Technological Determinism: the idea that technology has much more of an impact on us then humans are willing to admit or agree with. Marshall McLuhan said, “We shape our tools, and our tools shape us.” 

The Speed of Change: Modern technology is ever changing and it is hard to keep up or even keep track. Most of the interactions you have had in the last five years have likely been through the internet or technology and little of them have been in person. It was thought that improving technology would allow us to work less, when in fact we are working harder than ever before. You probably can’t remember the last time you spent a weekend or went on vacation without checking a work or school-related email? Because our brains are locked in a fixed biological structure, we have a hard time adapting to our new reality every day. Our species is not used to life changing so much, so fast. We are in the midst of the technological revolution and it’s causing stress and chaos for many of us.

Isolation: Although it seems like we are more connected and interacting with each other through technology more then ever, we are in fact more isolated than ever. With technology being such a big thing, and everyone having access to social media we are never interacting face-face anymore. We text, Facetime, Snapchat and Call each other through our technology instead of going out and meeting someone for coffee to talk. The Mental Health Foundation Reported that: “Our cities and public spaces are more crowded, but more of us are living alone.” The percentage of households occupied by one person more than doubled from 6% in 1972 to 12% in 2008. More of us live alone since our population is ageing and we’re having fewer children, we are not out there making relationships since we are so occupied by our technology and work that happens through it.

Internet Addiction: Being addicted to the Internet and your technology is a real thing and can have a very negative impact on your mental health. Social media addictions and gaming additions have swept across society at distressing rates. It is found that 18% of social media users can’t go a few hours without checking Facebook or other websites and that it’s estimated that the average American spends nearly one-quarter of their workday browsing social media for non-work related activities.

Social Change Theory: “social change looks at the factors contributing to change within the structure of society. Such as changes in the way people think, feel and act.:” This applies to technology strongly since it is a huge part of our society right now. Changes through social media and changes in technology change how a lot of us act and think. For example: before Instagram, we didn’t feel the need to post our outfits or worry about how good we look. Now a lot of us feel the need to have a ‘perfect Instagram feed’ or people won’t like us as much.