As I was walking my dog the other day, which I do everyday, I noticed someone with a smart phone appearing to video me.  Neither me nor my dog were doing anything out of the ordinary, but nevertheless, it seemed that someone deemed our walk to be video worthy.  This is the new world that we live in.  A world that is going through a major transition.  It is in many ways like a pubescent teenager that is hit with hormones and growth spurts as their body changes and grows at a seemingly accelerated rate, turning them into the adults they will be.  Likewise the world is experiencing a phenomenon in technological and communication explosion like never before in history that is triggering some difficult growing pains as we adapt to a new world never known before.  For the first time, the world is at our fingertips, literally. We can see and talk to anyone anywhere instantly.  Anything can become a news event or a “viral” phenomenon, as anyone globally can post anything to a social media site where the rest of the world can instantly view it.  The resultant clash of philosophies, religions, cultures, ideas, and lifestyles has become like a clap of thunder around the world.  I believe that much of the escalated conflicts occurring virtually are directly related to these techno and communication changes.  Never before has the world been “so close” to each other.

The younger generations may not realize this because they did not see the “before.”  In the twentieth century, radio and television were the breakthroughs that began to connect the world as never before.  It opened the eyes of the everyone to the lives of others.  I remember my grandmother telling me as a child that when she was growing up, they never knew they were poor until television arrived.  But TV and radio, however, were limited to the control of governments and private industries that owned their transmissions, and determined what content was sent out over the air waves.  Later, satellite transmissions boosted this to the next level, as live broadcasts from around the world could be seen by anyone with a television.  Still, however, this was controlled by television stations and government regulations, and the populace saw only what they wanted us to see.  This also allowed them to put any interpretation or twist they wanted onto every story or event.

The internet, however, changed all that in the very late twentieth century.  At first it was only individual and corporate computers that could be connected via a wire, but soon the wireless capability took over and laptops were equipped with wi-fi, allowing receiving and sending of information from anywhere that a wireless signal, aka “hot spot,” was found.  At the same time, wireless technology was being used to allow personal phones to be carried everywhere.  There was no more need for phones to be limited to wired connections in our homes or businesses.  Wireless hand-held phones took the market by storm and became a global phenomenon.  Phone companies quickly saw the market potential and began to establish wireless networks around the globe. Whether one lived in the big cities, small towns, or the bush, a new connection to the world was born.

The stage was now set for the power of the personal laptop to be reduced to the size of one’s phone.  Thus, the marriage of the phone and the computer to create the “smart phone.”  The power of the internet at anyone’s fingertips for basic monthly fees.  The smart phone has revolutionized our lives at every turn, from how we communicate to how we do business.  It is now even possible to run a small business with only a smart phone, allowing one to work from anywhere, eliminating the need for expensive overhead in office space and supplies.  Phones were soon equipped with better and better cameras and video devices that could record and send videos through the internet within seconds of being taken.  Today, live connections through social media allow us to broadcast or watch any event while it is happening.

When a teenager hits puberty, they begin to expand their ability to think, allowing them to reason as an adult, using logic and abstract thought, no longer limited to the concrete understanding of a child.   This opens a whole new realm of understanding and exploration for us.  Similarly, this seems to be where the world is at now.  We are experiencing a phenomenon that has never before occurred in the history of man, and the clashes of culture, lifestyles, government systems and ideologies is being felt everyday.  It seems to be happening faster than we can adapt to it.  We are not building the necessary guidelines and boundaries fast enough to accommodate the changes.  It is almost like being able to know what someone is thinking. Before, people were seen, but we didn’t  really know what everyone thought or believed.  Today, these are made known over social media and picked up immediately by all who are connected.  No longer do we have our own little world of reality, as the realities of others clash with ours everyday.  We see each other differently than ever before. It was easier when we dined next to someone in a restaurant and didn’t know that their views on key issues were a stark contrast to our own.  But now, the innocence of ignorance is gone.  Now we know too much about others, and we have become suspicious of everyone.  We don’t know who is “on our side” and who is not.  More importantly, if they do not hold our views, how will they respond if they know we are on different pages.  It seemed that it was easier to get along when we just didn’t know, like an innocent child only worried about the world that they create and that is created for them by their parents.  But it’s too late for that.  The genie is out of the bottle, and so we will have to learn how to deal with one another, how to accept our differences all over again.

To cope with this, there are various approaches.  Politically, some want to open the world and make it all one without any borders, while others want to cling to what they have and try to retain as much as they can by strengthening borders.  Religiously, some want to do away with all religion, others want to combine them into one, and others want to hold onto what they have known.  Economically, the new connections open up more opportunities than not.  But all in all, traditional governments, culture, philosophies, religions, and lifestyles are being challenged, as we are no longer isolated.  Everyone is a potential news story or news reporter.  In an instant anyone can become a household name and one’s life can be on display to be admired or destroyed. 

As I mentioned at the start, someone appeared to video me as I was walking my dog the other day.  I don’t know why, nor where that video or photo will go.  Perhaps I can become viral for simply minding my own business?  Maybe it is my dog that will become famous?  Or maybe they were just checking their email or social media account.  Or perhaps as a white male, my toxicity will be maligned, or the fact that my dog has a collar and leash I will be branded as an animal abuser.  It all comes down to the presentation and the interpretation.  But however we slice it, we are not alone anymore.  And finding that refuge of privacy is no longer as easy as it was.

I assert that the ever-increasing tensions and conflicts in the world are being fueled, and often created, by this technological explosion that has smashed the traditional walls that protected us from other nations and other’s differences of opinion.  So, until we as a global society learn how to deal with each other and with our differences, if that is even possible, we will have to deal with the pains of change.  Until recently, much of the conflicts have been informational and emotional exchanges through the internet, but it seems that is changing, too, as an ever-increasing number of these issues spill out into the streets and public places, resulting in confrontations, violence, and bloodshed.  It is yet to be seen how far we must go before we reach a point where we can draw the lines between what is acceptable social networking while respecting and living with each other’s differences.  We will have to, once again, determine what is “free speech,” and how to cope with the expression and the abuses of that.  Furthermore, we will have to find our privacy and respect that of others.  Technology can be used or abused, and if history teaches us anything, we know that both will occur.  But as we move forward, we must confront these issues and grow up into the new society that is unfolding every day.

Categories: Discovery, World Issues

Tags: smart phone effects, social media effects, social media issues, world turmoil