🌸 tech damages us all... 🌸

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. Sure, I love it in some ways. My Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a jack of all trades. Besides the basics such as calling, texting and calculating, I also have a calendar, a notepad, a photo/video editor, a sketchbook, a music player, a book, a game library, a journal and more.

Although there are functions on a modern device which are useful, I find that we are too reliant on convenience.

What I mean is, we are moving into a digital age - one where the majority of daily tasks require you to have a smartphone (or other smartdevice). Whether it's for say, applying for jobs, doing banking, managing your monthly payslips, shopping, communicating, heck even booking an appointment to see your GP - you now need technology. If you don't have apps, don't have a smartphone, you are automatically locked out from the world. Look at the COVID p(lan)demic as an example - it tells you everything. We've lost our cognitive skills, unable to read, write, spell, calculate, cook. We can't even plan a journey without Google Maps.

As someone born in 1999, I grew up around technology. Difference was, it didn't take over my life. I remember having a basic phone (a Sony Ericcson model passed down by my mum) for essential functions. I hardly used it unless it was to call my mum or dad (or even my closest friend to ask when we were next meeting up, although I called her on the landline). My dad had a PlayStation 2; we used to play Tekken 3 or 4 together, spending ages unlocking characters or different modes, the feeling of not knowing what we'd get keeping us interested. I had a FreeView TV with an aerial (and later a Sky box - for some reason I liked the BGM when browsing the schedule on the menu, don't ask). Plus, there was the family computer with Windows XP; I often saved Winx Club or anime bases from DeviantArt so I could create original characters or fanart for my favourite media (I had a whole series about two sisters befriending an alien girl on Microsoft Paint, shame I didn't keep the artwork).

As a child, there was a sense of friction when using technology. I had to put in the extra effort to boot up a computer or a games console (I remember the PS1 loading screens taking what felt like an eternity); that and I could only use devices after finishing homework or weekly chores (as I was taught that personal responsibility came first).

Now, children (as-well as adults) don't have that space between reality and the virtual world. The two are meshed together and it is very concerning. Remember when you logged into social media? You were told never to post real information about yourself like your name, address, date of birth, where you went to school/work. These days it is normal. If you apply for a job and require LinkedIn (can't stand it), your entire work history is in the spotlight for everyone to see. Having this kind of information out there gives people an opportunity to take advantage in any way possible. Let's not forget how a lot of influencers post life vlogs; I don't want to use the Internet as a goddamn journal (for one I have a journal and two, there are certain things about myself I don't share).

The Internet used to be about escaping from reality. In my teens, it was exactly that when I spiraled into depressive episodes. I could be someone else, knowing that my real self was kept in a corner. A lot of people who never belonged felt the same way, finding their communities and sharing interest in various forms of media. There used to be forums for this kind of thing (most of which are deleted or sadly archived). Social media in general was about connections - look at how much it's changed. Black on white, short stories, information overload. It is comparable to a slot machine, inserting a coin and pulling a lever in the hopes of getting a prize. The prize never comes and you keep trying only to lose all your money. On the phone, you refresh the posts again or scroll endlessly. Your attention span decreases and you can't focus on long-form content. Your time is wasted when you could've invested it into something productive or creative (for example I now invest time in making content, yes slightly ironic as-well as creative writing, making art, reading/listening to podcasts/audio books and as of recently, blogging).

Another thing which concerns me is how fast the digital age creeps up on us all. With AI now being developed, it makes me question how it will change our lives. So far, jobs are being made obsolete (mainly admin/tech jobs, I am going through this myself in the recent restructure) and a machine is replacing us. AI can do many things, transcribe notes, talk to us, heck even videos online use AI in some ways to create lifelike settings. We get confused, unable to distinguish what's real and what's fake.

I don't want to know what will happen to technology in the years to come. I have touched a little on potential theories but I predict microchipping and Digital ID denying us from living our life. I mean in the UK, the Digital ID proposal recently kicked in last year and although it is scrapped, I know it will be implemented one way or another (you can check out my episode on my podcast lemon dew if you want to hear me talk about Digital ID and how it will work/my worries on Spotify and YouTube).

But yes, we are in dark times and I will use this term a lot more, demonic energies are afoot.