Did technology change me? Certainly, no question about it. I’ve always been tech-savvy, the kind of girl who’d rather take apart old computers than watch TV, and I can’t imagine a time when I wasn’t surrounded by technology. So I can’t actually understand how technology changed me, since there hasn’t been a time to compare. Instead, I’ll talk about how technology influenced me.

Technology made me a better friend…and maybe also a worse one. I’m one of those people who hates talking on the phone, and I took to email correspondence so eagerly that even the friends I see every day know better than to call me- they text message or email instead. Because of this, I’ve found it easy to keep in touch with long-distance friends. But then again, because of this I’ve grown lazy when it comes to keeping in touch with those who don’t use email or texting as often as most, and I rarely speak to them anymore.

Technology made me a better student…and maybe also a worse one. I’ve become more curious about things I learn, now that all the information is at my fingertips via phone or computer. Then again, I’ve also gotten lazy. If I can’t do it on the computer, I tend to forget about it. Rarely will I do research through books, which are more detailed, if I can just Google something and get a faster (if not more elaborate) answer to my questions. And this is barely the tip of the iceberg. I can barely divide anymore now that I’m accustomed to using a calculator. I’ve lost other basic skills now that simple technology takes care of them all.

Technology made me a better reader…and maybe also a worse one. My library’s website, eBay, Amazon.com’s used books…all have allowed me to get a hold of books I would never buy at their original price, since I don’t like to buy anything I don’t already know that I like. Sites like Scribd, Wattpad, and Google Books have also allowed me to sample book before reading. And the interpretations for poetry and classics that I’ve found online have definitely enhanced my reading comprehension skills. But there’s also the downside to that, the amount of books that I won’t bother reading (for school or for fun) because I can just research them online and get a sufficient amount of information to write or talk about them. The worst case of this was two semesters ago, when I’d call up the Sparknotes page for whichever chapter we were reading on my phone during class as my only source for discussion. And there’s also fanfiction, which (as well-written as it can be) has spoiled me so thoroughly that I rarely read actual books anymore- I actually print out pages and pages of fanfiction in tiny print for the Sabbath, when I can’t go online.

Technology made me a better thinker…and maybe also a worse one. I’ve already discussed the negative aspect to this, the idea that someone else’s research easily becomes your thoughts, but there’s so much more to it than that. On online forums, I’ve been forced to reevaluate ideas that seem so clear to me and those around me when they’re challenged by others outside of my circles. And I’m also forced to explain myself, therefore bringing me to a greater understanding of what exactly I’m saying and clarifying and organizing it for myself.

Technology made me a better writer. I can’t think of any ways that this has really backfired on me. I know that some people complain that online slang has diminished their writing to a series of “lols” and words like “nite” and “tho,” but writing online, whether in forums and discussions or even long emails to friends, has only made me more verbose. Little things like Microsoft Word’s thesaurus and this list have helped me keep my writing fresh and interesting…though I admit that I’m not much of a poet anymore. For some reason, it’s difficult for me to write poetry by computer instead of by hand.

Technology made me a worse speaker. I honestly run out of things to say these days, when I can’t type them first. My train of thought isn’t as clear when I can’t see it stated before I “send” it, even when I’m casually talking to some of my friends. I’ve become so accustomed to looking at a screen (or talking into a phone) that face-to-face communication just isn’t as clear.

So it looks like I’m on the way toward becoming a recluse author, based on this. But honestly, aren’t we all, to some degree? We’re shut off and opened up all at once with technology, it’s just another contradiction with which we live. There’s that old slogan, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people,” and I’m inclined to agree that it applies in terms of technology. It is what we make of it- blessing or curse, aid or detriment, danger or safety. It’s only a tool, one that can influence us over time just as much as age, location, family, health, education, and other factors in our ever-changing world do.