Donovan Green
Professor Wachanga
New Communication Technologies
04 March 2018
Reflexive Essay – Social Media & Technology
Over years technology has become increasingly important in my lifetime which has become a shared sentiment of many individuals. Personally, I was born into the era that experienced how technology (more importantly social media) has skyrocketed in prevalence in society. Originally introduced as a way to connect with people, social media has expanded into many forms including dating services, employer hiring sites, information sharing, and many more uses. When I first started using social media it was more of a exploration stage where I was not quite sure if I was going to use it due to being a late arrival to Facebook. I was in 7th grade when I made my first social media account on Facebook, however I probably would have had an account earlier if it was not for my parents restriction on my internet access growing up. In result, as I grew older social media became a necessity for me as certain programs impact my life daily.
Immediately after I created a Facebook profile the next social media site that I migrated to was Instagram which at the time was a shell of what it has grown to become now. I joined Instagram approximately six years ago as a freshman in high school curious as to what this program had to offer. Just like the majority of my peers I primarily used the site to just post pictures of myself and comment on the pics of my friends. As technology advanced so did Instagram update the capabilities of the program which allowed users to Direct Message eachother, post “stories”, advanced Timeline settings, Highlights, and many other features. As of today Instagram is a daily necessity because I use it to promote my music as well as a opportunity to connect with people around campus and other artists. My prior relationship can even be attributed to Instagram, I followed her at the beginning of my freshman year here at UWW and messaged her which sparked the beginning of our relationship. Admittingly, to this day I still use Instagram as a form of connecting with females around campus.
Computers have become a necessity for myself as time passed by, especially as my passion for music has increased. As a kid I was fascinated with PC gaming therefore I always had a close relationship with computers. Also at the middle school I attended the staff made it a priority to surround us with the latest technology and incorporated time for students to use computers under a daily basis whether it’d be for researching or for learning how to use various programs such as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and basic functions of Excel. As stated before, I began producing music around 3-4 years ago which required me to go get a Apple laptop and learn programming software such as Logic Pro X and Ableton Live. Nowadays everywhere I travel I carry my laptop and my cell phone with me at all times in order to stay connected with society and friends. The theory of FOMO (fear of missing out) is very real in my life as to where I am somewhat afraid of missing out on information or what everybody is talking about. Also in my life (and probably applicable to the majority of college students) having access to a computer is not optionable in the pursuit of education as to where virtually all assignments require students to submit work in D2L, work in Microsoft Word and using other programs to complete various tasks.
As stated before, without technology my interest in music would not be able to come to fruition. Not only have I used technology to create music, but through social media I am able to promote it and share my creations with the world. In addition, my major here at UWW is in Journalism/Broadcasting. A major with this emphasis heavily relies on technology and social media as well due to how we as humans share information with each other under a constant basis. Social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram have become journalists primary form of exporting news coverage to the masses as older forms of communication such as newspapers have slowly faded out of use. Through the advancement of smartphones people are able to stream my voice anywhere as I have my weekly radio show at 91.7 The Edge WSUW Whitewater as well. Technology overall has become a necessity for myself as to all of my interests and pursuits would not be attainable without it.