How Technology is a Nuisance in Today’s Society

When is the last time you went a whole day without being bothered by technology? I personally cannot remember a day that I did not use any technology. The generation I am in is constantly surrounded by technology and many of us want to be “cool” and “hip” and of course get the latest technology. Because of this we are always connected. Many people receive their work emails on their phone or tablet so that when they are away from the office they will still be able to respond to emails. So this means that they aren’t able to separate home and work. They are constantly working rather they think they are or not.

Who Owns the Technology

This case is one that I can relate to very well. Many times while I am at work I find myself with nothing to do and will check social media. I don’t think that Miranda should be in trouble just because she is using social media or shopping online because an office job does not require your full attention at all hours. However, the statement “she feels that if she were to take any initiative to do additional tasks that it would bring attention to the fact that she is not overly challenged” (Hartman & Desjardins, 2008) kind of angers me. Just because you have some free time on your hands does not necessarily mean that you aren’t being challenged. Also, if she does find herself with nothing to do there is someone in the office that could probably use a little more help at one time or another. Just because you help someone once does not mean that they will keep coming back for help. I think that maybe sometimes she should get out of the area she is comfortable in and she if someone can give her some challenging work. It will be a lot better than getting paid to be on social media.

Private Lives in the Public Arena

This case kind of goes with what I said earlier about there being no separation in home life and work life. In my opinion, a company should not treat you any differently because of the lifestyle you choose to lead at home, as long as it does not hurt any of the employees. However, there are some things that need to be left out of the business world. There are several things that choose to not talk about with the people I work around because in my eyes they don’t relate to what I’m doing so why does it matter? However, if they noticed one day that I came in smelling of alcohol and it was obvious I had been drinking, I would want them to send me home because that is a personal matter that I brought to the workplace that can in turn hurt another person. As far as technology goes, there’s never a way to be absolutely certain that something we don’t want others to see won’t be seen. Because of this we should always pick and choose what we post on our social media. I know many people that have a habit of just putting whatever they want to post without any care of who sees it.

Is Surveillance Always Legitimate

I think that surveillance in a work setting is sometimes much needed. However, I don’t think it should ever be used to stock employees unless they are made aware that at some point they will be watched while on the job. Even though Murray did not tell them that he had been watching them I think that he should have told them after the fact so they would know why the changes that were being made were being made. I think the changes that Murray made were good and they needed to be implemented. I think another thing that should be implemented is telling the employees that there will be random camera checks. I think that this will cause the employees to work harder.

As we can see from the 3 cases, there are many disadvantages of having technology in the workplace. In the first case we can see the disadvantage of distraction. If Miranda was not distracted with technology, maybe she would have been more mentally in the office. In the second case we see the disadvantage of social media being able to be viewed by anyone and everyone. There was really no way for Johnathan to know that they would be using his photo on the website. In the third case we can see the disadvantage of over watching. Murray should not have been watching his employees unless they knew they were able to be watched. This is not all the disadvantages there are in the workplace due to technology. Some other disadvantages include loss of interpersonal communication skills, maintenance costs, and increased security. Loss of interpersonal communication skills is cause by “cell phones, email, texting and social media replacing face-to-face communications.” Maintenance costs are due to ever-changing technology. “Technology is constantly being improved, which requires constant and costly upgrading. Each upgrade requires employee training, taking time away from production.” Increased security is needed because there are so many hackers now than before. Companies must do their best in order to keep their customers and their own information safe from hackers. (Harper, 2016)