Introduction
The internet is a fundamentally enticing technology that has come into extensive use. Today, the manipulation of technology by most companies is designed with the sole purpose of wasting people's time. Their goal is to do everything feasible to keep more of us logged in and connected.
Essentially, we have become manic information addicts.
As companies' agendas are no longer about resolving user problems as this is not a part of their original plan, but addiction is. Essentially, the more time spent on their websites or apps, the more revenue they receive, which in the end is their primary goal.
This essay will explore whether the adverse effects of technology, particularly regarding the reliance and addiction to social media and how this has negatively impacted on reading habits. Technology is transforming how people read, think, process information, and maintain attention.
Susan Greenfield, neuroscientist and author believes the brain is responding to this new environment, recently labelled the digital wildfire.
The response to this new environment of excessive technology usage is evident in sections one and two.It is a fact that addictive behaviours have existed for a long time. However, recently they have become more widespread and even harder to avoid. These behaviours are down to the invention of the Internet and social media and living in a world today where we know no way of life other than the culture of the Internet, laptop and mobile.
The first section will explore how digital technology affects how the brain works, primarily through too much time getting spent online. It will go into detail about how the brain has adapted to this digital environment and instigate how constant interruptions and multitasking has a direct effect on our capacity for deep thought and how this links to fragmented attention spans.
The second section will examine how our addiction to digital technology is replacing time which could otherwise be spent reading. Research into the decline of print publication studies showing the direct correlation between a technology sabbatical and an increase in productivity, including reading up to four books a month. It explores the compulsive behaviour of technology addiction and how it has become so habitual that it is difficult for people to replace this habit by picking up a book instead. It researches the difference between reading online and reading in print and the reason we get compelled to consume so much more information online.
The third section explores the impact of reading digitally versus print and how there is a direct correlation between this and how information consumption is changing. It explores the typical behaviour behind how people frequently scan text as their primary behaviour when people are reading online. Nevertheless, there are more benefits to physically reading a book. It shows evidence of this fact through research conducted by several authors and neuroscientists. It examines changes in social interactions, due to technology and how there is a clear correlation to the decline in empathy amongst many people.
Section 1 🠮© Written & Designed by Saoirse Mullan