What is wrong with our Digital World ?

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Well, here’s a quick take on it.

Everything in this world is already digital or moving towards it at a very rapid pace. Our daily essentials and chores have become easier, thanks to the advancement in technology.

Booking a cab, ordering food, watching movies, enjoying AR/VR games, online education and much more are getting benefited due to this.

Sometimes I feel that “I am blessed” to be in this digital world where everything or anything is possible. But, these are just the good things that make me happy and astonished at the same time.

Technology can be cruel as well.

There are always two sides to a coin. Good and Bad.

Social Media Addiction

Let me explain it with one easy example.

Have you ever come across this ?

Sitting in a restaurant or in your dining table at home, having dinner with friends and families, but everyone keeps staring at their mobile screens instead of having an actual human-to-human conversation.

Art showing humans more connected to their smartphones

Yeah, I have been there.

The technology that was built to make our lives simpler is now taking over it. Social media has broken the barrier on how we interact with people and share our views and ideas with one another. But things have lost control now.

These days people care more about their online-social media life and they forget that there is an entirely different world outside their smartphones.

The most affected ones are the teenagers and this addiction to social media has impacted their lives in a really dangerous way.

Big Tech doing Bad Stuff

Even if an individual plans to stay away from his/her smartphones for some time, companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. have certain techniques and algorithms to keep the users glued to their smartphones.

What more can I say ?

There are groups of people sitting at their office desks right now, working in these “Big tech” companies, with their only goal to make sure the users (like you and me) get glued to their apps for a longer time.

By using technologies like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, these companies are able to track each and every online movement of their users, thereby knowing how to engage the users for a longer time.

This is where the ‘Infinite Scrolling’ comes into the picture.

Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter use this in their main feed so that users can keep on scrolling vertically for content to pop up. In fact, refreshing the feed will show new content every time, based on your likes and favorites.

This is part of their technique to keep the user hooked into their app.

Facebook already knows whether you are single or dating, the first school you went to and whether you like or hate Justin Bieber. But now it is facing widespread protests and criticism after it revealed it had discovered how to make users feel happier or sadder with a few computer keystrokes.

IF A PRODUCT IS FREE, THEN YOU ARE THE PRODUCT.

Being an avid Google user myself, sometimes it is very hard to move out of the ecosystem. Everything works simple and easy with Google apps and services.

But it also means that the company is tracking my activities for its own good.

Did you know ?

Google saves years of information on purchases you’ve made, even outside Google, and pulls this information from Gmail.

DATA is the new GOLD and the company which has more data of its users is more valued now.

Security is a Nightmare

A number of electronic devices nowadays are becoming smart with the help of IoT (Internet of Things) and Machine Learning.

There is nothing wrong to go ‘All Things Connected’ over the internet, but most companies don’t give importance to security over usability.

According to a report published by the FBI, smart TVs have several overlooked and neglected security issues. It stated that security is an afterthought for several smart TV manufacturers, which makes them vulnerable to different kinds of threats.

Hackers can not only control your unsecured TV for changing channels or volume controls but also stalk your everyday movements and conversations using the integrated camera and microphone.

Smart Devices are not smart in terms of Security

Not only TVs, but any connected device is also vulnerable to attacks, and the users are the victims here. This year we also heard a lot of security incidents and breaches involving Smart Home systems.

What if someone hacks into your IoT home system and starts controlling everything? That would really be a brutal experience.

What can be done to control all these technological haywires?

Well, we are humans.

We can control how we can use these technologies every day. By doing so, it will also voice the big tech companies to stop using us as their data models.

Nobody can stop the advancement of technology. Adding more importance to security will make the future more secure and less vulnerable.

Companies that are already doing this need to be appreciated and the ones valuing it less, need to stop this bad practice once and for all.

I repeat this again.