The Machine is Us/ing Us - Hmmm...

After watching the video “The Machine is Us/ing Us”, I had mixed feelings. I believe that the machine is us in the sense that the Internet has become such an important part of our lives – for both business and pleasure. Technology has become so advanced that we now can’t imagine living without it. It is as if our computers are attached at our hips – like we’d feel naked without it (as many do with their phones). Society has become so dependent on the Internet that we would feel disconnected from the world without it. Now, regarding it using us – I’m not so sure. To some extent, I feel that because we are so dependent on it, it’s as if the machine is taking over and “using us” but at the same time we created it! If anything it would be a good thing if the machine is using us…it has made many things a lot more convenient!

Web 2.0 affects someone who is ready to enter the workforce in a few ways. It definitely is a valuable tool to find anything and everything you need to know. It has resources for job searching, resume building, etc. It is so convenient for both employers and potential employees. On the downside, the Internet truly puts us all out there! Anyone can find out a lot about each of us and when its an employer - that can mean trouble! We must all be very conservative about what we decide to post on sites. The same applies for people already in the workforce – it provides tons of information that can help an employee’s job much easier. At the same time, they must be very careful about what is said in emails and online! With all of this advanced technology, it seems like nothing is private anymore. For the employers sake this is actually a good thing! They have much more control over their employees in the sense that they can monitor everything their doing. When it says we will have to rethink everything, I think it means that this technology has crept up on us (the general public) and have to make sure we are careful how far we let it get. There are people out there who are obsessively addicted to the Internet. We have to be careful to not let it truly takeover to the point where we someday sit back and say, “Wow, the machine really is using us!” It’s definitely something to think about!