Technology- positives and negatives

This week's reading was nothing short of amazing. Collaboration is a beautiful thing. To be able to communicate in different spaces and time about the same topic creating a unique and united product is incredible, and would not be possible without the technological advancements that have happened today. Personally, I do not agree with the way technology has transformed our society, on a social level. Like in the preview for Connected, this woman found herself needing to check her phone in the presence of a friend she had just traveled across the US to see. Where have the good days gone? Why can't we simply have fun with our friends without feeling the need to be connected to those who arent with you at that present moment in time? Because it is there. Because we have become used to the thought that at any moment we could open our phone to a surprise: a new snapchat, a new email, a new and cool instagram post that could be the next hot topic of debate or radness. It seems as if there is nothing else to do at this point but embrace the technology and use it in the best ways we can. Clearly, this has been accomplished with Wikipedia. This incredible invention has allowed for the like minded to post articles, correct them, and create an informational article while growing from each others knowledge. And beyond this. these articles help millions of people each day to grow in their own knowledge about a certain country, person, disease, etc. These are things that are worth knowing. The most amazing part to me is how they are able to monitor the false corrections made to wiki pages with the thousand volunteers they have. People are so excited about sharing knowledge that they will actually put in hours of free work to create a more factual online resource. What is just as incredible as wikipedia is the ability to collaborate online with others around the world and tell stories through these collaborations. As in "Connected" this woman sampled/used footage from others online. She was able to splice completely random clips together with added dialog and sound to create an enormously powerful message that speaks to millions of people. Like I said earlier, I do not like how technology has changed us socially. However, I believe there is a time and place for technology. Instead of using technology in front of others when you could be having a conversation with them, share your ideas and collaborate with them in person just as we do online. Humans are built to share ideas and tell stories. Knowing when to use technology and in the right ways allows the ultimate collaboration and a more socially happy life. Technology should be dead in the physical presence of others, but powerful when trying to connect to others.