Dystopian Technology?

As technology continues to improve and explore its many possibilities, it is getting extremely difficult to be safe. We are so caught up in the fun expect of these devices that we forget about are safety and if indeed these new technologies are dangerous. A few technologies that I believe are becoming more and more dystopian are social networking, surveillance satellites and the email.

The negative consequences that are social networks like Facebook have is that we believe we have the power to allow or disallow people to see our profiles when in fact we really don’t. There are people that can go in and dismantle your page. For example if a number of people were to report your picture, Facebook would come in and delete it or if someone was to report you page, Facebook would come and deactivate your profile. One more technology that many negative consequences are our phones, credit cards and what is known as the GPS system. When we use our phones, for example the IPhone, we are unknowingly being tracked. There is a GPS function that records where you are even if you are ignorant that it is doing so. Also our credit cards, when we go to the store and swipe our cards, we are being tracked! When you get your statement in the mail, you can see exactly where and when you bought an item. And lastly one of the most recent technologies are the security cameras on the light posts outside. The government is watching EVERY THING you do. The placed these cameras so that if you ran a red light, you’ll get a ticket in the mail. These cameras are making people feel as though they are being watched EVERY STEP of the way.

These technologies remind me of the 1984 technologies represented in the Orwell book. One of the technologies used then was the telescreen. The telescreen was a device that sat in your home and watched your every move.The the book Winston Smith did not want to be watched by the telescreen that was placed in his home so he found a spot on the side of the telescreen where he was finally unseen. Although, he was still heard and if close enough, they could even sense his heart rate, he was content with them, meaning the Brotherhood, not being able to see him. The telescreen COULD NOT be turned off which made it even more uncomfortable to be around. In the beginning of the book, Orwell stated that the elevators in the building where Smith stayed in was not working, however EVERY telescreen worked. This showed how the government only cared about being in control. They did not care about the well being of the people.

There are a lot of technologies that can be seen as dystopian. As a conscious person you have to pick and choose wisely. For example, be careful what content you put on your Facebook or other social network page. While your outside, stand clear of the cameras. Although, you may be paranoid a lot of times, you have to protect your self.