If technology did not exist, society would be extremely different and almost out of place. Technology is good for society because of all the helpful connection people get access to. Technology has had a positive effect on social abilities by allowing people to keep in touch with their old friends, make new friends, and make sure information gets out quickly to others.

Keeping in touch with old friends is important and for that, we can thank technology. As years go by, relationships grow farther apart or people move farther away from their old friends leaving them with either little or no contact with one another. Technology helps to restore the old and possibly forgotten about relationships. Coget and Yutaka make a
point about how “individuals tend to adjust their
behavior in response to limitations of technology
by compensating for the loss of nonverbal
communicative cues through expressing their emotions in words” (Source C). When someone is unable to talk to another person face to face, they turn to technology to fix the problem.

Technology allows others to meet new people through common interests. The iPod has a large part in connecting people with one another. When others find people who enjoy the same type of music or artists, they immediately have a connection. In Jen Harris’ article, she explained
how the iPod “does more to unit people” by
talking about how “Playlist hosts iPod DJ nights
at a London bar” (Source D). This can spark
long lasting relationships and conversation.

Technology is useful when you are in a
hurry to get information out in a short amount of time. Technology takes away the stress of having to send letters out on time or got to someone’s house to give them the information. Technology makes it where you could send out a message to multiple people at the same time. Coget and Yutaka stated in their article, “with the Internet, information can be transmitted and received with ease at any time of the day to and from any number of friends” (Source C). Technology gives users the opportunity to get things done more quickly so they can have more time for face to face interaction with people or even other everyday things people need to complete.

Affonso says, “Data showed that as people in this sample used the Internet more, they reported keeping up with fewer friends” (Source B). People should not depend on the Internet for complete interaction with others. The Internet is for unfinished conversations or being social with a distant acquaintance that they can only interact with through technology.

Song explains her point of view of how “visible from a good distance away, white earphones signal one thing to most people: don’t bother trying to talk to me” (Source E). Headphones do not only mean someone does not want to be social; however, in some circumstances, I can agree that some people do not want to have social interaction so they listen to their iPod instead. Most people have their headphones in to take a break from their hectic day and then take them off when interacting with people they know.






Nie and Hillygus state in their graph how “14.0 non-internet users” compare to “9.6 Internet users” in “Conversation (Source F). The Internet users may have less face-to-face interaction; however, they are still interacting.

Technology has had a positive effect on social abilities by allowing people to keep in touch with their old friends, making new friends, and making sure information gets out quickly to others. The on going dispute of technology being good or bad for society has had people arguing for a couple of years. Over all, technology has both good and bad effects, and everyone has their own individual opinions about the situation.



The firth paper I composed was about technology and social skills in society. I wrote about how technology is helpful in society and how it has many advantages. The strengths of my paper were a few of my points and my word choice. The weaknesses in my paper were my lack of commentary. If I had had more commentary before and after my quotes, my paper would have been more clear and responsive to the topic.