Technology is stealing our identities, and there are health risks involved with excessive use.

Technology and its Impact on Personal Identity and Fitness

Technology has a major impact on personal identity and fitness. In reality, its use has altered the way people relate to one another and interact. While technology was intended to improve people's lives, it has had a negative effect on identity because people can no longer confidently articulate their values (Tubella 257).

The Distortion of Identity

Identity refers to who we are and how we see ourselves. All are distinctive in terms of temperament, appearance, and perception, emphasizing the importance of identity in the many directions we follow in life. However, the use of technology distorts this identity by convincing people of something they are not. Identity entails the entire knowledge and comprehension of oneself as attitudes, capabilities, personalities, relationships, and intellectual attributes develop (Vidalis & Angelopoulou 18). In addition, the excessive use of technology has an impact on health owing to eye and neck strain, physical inactivity, and sleep disorders. Technology is definitely stealing our identities while posing major health risks when overused.

The Influence of the Social World

Identity arises from the ability to acknowledge oneself regardless of weaknesses. It is important to evaluate feelings, behavior, and thoughts on the basis of current needs, future goals, and past experience. As human beings, we have a social life that is an essential part of our development and is dictated by our cultural and social context (Lee, Jintae & Zoonky 63). As a result, the feedback from the social world plays an integral role in shaping our identity. Technology defines the social world hence manipulating individual identity depending on its perceived value. The social world has expanded noticeably in recent times in terms of friends, families, schools, and neighborhoods due to the emergence of social media and the Internet. Today, it is possible to notice the influence of external forces on our identities in comparison to past generations (Vidalis et al. 16). These social influences are accelerated by technology that shapes our self-identities in the least ways we expect.

The Changing Beliefs about Identity

Technology is a popular culture today since we no longer reflect the identities we had in the beginning. It does not give us feedback regarding how our identities are grounded based on the reality we live. Instead, technology gives us an image of what it expects us to be hence tapping into our basic need to make use feel good, attractive, and accepted. Technology has also changed our beliefs about who we are such that it draws comparisons from aspects that are likely to influence our character and well-being (Lee et al. 69). The issue today is how our identities are dictated by technology for its own interests rather than our own. The younger generation is immersed in popular media and cultures hence a distortion of their identity to yield an inaccurate reflection of who they really are.

The Influence of Social Media

Technology has enhanced the evolution of social media, which today has a great influence on how we see ourselves. Most people are subscribed to social media channels to build their social life which steals their self-identity. Moreover, social media causes a shift away from expressing oneself to constructing images just to impress others (Vidalis et al. 19). In this era of technology, people are more focused on how others will see them and what they can improve to make others love them. All these are stealing our identity and making us unable to account for who we really are. Social media makes people work towards acceptance, status, self-esteem, and popularity. By posting or commenting on social media, it already has an impact on identity because viewers will have different views about that subject. As a result, self-awareness and self-expression enhance self-promotion and impression management on social media (Lee et al. 72). Since most social media users are focused on showing others who they are, their identity is stolen because they want to belong where they do not fit. In fact, social media has completely erased the public and private thus making identity a means of status and acceptance.

The Importance of Self-Awareness

Today, people access social media using different devices such as smartphones and laptops. This makes it easier to get a view of the world in some remote location. The access to social media influences what is seen as fashionable and sumptuous. In fact, a click or a swipe is enough to keep one informed of the latest fashion trends. By relying on celebrity styles to be fashionable, one's identity is stolen because it is not who they are (Vidalis et al. 17). Although technology is meant to improve our social and cultural lives, it is necessary to focus on that which depicts your inner self. Moreover, being self-aware deters posts on Instagram and other social media channels from influencing how one needs to dress which helps to retain identity.

The Health Risks of Technology Overuse

Technology overuse has become a common vice in the world today. Most people sleep next to mobile devices and wake up just to check an email or feedback. This has a considerable impact on health due to the irresponsibility in using digital devices. Technology should be used for the benefit of others while being conscious about its impact on health (Repacholi 327). Its overuse causes eyestrain arising from gazing at the screen of a laptop, phone, or tablet for extended periods of time. In so doing, one cannot blink hence the tears that protect the eyes evaporate without getting replaced. Additionally, smaller fonts in smartphones and tablets are difficult to read, which intensifies eyestrain (Murphy 45). Prolonged gazing at the screen causes headaches, itching, pain in the shoulders, and neck thus making focus a challenge. Eyestrain clearly causes discomfort hence the need to take a break in order to blink more.

The overuse of technology results in sleep disorders (Murphy 52). Most people love their devices and will not move an inch from them even when it is time to sleep. In fact, the majority of them sleep with their phones next to the bed so that they do not miss a thing. This may seem a harmless habit, but the use of technology late at night interferes with the sleeping ability. There is a clear link between sleeping disorders and cell phone use as most people do not get enough sleep (Murphy 47). The exposure of artificial light between dusk and bedtime at night prevents the release of melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone which makes one alert due to shifts in circadian rhythms. Most people sit for long hours staring at and scrolling their phones and other portable devices hence physical inactivity (Repacholi 330). The drop in fitness levels lowers cardiorespiratory test scores. Instead of consciously browsing and searching for fashion trends and other things of interest on social media, install fitness apps on the phone to help make exercising a routine.

Keeping our Identity and Staying Healthy

Technology surely adds limitless value to our lives, especially if we are mindful of its use. Being responsible users helps us keep our identity while remaining healthy. As technology keeps evolving and finding its way into every aspect of our lives, we have control over it and can choose to avoid its theft of our identity. We ought to be aware of who we are and the values we stand for so that technology does not take advantage of our naivety to annihilate our social and cultural lives.

Works Cited

Lee, Younghwa, Jintae Lee, and Zoonky Lee. "Social influence on technology acceptance behavior: self-identity theory perspective." ACM SIGMIS Database 37.2-3 (2006): 60-75.

Murphy, Kathryn. "Is technology affecting our health?" Nursing made Incredibly Easy 14.4 (2016): 44-52.

Repacholi, Michael H. "Health risks from the use of mobile phones." Toxicology letters 120.1 (2001): 323-331.

Tubella, Imma. "Television and Internet in the construction of identity." The Network Society From Knowledge to Policy (2005): 257.

Vidalis, Stilianos, and Olga Angelopoulou. "Assessing identity theft in the Internet of Things." IT CoNvergence PRActice (INPRA) 2.1 (2014): 15-21.