Mix It Up ch. 10-Rachel

Changes in the forms of communication we use everyday affect the way we interact with others and the way we perceive the world. Some argue that video games enhance certain skills in individuals such as decision making skills for the professional world, problem solving, and achieving complex goals. People are constantly surfing the internet, reading blogs, emails, and reading their news online. The book discusses potential affects this may have on us. Due to the decrease in article lengths and the short capsule summaries now even featured in the New York Times could be affecting the way we focus while reading and our ability to absorb detailed information. An interesting fact and something I learned is that playing games online can be quite addicting for some and every year, about $60 billion is illegally gambled through online Poker games.
Not only has the increase of technology affected our lives in those ways, there are some major health risks involved as well. An increase in loneliness and a lack of face-to-face contact is a major problem. Also, this loss of personal connection had been associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. It can also be a struggle for some to maintain positive images of themselves if they post pictures or communicate their actions with others online. That information can spread very quickly, and one cannot always control where that information goes. An interesting point to discuss would be how we have been affected either positively or negatively by the media or how it has affected our close family and friends.