How does technology influence social behavior?

[matt_in_hidef]

Hey friends,

I am writing a college paper on "How Technology Affects Social Behavior". I am wondering if you could share some thoughts on how technology influences your social life, or doesn't, which ever applies. If you could, be as detailed as possible. It would help me out a lot.

Specific questions I have are:

Do you feel the rapid advancement of technology is helping our world? Why or why not?

Do you think having a computerized world makes humans obsolete in the workplace? Are there jobs that you could be doing that a computer is doing instead?

Should the government limit the use of machines in the workplace to increase the amount of jobs available for humans? Do you think this would help the economy by providing more jobs, or would it only increase the production costs and increase the selling price for manufactured goods?

Should employers spy on the employees' personal lives by looking up its their MySpace or Facebook page, or keep tabs on them outside of work by using technology? Explain why you think it is a good or bad idea.

In response to the previous question regarding employers using MySpace/Facebook, should there be laws passed which specifically prohibit the use of these tools to monitor employees outside of a work environment?

Does the use of social networking sites, chat rooms and instant messenger programs (and even cell phones) take away from a teens ability to socialize with people in the real world?

Do you believe the internet use policy prohibiting use by people under the age of 13 is effective, and should it be relaxed or should the age restriction increase? By this question, I mean the use of internet forums and chat rooms and other sites that ask the user to acknowledge they are at least 13 years old.

Should sites such as MySpace be responsible for the content posted by its users in the event something should happen, such as a teen being abducted after posting their street address for the public to see? Why or why not? Would this actually prevent these issues from occurring, or would it simply place blame in the wrong place?

If you can answer any or all of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. I want to see what the public thinks so I can incorporate this into my paper along with my research from professional sources. Feel free to add anything extra you feel is important, as there are probably other issues that I missed.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. If you have further information or wish to discuss thoughts on this further, please see my profile and send me an email.

[Duchamp]

You've answered Your own Question!
Doesn't insult other people's intelligence by running a poll!

[Love_Always]

Well there are pros, and there are cons.
Think about all the medical techincal advancements. People don't die as easy, cancer is becoming almost cureable, things like that. Good stuff.
But, on the other hand we're also becoming more and more artifical, think about lyposuction, plastic surgery, all that. Too many people think they need to slice n' dice to be attractive. I'd say, 8/10 celebs have had some form of cosmetic surgery done.

Think about how you're doing THIS. 20 years ago you couldn't just pose a question on the internet. You couldn't look up facts, find books, go on ebay do Anything as easily. How did you find college admissions information? How did you pick your classes? How do you talk to your friends? Myspace, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Twitter, Facebook? Text Message? Email?

The downside. People (I'm finding this even in my high school) can't communicate. Face to Face is much, much too difficult. It's much easier to email a teacher about a difficult situation. It's easier to text to ask someone out. Teenagers are just socially inept. When I go out with a group of friends, there's always someone texting, no matter what, even during movies. It's getting rediculous. But I can't say I'm any better- when I need to ask my parents for things, I usually email my dad at work, instead of dealing with the face to face guilt thing.
And think about, people on myspace/facebook/instant messenger add you, that you know, from classes or they're your neighbor or w/e but as you see more and more of their information posted on the internet you get a weirder view of them. They seem quiet, polite and nice in class, and then you see their angry ranting FB posts, or their drunken saturday night pictures popup on myspace. It's sometimes too much. I don't really know these people, but yet I'm finding myself knowing Way, Way, Way too much information.

As far as the age thing goes- No, I don't think it should be relaxed. I knew way too many people getting themselves into trouble on Myspace when we were young, 13, maybe younger. I think it really should be inforced! Kids are already living in an Effed up world, if there's any way to shelter them, just a little bit, we should do it.

Myspace shouldn't be responsible. You should know that when you post a picture, a message, anything on the interent- there really is no way to get rid of it. Think about when you post something on myspace and 200 of your friends see it. They saw it, they know about it. They can grab your pictures and pass them on, and soon you lose your job cause your boss saw you naked. Teenagers especailly don't understand this concept! Like the micheal phelps inceident-Whoops.

One last thing-
when you meet someone new you know almost everything about them, very very quickly, from texting them, from FB, from myspace, it's almost silly to date anyone, what else can you find out? All thats left is the really bad icky stuff. Hell, I'm scared of my friends sometimes. I really, really don't wanna know.