) connect with their fellow players via voice connections in order to engage in collaboration, conversation and trash-talking. Among boys who play games with others online, fully 71% use voice connections to engage with other players (this compares with just 28% of girls who play in networked environments).

All this playing, hanging out and talking while playing games leads many teens to feel closer to friends.

• 78% of teen online gamers say when they play games online it makes them feel more connected to friends they already know. That amounts to 42% of all teens ages 13 to 17.
• 52% of online-gaming teens feel more connected to other gamers (whom they do not consider friends) they play with online. That amounts to 28% of all teens ages 13 to 17.
• 84% of networked-gaming boys feel more connected to friends when they play online, compared with 62% of girls.
• 56% of boy gamers feel more connected to people they play networked games with who are not friends, as do 43% of gaming girls.

Teen friendships are strengthened and challenged within social media environments

Social media also plays a critical role in introducing teens to new friends and connecting them to their existing friend networks. Some 76% of teens ages 13 to 17 use social media and:

• 64% of teens who have met at least one new friend online report meeting a friend through social media.
• 62% of teens share their social media username as one of the first pieces of information they share as a way to stay in touch when they meet a brand new friend.
• 72% of all teens say they spend time with friends on social media; 23% say they do so every day.

Social media helps teens feel more connected to their friends’ feelings and daily lives, and also offers teens a place to receive support from others during challenging times.

• 83% of teen social media users say social media makes them feel more connected to information about their friends’ lives.
• 70% of social media-using teens feel better connected to their friends’ feelings through social media.
• 68% of teen social media users have had people on the platforms supporting them through tough or challenging times.

But even as social media connects teens to friends’ feelings and experiences, the sharing that occurs on these platforms can have negative consequences. Sharing can veer into oversharing. Teens can learn about events and activities to which they weren’t invited, and the highly curated lives of teens’ social media connections can lead them to make negative comparisons with their own lives:

• 88% of teen social media users believe people share too much information about themselves on social media.
• 53% of social media-using teens have seen people posting to social media about events to which they were not invited.
• 42% of social media-using teens have had someone post things on social media about them that they cannot change or control.
• 21% of teen social media users report feeling worse about their own life because of what they see from other friends on social media.

Teens face challenges trying to construct an appropriate and authentic online persona for multiple audiences, including adults and peers. Consequently, many teens feel obligated to project an attractive and popular image through their social media postings.

• 40% of teen social media users report feeling pressure to post only content that makes them look good to others.
• 39% of teens on social media say they feel pressure to post content that will be popular and get lots of comments or likes.

Some conflict teens experience is instigated online

• 68% of teen social media users (52% of all teens) have experienced drama among their friends on social media.
• 26% of all teens have had a conflict with a friend over something that happened online or over text messages.

Girls are more likely to unfriend, unfollow and block former friends

When friendships end, many teens take steps to cut the digital web that connects them to their former friend. Girls who use social media or cellphones are more likely to prune old content and connections:

• 58% of teens who use social media or cellphones have unfriended or unfollowed someone they used to be friends with, and 45% of teens have blocked an ex-friend.
• 63% of girls who use social media or cellphones have unfriended or unfollowed an ex-friend, compared with 53% of boys.

53% of social media- or cellphone-using girls have blocked someone after ending a friendship, compared with 37% of boys.

Teens spend time with their closest friends in a range of venues. Texting plays a crucial role in helping close friends stay in touch

Along with examining the general ways in which teens interact and communicate with their friends, this report documents how and where teens interact with the friends who are closest to them. These “close friend” relationships loom large in the day-to-day social activities of teens’ lives, as 59% of teens are in touch with their closest friend on a daily basis (with 41% indicating that they get in touch “many times a day”).

School is the primary place teens interact with their closest friends. However, these best-friend interactions occur across a wide range of online and offline venues:

• 83% of teens spend time with their closest friend at school.
• 58% spend time with their closest friend at someone’s house.
• 55% spend time with their closest friend online (such as on social media sites or gaming sites or servers).

Teens also use a wide range of communication tools to get in touch with their closest friend.

• 49% of teens say text messaging (including on messaging apps) is their first choice of platform for communicating with their closest friend.
• 20% say social media is their first-choice communication tool when talking with their closest friend.
• 13% say phone calls are the method they would choose first to talk with their closest friend.
• 6% say video games are their first-choice platform for talking with their closest friend.

Teens who live in lower-income households are more likely than higher-income teens to say they use social media to get in touch with their closest friend. Lower-income teens, from households earning less than $30,000 annually, are nearly evenly split in how they get in touch with these friends, with 33% saying social media is the most common way they do so and 35% saying texting is their preferred communication method. Higher-income teens from families earning $30,000 or more per year are most likely to report texting as their preferred mode when communicating with their closest friend. Modestly lower levels of smartphone and basic phone use among lower-income teens may be driving some in this group to connect with their friends using platforms or methods accessible on desktop computers.

Smartphone users have different practices for communicating with close friends

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of teens have access to a smartphone, and smartphone-using teens have different practices for communicating with close friends. Teens with smartphones rely more heavily on texting, while teens without smartphones are more likely to say social media and phone calls are preferred modes for reaching their closest friend.

• 58% of teens with smartphone access prefer texting when communicating with their closest friend, while just 25% of teens without smartphone access say the same.
• 29% of teens without smartphone access say social media is the most common way they get in touch with a close friend; 17% of smartphone users say the same.
• 21% of teens without smartphones say they make phone calls to their closest friend as a primary mode of communication, compared with 10% of smartphone users.

Girls are more likely to use text messaging – while boys are more likely to use video games – as conduits for conversations with friends

Compared with boys, girls tend to communicate more often with friends via texting and instant messaging:

• 62% of girls spend time with friends every day via text messaging, compared with 48% of boys.
• 32% of girls spend time with friends every day using instant messaging, compared with 23% of boys.

On the other hand, boys are much more likely than girls to interact and spend time with friends while playing video games:

• 74% of teen boys talk with friends while playing video games together, while 31% of girls report the same.
• 22% of boys talk daily with friends while playing video games, compared with just 3% of girls.

Phone calls are less common early in a friendship, but are an important way that teens talk with their closest friends

Some 85% of teens say they spend time with friends by calling them on the phone, and 19% do so every day. The perceived intimacy of the phone call as a communication choice means teens are less likely to use it immediately upon meeting a new friend, but they often prefer it when talking to close friends.

• About half of teens (52%) indicate that a phone number for calling is one of the first three things they would share with a new friend, but just 9% indicate that this is the first thing they would share.
• And when teens want to talk to their closest friend, phone calls are the second most popular method overall, with 69% of teens citing phone calls as one of their three choices.

84% of black teens say phone calls are one of the three most common methods they use to get in touch with close friends, compared with 69% of whites and 63% of Hispanic teens.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Social Media
• Teens & Tech
• Teens & Youth

Social Media Fact Sheet

Teens and social media fact sheet, more americans are getting news on tiktok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites, how americans view data privacy, life on social media platforms, in users’ own words, most popular.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Age & Generations
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Economy & Work
• Family & Relationships
• Gender & LGBTQ
• Immigration & Migration
• International Affairs
• Internet & Technology
• Methodological Research
• News Habits & Media
• Non-U.S. Governments
• Other Topics
• Politics & Policy
• Race & Ethnicity
• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

• Undergraduate
• High School
• Architecture
• American History
• Asian History
• Antique Literature
• American Literature
• Asian Literature
• Classic English Literature
• World Literature
• Creative Writing
• Linguistics
• Criminal Justice
• Legal Issues
• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Political Science
• World Affairs
• African-American Studies
• East European Studies
• Latin-American Studies
• Native-American Studies
• West European Studies
• Family and Consumer Science
• Social Issues
• Women and Gender Studies
• Social Work
• Natural Sciences
• Pharmacology
• Earth science
• Agriculture
• Agricultural Studies
• Computer Science
• IT Management
• Mathematics
• Investments
• Engineering and Technology
• Engineering
• Aeronautics
• Medicine and Health
• Alternative Medicine
• Communications and Media
• Advertising
• Communication Strategies
• Public Relations
• Educational Theories
• Teacher's Career
• Chicago/Turabian
• Company Analysis
• Education Theories
• Shakespeare
• Canadian Studies
• Food Safety
• Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather Condition
• Movie Review
• Admission Essay
• Annotated Bibliography
• Application Essay
• Article Critique
• Article Review
• Article Writing
• Book Review
• Business Plan
• Business Proposal
• Capstone Project
• Cover Letter
• Creative Essay
• Dissertation
• Dissertation - Abstract
• Dissertation - Conclusion
• Dissertation - Discussion
• Dissertation - Hypothesis
• Dissertation - Introduction
• Dissertation - Literature
• Dissertation - Methodology
• Dissertation - Results
• GCSE Coursework
• Grant Proposal
• Marketing Plan
• Multiple Choice Quiz
• Personal Statement
• Power Point Presentation
• Power Point Presentation With Speaker Notes
• Questionnaire
• Reaction Paper
• Research Paper
• Research Proposal
• SWOT analysis
• Thesis Paper
• Online Quiz
• Literature Review
• Movie Analysis
• Statistics problem
• Math Problem
• All papers examples
• How It Works
• Money Back Policy
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• We Are Hiring

The Impact of Technology on Human Relationship, Essay Example

Pages: 5

Words: 1332

Hire a Writer for Custom Essay

Use 10% Off Discount: "custom10" in 1 Click 👇

You are free to use it as an inspiration or a source for your own work.

Technology is the application of scientific skills and knowledge to accomplish different purposes. Technology has made life easier in the modern world by allowing human access to complex machinery that can help make work easier. The advancement of technology and its impacts on human relationships have created many debates and discussions worldwide. In one group, a team holds that technology has improved human relationships through social platforms and the Internet, enabling humans to share information easily. Conversely, a party claims that technology has caused more harm to human relationships, such as social isolation and moral decay. This paper seeks to explore how technology affects human relationships.

Technology has made more accessible access to different places of the world by improving the transport system. Through the invention of modern means of transport such as airplanes and electric trains, individuals can travel and explore different parts of the world within a short period (Wolfram et al., 1-23). For instance, electric trains replaced fuel trains which moved slower and caused environmental pollution. Electric trains travel at high speed, enabling individuals to save time and reach their destinations faster. Modern airplanes allow individuals to travel to different countries faster and accomplish their purposes instead of the old days when traveling to foreign countries overseas was a big challenge. When traveling to new places, technology provides navigation tools that enable individuals to find directions for their traveling. Technology, therefore, plays a crucial role in the transport sector.

Technology has enabled easier sharing of information and enhanced communication. The invention of smartphones has helped individuals to share information on Internet through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This makes it easier for people in different places worldwide to get information about other areas that are far away from them. Technology has also made communication more effective as people can talk to each other through phones from different geographical locations. Initially, radios and newspapers were the primary means of sharing news, but the invention of Television enables easy sharing of information worldwide. It is easier to know what is happening in another country when breaking news on Television. Additionally, it is easier to find news through smartphones with apps that share information. This has made a recognizable step in the communication industry as people can communicate and share news in different places within a short period.

Additionally, technology has enhanced learning and improved social interactions. Students can get learning materials and articles on the Internet and download helpful information for learning purposes (Ghavifekr et al., 175-191). Lecturers can offer a lecture through the Internet by connecting with students on zoom or other social platforms. Students can also complete and submit their assignments to their lecturers through the Internet. For instance, technology has made it easier for people to conduct online classes and improved online courses, providing easier access to quality education.

Finally, technology has improved social interaction among people in different places. Through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, individuals can meet and make friends at their comfort. Interacting with people in other areas can improve creativity among individuals by sharing ideas on social media platforms.

Conversely, as much technology has made life easier by enhancing communication, transportation, and ease of access to information, it has dramatically affected human relationships. Technology negatively affects human relationships, leading to social isolation, moral decay, time wastage, and distraction. The most affected category of individuals is youth as they are highly addicted to technological equipment.

Technology has significantly lead to isolation among individuals. Most individuals spend time in their homes or workplaces while interacting with their friends and relatives on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. People tend to believe that there is no need to meet physically as they can easily communicate through social media (Khosravi et al., 594-603). This spirit of social isolation significantly affects society as a whole since individuals cannot meet physically to share ideas; thus, this can lower creativity among individuals. Social isolation has many effects on individuals as it may lead to depressions and stress among individuals. Many families and relationships fail as partners spent most of their time on social media and fail to have time with their loved ones. The interaction of human to human is now replaced by human-machine interaction where individuals use most of their time on a machine than with fellow individuals. Parents now spent most of their time on technological devices than with their children. This character is passed on to their children, affecting the next generation as parent-child interaction will replace parent-machine interaction.

Technology has also led to moral decay among youths. Due to constant interaction with the Internet, many children get access to adult content on the Internet and download it to view in their free time (Swierstra & Tsjalling, 5-20). The young generation wastes most of their time on pornographic sites watching adult content and use less time to do constructive things in life. At the same time, others create groups where they share nude photos and adult content materials. Parents are most blamed for allowing their children to use phones and tablets for communication. Uncontrolled access to technological devices will make the next generation be significantly affected by moral decay in society.

Finally, technology leads to time wastage and distraction at the workplace. Individuals spend most of their time on technological devices such as tablets and computers accessing the information on the Internet (Beland et al., 61-76). They forget to do other essential activities that could be productive and instead concentrate mainly on their computers and tablets. For instance, students spent most of their time playing video games and computer games and spent less or no time on their education, leading to poor results in their studies. The use of technological devices also causes distraction at the workplace and during study time. Most employees are disrupted by their phones when they receive pop-up notifications and messages from their friends. This makes workers concentrate on their phones for a long time and use less time focusing on the work they intend to do, resulting in low productivity. Emails and messaging Apps are significant causes of distraction at the workplace; thus, managers should always advise their employees to turn off all notifications and receive only priority calls and messages that can help improve the firm’s productivity. Additionally, students are now heavily addicted to their phones and try to study; they try to use their phones simultaneously. Since phones are more addictive, they overweigh students’ ability to concentrate on studies instead of using their phones.

In conclusion, technology started a long time ago, and more advancements have been made to make it more complex and perform unique tasks to make life easier. The use of technology has positively impacted human relationships by enhancing communication, transport, and ease of access to information. Nonetheless, as technology has many benefits to human relationships, it has caused many problems to humankind, including social isolation, moral decay, distraction, and time wastage. Appropriate measures have to be implemented to ensure individuals make good use of technology to avoid other effects.

Works cited

Beland, Louis-Philippe, and Richard Murphy. “Ill communication: technology, distraction & student performance.”  Labour Economics  41 (2016): 61-76.

Ghavifekr, Simin, and Wan Athirah Wan Rosdy. “Teaching and learning with technology: Effectiveness of ICT integration in schools.”  International Journal of Research in Education and Science  1.2 (2015): 175-191.

Henrie, Curtis R., Lisa R. Halverson, and Charles R. Graham. “Measuring student engagement in technology-mediated learning: A review.”  Computers & Education  90 (2015): 36-53.

Khosravi, Pouria, Azadeh Rezvani, and Anna Wiewiora. “The impact of technology on older adults’ social isolation.”  Computers in Human Behavior  63 (2016): 594-603.

McDaniel, Brandon T., and Jenny S. Radesky. “Technoference: Parent distraction with technology and associations with child behavior problems.”  Child development  89.1 (2018): 100-109.

Osseiran, Afif, Jose F. Monserrat, and Patrick Marsch, eds.  5G mobile and wireless communications technology . Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Swierstra, Tsjalling. “Identifying the normative challenges posed by technology’s ‘soft’impacts.”  Etikk i praksis-Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics  1 (2015): 5-20.

Wolfram, Paul, and Nic Lutsey. “Electric vehicles: Literature review of technology costs and carbon emissions.”  The International Council on Clean Transportation: Washington, DC, USA  (2016): 1-23.

Stuck with your Essay?

Get in touch with one of our experts for instant help!

Gender Pay Gap, Coursework Example

Co-Presence and Turn-Taking, Essay Example

Time is precious

don’t waste it!

Plagiarism-free guarantee

Privacy guarantee

Secure checkout

Money back guarantee

Related Essay Samples & Examples

Voting as a civic responsibility, essay example.

Pages: 1

Words: 287

Utilitarianism and Its Applications, Essay Example

Words: 356

The Age-Related Changes of the Older Person, Essay Example

Pages: 2

Words: 448

The Problems ESOL Teachers Face, Essay Example

Pages: 8

Words: 2293

Should English Be the Primary Language? Essay Example

Pages: 4

Words: 999

The Term “Social Construction of Reality”, Essay Example

Words: 371

• Bachelor’s Degrees
• Master’s Degrees
• Doctorate Degrees
• Certificate Programs
• Nursing Degrees
• Cybersecurity
• Human Services
• Science & Mathematics
• Communication
• Liberal Arts
• Social Sciences
• Computer Science
• Admissions Overview
• Tuition and Financial Aid
• Incoming Freshman and Graduate Students
• Transfer Students
• Military Students
• International Students
• Early Access Program
• About Maryville
• Our Faculty
• Our Approach
• Our History
• Accreditation
• Tales of the Brave
• Student Support Overview
• Online Learning Tools
• Infographics

Home / Blog

Children and Technology: Positive and Negative Effects

January 18, 2022 

Tables of Contents

Evolution of Children’s Use of Technology

Positive and negative effects of technology on children, technology and children statistics, technology and social interaction in children, ensuring safe and nurturing digital environments for children.

Imagine spending a year or more of your childhood almost entirely at home: no time in a classroom, no chance to join friends on the playground, and very few opportunities to enjoy favorite pastimes and experience new places, people, and activities.

The worldwide lockdowns that helped limit the spread of the coronavirus created a kind of twilight zone for children that put much of their environment off-limits and kept them separated from everyone but their immediate families. However, not all was lost. What vestiges of their pre-COVID life children were able to maintain were made possible by a range of technologies that kept them learning, interacting with friends, and entertained.

The growing presence of technology in children’s lives, from their first year through their teens, is a double-edged sword. While technologies are neutral, how they are applied and how children are exposed to them can be either positive or negative.

The impact of children and technology becomes increasingly difficult to gauge as the pace of technological innovation speeds up. This guide presents a snapshot of the many roles that technology products and services play in the lives of children. It balances the pluses and minuses of the effects of technology use by children on their development, social interactions, and prospects for the future.

Learn how people develop physically, emotionally and socially within the context of family and society

The online BA in human development and family studies from Maryville University prepares you with knowledge and skills related to child development, family dynamics and interpersonal relationships. No SAT or ACT scores required.

• Benefit from a curriculum that follows the 10 content areas of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).
• Engage in a range of relevant course topics, from interpersonal relationships to medical terminology.

From the earliest electric model trains in the early 20th century through the first home video game systems and remote-controlled toys, children’s introduction to technology has been through their toys. What were marvels of technology three, two, or even one generation ago seem almost quaint by today’s standards. However, the progress from Pong to Oculus virtual reality games occurred in a relatively brief period of time.

Early Examples of Children and Technology

Children have been interacting with digital technology since the earliest days of the PC revolution . One of the first electronic educational toys was Texas Instruments’ Speak & Spell, which was released in the late 1970s. This relatively simple device was a precursor to the first PCs designed for children in the 1980s. It also presaged the growth of computer-assisted instruction hardware and software in the pre-World Wide Web era.

• The first Speak & Spell toys debuted in 1978 to teach children ages 7 and older how to pronounce and spell 200 commonly misspelled words. It relied on electronic speech synthesis and bubble memory (a precursor to RAM) and was the first such product to use solid-state circuitry to replace all moving parts.
• While Magnavox’s Odyssey was the first gaming console upon its release in 1972, the device was soon eclipsed by the home version of Atari’s Pong arcade video game, which began shipping in 1975. This was followed by the Atari 2600 game console in 1977 and similar devices from Nintendo, Mattel, and Coleco, among other vendors. Sega and Nintendo came to dominate the home video market through the 1980s, along with Commodore, Atari, and Sony’s PlayStation, which was released in 1994.

Evolution of Technology Designed to Educate and Entertain Children

The arrival of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s changed that nature of tech toys and education hardware and software. Smart Toy Lab , an Intel and Mattel joint venture launched in 1998, developed the first web-connected interactive toys, or “smart toys.” Among the first toys the lab developed were the QX3 Microscope, which featured a built-in video camera that sent images to a PC via a USB link, and the Me2Cam, which let children play interactive games using gestures to move “objects” on the screen.

Some early internet-connected toys and educational devices were criticized for violating children’s privacy by collecting personal information without parental consent. For example, Hello Barbie was released in 2015 and featured a built-in microphone and voice recognition software, as well as a Wi-Fi connection. The doll’s call-and-response function was a precursor to Amazon’s Alexa/Echo and Apple’s Siri voice assistants. However, hackers soon figured out how to break into the toy’s system and access users’ private information.

Today many children — from toddlers to teenagers — regularly use tablets, smartphones, and virtual environments for entertainment and educational purposes. Pandemic-related restrictions have increased children’s reliance on these and other technologies to connect with the outside world. With increased use of these products comes heightened prospects of damage and abuse:

• A recent study published in Children and Youth Services Review identified problematic smartphone use (present in 16.4% of high school students surveyed), daytime sleepiness (20.2%), and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (6.9%) as spiking during pandemic lockdowns.
• A study published in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics found that 66.3% of the children and adolescents surveyed used their smartphone for more than four hours a day during the pandemic, compared with 16.3% who did so before the pandemic. In addition, 56% of the children and adolescents surveyed used their smartphone after midnight at least three times each week, compared with 30.4% before the pandemic.

Back To Top

The shutdown of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic brought the damaging effect of the digital divide between rich and poor families into sharp focus. Pew Research Center data shows that the “homework gap” created by remote learning affected low-income families more than middle- and upper-income families. K-12 students who ever had to do schoolwork on a cellphone: lower income: 37%; middle income: 24%; upper income: 16%. K-12 students who ever lacked access to a home computer to complete schoolwork: lower income: 25%; middle income: 15%; upper income: 2%. K-12 students who ever relied on public Wi-Fi to complete schoolwork: lower income: 23%; middle income: 11%; upper income: 4%.

Children can benefit from technology by gaining new learning opportunities; it’s especially important for children who are physically or developmentally challenged. However, technology use has also been found to contribute to poor self-esteem and isolation in some children. As digital technologies become more ubiquitous, parents struggle to find the optimum amount of technology for their children’s lives.

Positive Effects of Technology on Children

All the “rules” about children’s access to computers and the internet were rewritten by the COVID-19 pandemic , according to parenting expert Anya Kamenetz. Technology provides children with easy access to information and boosts their creativity. Tech hardware and software helps children develop social skills and introduces them to various arts and sciences.

These are among the less obvious positive effects of technology on children:

• Technology allows children to connect with their family, friends, and others in ways that enrich their relationships, especially when using video chat and other real-time interactions.
• Parents and caregivers are learning to slow down and tone down the applications, games, and other content children use to avoid overloading their senses. This teaches children how to moderate their own use of technology.
• Rather than trying to eliminate all risk to children when using technology, the goal should be reducing the risk and adapting when problems arise, such as preventing children from accessing devices at specific times of the day.

Many parents hesitate to allow their preschool-age children to use technology products and services due to concerns about how it’ll impact their well-being and development. However, the children are surrounded by technology, much of which offers them significant benefits , as BSD Education explains:

• Technology helps children become independent learners more quickly. Once they learn how to access digital information sources safely, they’re able to explore the topics that interest them on their own.
• Children learn the importance of building communities and how to interact with people in social situations. When circumstances prevent children from establishing physical bonds with family members, friends, and others, they’re able to use technology to create “virtual bonds.”
• Early access to technology teaches the digital literacy skills that children will need for their future success in school and as adults.
• Many technology products promote hand-eye coordination in young children, while others focus on developing their language and problem-solving skills.

Negative Effects of Technology on Children

Children are especially susceptible to technology overuse. The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends limiting the use of technology to one hour per day of high-quality programming for children ages 2 to 5. For children ages 6 and up, it’s most important to set consistent limits on various types of media, such as gaming devices and smartphones.

APA suggests that parents focus on the content on children’s screens and how the children are interacting with it. A survey of research on the possible negative effects of technology on children establishes a connection between the level of a child’s use of technology and various developmental and behavior problems.

• Lack of attention, aggressive behaviors, obesity, physical inactivity, sleep problems
• Musculoskeletal problems related to a sedentary lifestyle
• Greater risk of lifetime obesity and cardiovascular disease
• Sleep disturbances and poor-quality sleep for children who overuse social media or keep mobile devices in their bedroom

These are among the negative effects of technology on children:

• Exposure to harmful online content and sexual exploitation: A study by Irish researchers found that children of all ages are able to bypass the age verification systems of social media apps, such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. This can bring children into direct contact with potential predators and other dangers.
• Cyber bullying: The Cyberbullying Research Center reports that incidents of cyber bullying are most prevalent at ages 12 to 15. A recent survey by the center of 13- to 17-year-olds found that 23.7% of girls, 21.9% of boys, and 35.4% of transgender teens had experienced being bullied.
• Low self-esteem and increased anxiety: CNN reports that teens and adolescents are using image filters on Instagram to enhance their appearance even though the result looks nothing like them. “Self-esteem addiction” can make young people feel inadequate. As children spend more time on social media, they may become withdrawn or find themselves obsessively checking their social media feeds.

Resources on Ways Children Are Affected by Technology

• The Register, “Technology Does Widen the Education Divide. But Not Always in the Way You Expect” — One educator found that upon returning from online education during lockdown, children had turned away from technology, preferring real books and nontech activities because tech is no longer seen as “fun.”
• Edutopia, “Helping Parents Feel More Comfortable with Tech” — Advice for teachers about how to convince parents to support technology in the classroom.
• UNICEF, “Harnessing the Power of Technology and Digital Innovation for Children” — A report describing the initiatives and successes of the Digital UNICEF 2020 program, which is intended to extend the reach of UNICEF’s aid efforts.

When it comes to children’s access to technology, the digital divide between rich and poor persists. The increased reliance of children on technology for remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic adds a new and dangerous dimension to the problem, which some analysts refer to as the “ homework gap .”

• A survey by Common Sense Media found that 49% of 8- to 18-year-olds in the U.S. had attended classes fully or partially online since the start of the pandemic.
• Hispanic/Latinx students (48%) and Black students (39%) were much more likely than their white counterparts (20%) to attend school fully online.
• Similarly, students from low-income families (42%) were more likely to rely completely on online instruction than those from middle-income and high-income families (31% and 27%, respectively).
• While 92% of white students had a computer at home, only 87% of Hispanic/Latinx students and 78% of Black students did.
• Broadband access at home was available to 90% of students from families with high incomes, compared with 80% for middle-income families and 61% for lower-income families.
• In addition, 88% of white families had broadband access at home, while 76% of Black families and 68% of Hispanic/Latinx families had broadband access at home.

Common Sense Media estimates that closing the digital divide for K-12 public school students will cost between $6 billion and $11 billion in the first year, and between $4 billion and $8 billion annually in subsequent years. An additional $1 billion will be required to upgrade the remote access technologies that teachers use.

In 2020, TikTok surpassed YouTube to become the most frequently used app by teens and preteens in the U.S., according to MMGuardian. 1. TikTok: average daily usage, 105.1 minutes; % of children who use it, 32%. 2. YouTube: average daily usage, 102.6 minutes; % of children who use it, 69.7%. 3. Roblox: average daily usage, 90 minutes; % of children who use it, 24%. 4. Amino: average daily usage, 89.5 minutes; % of children who use it, 1.18%. 5. Avakin Life: average daily usage, 86.6 minutes; % of children who use it, 1.32%. 6. YouTube Kids: average daily usage, 85.8 minutes; % of children who use it, 6.9%. 7. Wattpad: average daily usage, 80.6 minutes; % of children who use it, 2.9%. 8. Netflix: average daily usage, 80.6 minutes; % of children who use it, 27.4%. 9. IMVU: average daily usage, 72.8 minutes; % of children who use it, 1.3%. 10. Hulu: average daily usage, 71 minutes; % of children who use it, 9.2%.

Statistics on Children’s Online Activities

The most common activity for children online is accessing software, audio, and video content (44% of children had done so between March 2020 and April 2021). The next most popular activities are using internet-based communications (22%); playing video games (14%); accessing online stores, banks, or payment systems (13%); and reading news media (4%).

A study by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s learning and development determined that children lost learning opportunities at home and in preschool programs. This resulted in “unusually high” rates of socio-emotional and mental health problems in children as reported by their parents.

• Twenty-two percent of 4- to 7-year-olds had high levels of conduct problems in the fall of 2020, compared with 11% who did so in a survey conducted before the pandemic.
• Higher levels of hyperactivity (15% vs. 10%), peer problems (17% vs. 9%), lack of prosocial behavior (20% vs. 8%), and total difficulties (15% vs. 8%) were also recorded among 4- to 7-year-olds during the pandemic.

How Children’s Screen Time Correlates to Their Mental and Physical Health

A primary concern among parents about their children’s use of technology is the amount of time children spend in front of a television, computer, smartphone, or another screen. Researchers have established a link between the amount of time adolescents spend in front of a screen , their level of moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and the amount of sleep they get.

• Screen time involves sedentary activities that detract from MVPA and delay bedtime and that interrupt sleep with digital notifications.
• The result is an increased risk of children becoming overweight or obese, as well as more sleepiness during the day and lower academic achievement.
• While most of the 13- and 14-year-olds in the study met the recommendations for total screen time (less than two hours per day) and MVPA (at least one hour per day), only half met the recommendation for sleep (8.5 hours per night). Meeting the recommendation for screen time and one of the other two factors led to better academic outcomes.

Some research into the connection between children’s screen time and their psychological well-being has been brought into question because of discrepancies between actual and reported use of digital media by children. A recent meta-analysis of research on the impact of screen time on children found either no significant impact or only a moderate impact. More indicative of potential psychological or developmental problems in children than overall screen time is the type of content that children view and interact with.

However, studies have established a link between excessive screen time and children’s levels of attention deficit symptoms; impaired emotional and social intelligence; social isolation; phantom vibration syndrome; and diagnosable mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, and technology addiction.

Finding the Right Amount of Time Online for Children

Many activities that benefit children can become dangerous if used too much. During the pandemic, the time that adolescents spent in front of a screen nearly doubled, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics . Adolescents were spending an average of 7.7 hours a day in front of a screen early in the pandemic, compared with 3.8 hours per day before the pandemic. Indications are that the elevated level of screen time will persist.

Determining the optimal amount of screen time for children has become challenging for parents because of the potential problems arising related to children’s vision, posture, and other physical development concerns. While the standard recommendation of experts remains that children under the age of 8 spend less than two hours per day in front of a screen, many factors must be considered when setting a limit for children:

• Allow more screen time for positive educational activities.
• Encourage children to take breaks from the screen that involve outdoor activities.
• Avoid using screens as “babysitters” that keep children occupied. Find other nonscreen activities, such as creative toys, coloring books, and storybooks.
• Don’t let children’s use of electronics cut into their sleep time.
• Make sure that children take short breaks from the screen every 20 minutes or so to protect their vision.
• Check the area of the screen activity to ensure that the lighting is neither too dark nor too bright.

Tech Companies’ Growing Impact on Children

After pressure from government regulators, Facebook shelved its plans to develop a version of Instagram called Instagram Kids that targeted children under the age of 13, as The New York Times reports. In 2019, YouTube paid $170 million to settle claims that it targeted children under the age of 13 in its advertising and collected personal information about them.

These are just two of the many examples of giant tech companies targeting children to meet their need for continuous growth. In the absence of federal privacy laws, companies such as Google (which owns YouTube), Facebook (now known as Meta), Amazon, and TikTok are left to self-regulate their privacy and other policies.

• The Verge reports that Facebook is exploring the use of playdates to spur children to use its Messenger Kids application.
• According to Reuters, attorneys general of several states are investigating Instagram for its attempts to attract young children in violation of consumer protection laws.
• YouTube is being sued in the U.K. over alleged violations of children’s privacy and data rights, according to Tech Monitor.
• A recent survey by Accountable Tech found that 74% of parents believe that Facebook cares more about profits than about keeping their children safe on the site.

Parents, educators, and regulators are also concerned about the safety of educational technology platforms that use machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies to harvest massive amounts of data about children. Many fear that ubiquitous surveillance will lead to behavioral control and potentially a total loss of privacy for children. They’re calling for more accountability from such platforms, as well as legislation that guarantees children’s “right to future tense.”

Resources Providing Statistics on Children and Technology

• International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television, International Data Youth and Media 2021 — Statistics on the types of technologies that children use in countries around the world, as well as daily use of media by children in various age groups.
• Family Online Safety Institute, “Healthy Screen Time: Mobile Technology’s Relationship with Children’s Exercise” — A study reporting a sharp decrease in the amount of time children spend playing outdoors and the growing reliance on applications that entail physical activity, such as Nintendo’s Wii console.

Half of children ages 10 to 12 and one-third ages 7 to 9 use social media, according to a recent Mott poll of parents with children ages 7 to 12. Parents identified the areas of children’s social media use that they struggle to control; for instance, one in six parents don’t use parental controls. Additionally, 39% of parents don’t have time to monitor their children’s social media use, 21% of parents can’t find information to set up monitoring, and 32% of children find ways to circumvent parental controls.

The lockdowns deprived young children of opportunities to develop social skills by interacting with other children. As a result, educators report that some children returning to school are struggling with classroom routine. However, the pandemic has disrupted the lives of many families of students and teachers.

• Some children are experiencing anxiety in the classroom that may relate to separation anxiety after spending a prolonged period with family.
• While most students readjust quickly to their school routine, those who’ve experienced trauma at home are most likely to struggle in school. This is especially true for children in kindergarten and first grade.
• Children are showing their resilience in adapting quickly to masking and social distancing requirements.

Research presented at a recent conference of the Society of Neuroscience indicates that isolation in adolescents can change the development of the brain systems related to fear, risk and reward, and social recognition. This may make it more difficult for them to distinguish friendly behavior from threatening behavior in their peers, for example.

A good way to break feelings of social isolation that developed as a result of the pandemic is to increase the amount of school time devoted to physical activities.

Child Development and Technology

Researchers are studying how the way young children play with technology compares with the way they play with real-world toys. They’ve found that all the types of play in the nondigital environment are present in the digital realm as well.

• Digital play develops a range of abilities in children, including subject knowledge and understanding; digital skills; and skills related to social, emotional, cognitive, and creative development.
• Because digital and physical play are intermixed in children’s lives, it’s more appropriate to look at play holistically.

Most research on children and technology relates to children ages 9 to 16, but interactions with technology may have a greater impact on the development of children ages 3 to 8. Digital education for young children increasingly takes the form of applications running on tablets and smartphones, language development applications, and physical coordination from manipulating game controls and videos that teach dancing and other activities.

Since the advent of Apple’s iPad in 2010, computer use by young children has skyrocketed , especially as teaching philosophies focus on play activities over traditional classes and formal teaching. Some schools now test each child’s digital skills and teach children digital competence, such as knowing when and why digital tools are used.

One approach to understanding the complexity of technology’s impact on children is the domestication theory that compares the introduction of digital tools into society to the process of taming a wild animal. The four phases of the domestication process render the tools nonthreatening and also make them useful, important, and meaningful.

• Appropriation is the reason for acquiring the digital tool.
• Objectification of the digital tool instills a personal meaning for the tool in the child using it.
• Incorporation describes how the digital tool becomes a part of the child’s life. It also explains appropriate and inappropriate uses of the tool.
• Conversion occurs when the digital tool has redefined the child’s worldview and relations with others.

Resources on the Impact of Technology on Children’s Development and Social Interactions

• Early Childhood Education Journal, “Investigating Young Children’s Interactions During Digital Play” — Research into children’s social behaviors within digital play environments found that adding a social dimension increased a child’s engagement in the activity.
• OECD iLibrary, “Children and Digital Technologies: Trends and Outcomes” — Topics include use of social robots to help treat children with chronic diseases and the impact of digital technologies on children’s physical health.

Technological advances happen so quickly that parents and educators don’t have much opportunity to consider how children’s growth and well-being may be improved or impaired by the types of technologies they interact with and the ways in which those interactions occur. However, technology continues to play a more important part of the lives of most children when they’re in school, at home, and at play. The judicious application of technology will enhance a child’s education and other aspects of life.

Infographic Sources

Associated Press, “TikTok Is Now the Most-Used App by Teens and Pre-teens in the U.S.”

Mott Poll Report, “Sharing too Soon? Children and Social Media Apps”

Pew Research Center, “The Internet and the Pandemic”

Bring us your ambition and we’ll guide you along a personalized path to a quality education that’s designed to change your life.

Take Your Next Brave Step

Receive information about the benefits of our programs, the courses you'll take, and what you need to apply.

How Hobbies Can Help You at Work

Research shows that your downtime can help your full-time job..

Posted May 20, 2021 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

• Someone's leisure activities can actually help them become more effective at work—but the kind of leisure activity matters.
• Hobbies that were serious but dissimilar to work and hobbies that were similar to work but less serious were most likely to bring benefits.
• People with such hobbies reported higher career-related self-efficacy, a useful psychological resource.

By Karoline Strauss, Ph.D., Professor of Management , and Julia Smith, Editor-in-Chief of ESSEC Knowledge

You would be hard-pressed to find someone nowadays who denies the importance of work-life balance. Decades of research have shown that it is key for work and personal outcomes, and companies are taking note, making it a common buzzword on job postings and in the workplace.

But does it matter what you do with that balance—in other words, how you spend your time outside of work? Myself (Karoline Strauss) and my colleagues Ciara Kelly (Sheffield University Management School), John Arnold (Loughborough University), and Chris Stride (Sheffield University Management School) have shown in our research that it does; indeed, our work highlights the positive impact of leisure activities on psychological resources that can help at work.

Enduring career success comes down to more than the sum of the work experience, education , and technical skills listed on a resume. Your personal resources—qualities like self-efficacy —are also critical in maintaining a sustainable career.

My co-authors and I defined a "sustainable career" as one in which the employee is “healthy, productive, happy, and employable throughout its course” [1] and that fits into, rather than takes over, an employee’s life as a whole. Anyone who has ever struggled to switch off emails after work or wrestled between staying late at the office and meeting friends for dinner knows this is easier said than done—hence the focus here on personal resources that bolster a sustainable career: namely, self-efficacy, which refers to the strength of your conviction in your abilities. Here, we looked at it specifically in how it relates to one's career, so employees’ career-related self-efficacy.

Why is self-efficacy important to your career, you may ask? Given that the world of work is constantly in flux, having faith in your abilities is an invaluable asset when faced with changes and difficulties. It’s not just us who are saying so, either—scores of papers have pointed to self-efficacy as invaluable for a whole host of work behaviors, like career satisfaction [2] and employability [3].

How Leisure Activities Improve Work Life

So how do leisure activities fit into this picture, and just what kind of leisure are we talking about? Leisure activities run the gamut from watching Netflix to more involved activities like dancing and singing in a choir.

To account for this and to see if the type of hobby is important, my co-authors and I classified leisure activities in two ways: according to their seriousness and according to their similarity to the employee’s work activities. The possibility of a leisure activity being "serious" may seem counterintuitive, but what it means is that you consider it to be an important part of your identity , that it involves regular training, and that you intend to become good at the activity.

Because skill acquisition implies mastery, these activities were found to help build self-efficacy through fostering confidence in your abilities. Since these experiences are taking place outside of work, they aren’t associated with the risk of losing your job if something goes wrong, making for an opportunity to develop personal resources in a less stressful setting.

Can Leisure Activities Interfere with Work?

So far, we’ve painted a rosy picture of the benefits of serious leisure activities, but it’s important to consider the potentially deleterious impact of leisure activities on your psychological resources. Can there be a downside to being very invested in a hobby?

My answer? It depends on how similar your work and hobby are.

Similarity was analyzed based on how the skillset, activities, and mental and physical demands of the hobby mapped onto those of the employee’s job. This presents a conundrum, as it may be beneficial to practice the same skills on your "off-time" as during your work, thereby enhancing your personal resources. On the other hand, by never really switching off from your work, you may end up more depleted and end up with detrimental consequences for your personal resources and your job. By looking at leisure seriousness and work-leisure similarity, my colleagues and I were able to tease out this conundrum and figure out how you can best make your downtime work for you full time.

Using this approach and gathering monthly data from employees over seven months, we found that there are two patterns that can help optimize how you spend your downtime. If you spend more time on a hobby that’s serious but dissimilar to your work, or not serious and similar to your work, you’ll see an enhancement in your level of self-efficacy.

Beware, though, of "too much of a good thing": spending a lot of time on a hobby that’s both serious and similar to their work tended to leave people with lower levels of self-efficacy compared to when they spent less time on their leisure activity of choice. This might be because people found it quite taxing to be constantly depleted and not particularly effective.

So a journalist who has a cooking blog on the side may actually experience decreased self-efficacy compared to an accountant with a cooking blog, or another journalist who likes to rock-climb in their spare time. This could be because engaging in different challenging activities exposes you to different experiences and builds up different resources. When you are drawing from the same resources during work and during your leisure time, you run the risk of exhausting yourself from the lack of recovery time if the activity is more challenging. Conversely, if your hobby is similar to your work but is more low-key, it is less taxing and doesn’t pose the same threat to recovery, instead allowing you to build up self-efficacy.

We’ve known for a while now that it’s important to have a life outside of work and that what you do with your life outside work has implications for your job. From this study, we can also learn that hobbies aren’t just a means to kill time and have fun: they can also provide an opportunity to build up useful resources like self-efficacy that can translate to maintaining a sustainable career. It also suggests that there are important nuances to be considered in the impact of leisure activities. This is useful for the employer looking for the best performance from their employees, the employee seeking to both enjoy themselves and have a successful career, and the would-be entrepreneur looking to turn their hobby into a business.

What This Means for You

What can we do with this information? As an employee, consider how related your hobby of choice and job are, how challenging your hobby is, and how pivotal it is to your sense of self. If you find yourself answering “Very related, very challenging, and it defines who I am,” you may want to put some extra effort into disconnecting from both to avoid depleting your levels of self-efficacy.

If, however, you answer either “Well, they are similar, but my hobby is quite relaxing, and I don’t take it that seriously!” or “I put a lot of time and effort into my hobby and it’s a huge part of me, but it bears zero similarity to my job,” you’re in luck, as this has the potential to increase your self-efficacy, which can bolster your career sustainability.

As an employer, consider that everybody wins if you encourage your employees to feel fulfilled and seek out hobbies outside of work, rather than wanting employees’ sole focus to be on their job.

Finally, this may serve as a cautionary note to people looking to start a business based on their hobby: it might become too much of a good thing. Altogether, this highlights how important it is for researchers and employers alike to consider how life outside work influences life on the job, and how this relationship can be nuanced. And if anyone is looking for motivation to take up a new hobby, add this to the list: it can help your career!

For more management insights, check out ESSEC Knowledge .

LinkedIn image: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

Check out the original article at: Kelly, C. M., Strauss, K., Arnold, J., & Stride, C. (2019). The relationship between leisure activities and psychological resources that support a sustainable career: The role of leisure seriousness and work-leisure similarity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103340.

1. De Hauw, S., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2015). Building a sustainable career: The role of work-home balance in career decision making. In A. De Vos, & B. Van der Heijden (Eds.). Handbook of research on sustainable careers (pp. 223–253). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

2. Abele, A. E., & Spurk, D. (2009). The longitudinal impact of self-efficacy and career goals on objective and subjective career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74 (1), 53-62.

3. 1. Berntson, E., Näswall, K., & Sverke, M. (2008). Investigating the relationship between employability and self-efficacy: A cross-lagged analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 17 (4), 413-425.

Researchers from ESSEC Business School in Cergy, France.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Essay Topic Generator
• Summary Generator
• Thesis Maker Academic
• Sentence Rephraser
• Read My Paper
• Hypothesis Generator
• Cover Page Generator
• Text Compactor
• Essay Scrambler
• Essay Plagiarism Checker
• Hook Generator
• AI Writing Checker
• Notes Maker
• Overnight Essay Writing
• Topic Ideas
• Writing Tips
• Essay Writing (by Genre)
• Essay Writing (by Topic)

Hobbies Essay: 80 Topics, 2 Examples, & My Hobby Essay Outline

Do you need to write a perfect leisure time essay?

It is an exciting topic – you can write about the things you are genuinely interested in! Try to think about what makes you feel inspired and share it with your readers. We will show you how to prepare a worthy paper in this article. You will find a hobbies essay writing guide, some topics on hobbies, and essay samples in the end.

• 🗂️ Hobby Essay Writing Guide

🧙 80 Hobby Essay Topics

✅ my hobby essay outline, 📔 hobby essay examples, 🗂️ hobby essay: 3 writing rules.

Here we will give some advice and discuss common mistakes in a “My hobbies” essay.

Follow these rules to prepare your paper wisely.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#1 Choose the Topic

First of all, you need to ensure that the hobby essay title you chose is appropriate to your paper’s length. If it is a short 100-word or 150-word essay, you can pick a simple topic. The longer the paper, the more complex issue you need. It also depends on your level of studies: high school and college paper topics have different requirements.

Your paper might also require some scientific research. In this case, look for a topic on which you can find enough information. Don’t be afraid to change or adjust the focus if you can’t find sufficient materials.

Use our amazing free essay topic generator to get the best topic!

If your instructor gave a list of topics, choose the one that interests you the most. You can also make a shortlist before you pick the most suitable title.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#2 Plan before Writing

Create a list of the essential points of your hobbies essay. Planning is vital as every paper needs a structure. Otherwise, you just might end up worshiping your hobby. This is the number one mistake.

Your outline should consist of three main parts:

• Introduction. You need to state your topic and describe what the paper is about.
• Body. Develop your arguments or narrative and provide evidence if necessary.
• Conclusion. Summarize the information you provided in the previous paragraphs.

Find rare aspects of your hobby. They can include equipment, locations, your achievements, and inspiration, etc.

If your hobby is rather popular, share a unique story connected with it.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#3 Filter What You Say

The first thing you should remember: be as objective as possible. No matter how much you love your hobbies, you better stick to the facts. All the information you provide should be unbiased and reliable.

How can you do it?

• Make references. Statistics, facts, and all other data will support your statements.
• Pay attention to vocabulary. You can use jargon and specific terminology as long as it has explanations. Avoid emotional words such as “very,” “terrible,” “awesome.”
• Don’t use reductions. As for academic writing, it is better to choose full forms.
• Show opposing points of view. To stay objective, indicate that your ideas have counterarguments.
• Check English grammar and spelling . Literacy is a must-have for any academic paper.

You can discuss one of these essay topics in your paper:

• What is the hobby you dream of taking up?
• Are active or passive hobbies better for children to develop properly ?
• Woodstock: An important event for those who have music as their hobby .
• How much time do you devote to your hobbies and interests?
• Reading as a family hobby .
• Should a hobby be affordable or require extra spending?
• Hobbies in ancient Rome: The importance of games and baths .
• Who or what inspired you to take up a new hobby?
• What equipment do you need for your hobby?
• Art as a hobby in the UK: Why it is worth supporting .
• Is it essential for a person to have a hobby?
• Is there a childhood hobby that you gave up?
• Sociology of music: What music means in our life .
• How many hobbies can a person have?
• What is your favorite hobby that you genuinely enjoy?
• Did your parents force you to choose your leisure time activities?
• What hobbies should you include in your resume?
• Folk music as a hobby .
• What is the right age to take up drawing?
• Gambling as a controversial hobby .
• Is it possible for a person not to have any hobbies?
• Sports as a hobby: Fan habits and behaviors on a game day .
• What is the most important lesson your hobby has taught you?
• Japanese manga and anime: A popular hobby worldwide .
• Which hobbies can you take up with a low budget?
• Rock music as a hobby .
• What hobby is the most popular in the United States ?
• How can you define the word “hobby”?
• Game of Thrones: A proof of why watching TV can be a legitimate hobby .
• Can singing be your hobby if you are not talented ?
• When can you say that activity became your hobby?
• Music as a hobby: Its influence on the mind .
• Who has the most exciting hobby in your family ?
• Why do people choose extreme or dangerous hobbies?
• What are the benefits of reading books?
• How to help a kid to pick their hobby?
• Yoga as a stress-reducing hobby .
• What should you do if you are no longer interested in your hobby?
• Is it essential to achieve something in your hobby?
• Music technology: Effects on professional and amateur musicians .
• Can your hobby become a profession ?
• How can you define that a hobby is not suitable for you?
• Graffiti as a hobby and an art form .
• How to choose your hobby if you are interested in too many things?
• Is gardening a hobby or a duty?
• Teenage gaming: Balancing between an innocent hobby and addiction .
• What free time activities are the most common among high school students ?
• What is your favorite family free time activity ?
• Video games: Are they an appropriate hobby for children ?
• Why do people lose interest in their hobbies over time?
• What are the differences between sports as a profession and as a hobby?
• What are the benefits of team sports such as basketball?
• What hobbies have you already tried?
• Do you prefer participating in your hobbies alone or with other people?
• Is gaming an appropriate hobby for the elderly ?
• What hobbies, in your opinion, are the most expensive?
• Violent video games: A hobby causing behavior problems .
• Did you enjoy your hobby when you first tried it?
• Music, media, and culture: Influence on behavior .
• How can a hobby be helpful in your career ?
• Video games as a hobby producing cognitive benefits .
• Is volunteering an unpaid job or a hobby?
• Music as a hobby: Personality traits and music preferences .
• Have your hobbies ever interfered with your studies ?
• Toys and games as important activities for children’s gender socialization .
• What hobbies are harmful to human health ?
• Online games: Are they a suitable hobby for children or adults ?
• Is taking up a new hobby stressful for you?
• The importance of music as a hobby .
• How much money do you spend on your hobby?
• Video games: A hobby with controversial effects .
• Do you want to devote more time to your hobby?
• Hip hop music as a hobby .
• Have you ever inspired anyone to take up your hobby?
• Music as a popular hoppy among Americans .
• How do your hobbies help you in life?
• Heavy metal music as a hobby: Gender differences .
• Who is your role model in your hobby?
• Leisure satisfaction in school teachers in Taiwan .
• Does sharing a hobby make people better friends ?

Writing an essay about your hobby is so exciting! If you don’t know where to start or how to organize your ideas, consider the following outline we’ve prepared to guide you.

And here are some short hobby essay examples for you. Read them to find inspiration. Pay attention to the structure and use them as a reference to your paper.

Let’s start!

Free Time Activities Essay

Each person needs to change their activities. If you have a sedentary job or study a lot, it is great to do some sports. If you move too much, you can enjoy reading a book in a quiet place. People need free time activities to make their lifestyle more enjoyable, healthy and get to know themselves better. First of all, having a hobby creates new experiences for you. Any kind of free time activity develops new skills and teaches you something new. It is excellent to know that you do something for yourself just for pleasure and new emotions. You can also find new friends, visit new places, and participate in events just because you have a hobby. For example, you like running. You can do it alone or join a local community. There are also plenty of amateur competitions that take place in different locations. Hobbies are beneficial for both your mental and physical health. They help you to keep your life in balance. Lacking movement in your daily life means you can compensate for it with sports. If you work from home and don’t communicate with people, you can sign up for group classes. Also, hobbies that require effort make your character more vigorous and more resistant to difficulties. When you spend your free time the way you like it, you become more self-aware. Knowing yourself means that you discover your strengths and weaknesses and understand your preferences better. You know what you are capable of now and what you need to learn to do. It is great to have a hobby to participate in different activities and enrich your life experience with new skills, places, and people. Hobbies also keep you healthy. Free-time activities are crucial for understanding your self-worth, motivations, and strong and weak spots.

My Favorite Hobby Essay

As for a high school student, my hobby might seem untypical. I design custom clothes for my family and peers. I am a seventeen-year-old boy who knows how to sew an evening dress for my mother or to create a tailored suit for any event. I chose this hobby as I was always interested in fashion, I am good at drawing and sketching, and my progress motivates me. It was always curious looking at people on the street when I was a kid. I noticed patterns, silhouettes, and various combinations. I knew some were good, some didn’t suit people, and some were just outdated. That was the moment when I started to notice the difference between fashion and style. Later, I watched fashion shows and educational YouTube videos. It is my dream to own a fashion brand, so I also paid attention to the business part of the process. Sketching clothes is the first step to their creation. I am a good drawer, so there is no problem showing all of my design ideas on paper. You just need a lot of practice. I needed to hone my skills to make proportions and colors seem as natural as possible. I also try to memorize how people look and draw them when I have an opportunity. I own more than twenty sketchbooks full of ideas and inspiration. The more ideas I generate, the easier it becomes. When I see my old sketches or pieces of clothing that I created, I can notice how much I’ve improved. Hard work and knowledge can make your goals achievable. If I don’t know something, I just search for it on the Internet and try it. Maybe you will need to try more than once, but eventually, I can see the result I want. Fashion is one of my greatest passions. That is why I never hesitate to spend some extra money or effort to create something new. I never regretted choosing fashion over any other hobbies because I always knew I was doing what was suitable for me. I know I developed my taste, drawing skills, and persistence because of this hobby. I hope one day it becomes a profession. My dream is to use all my skills and knowledge to create something people will like to wear.