Is Technology altering (rewiring) our brains?

In my Social Media and Digital Culture class (INTE 5565), we read an article where George Siemens said “Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.” and we were asked to discuss this quote. Here were my thoughts on this question:

That being said, yes do believe that technology is altering our brain. It’s quite extradorinaiy how it is to me. For instance, the language we traditionally use in technology is now being used in face to face conversations. For example, at the school I work at, it is common that someone would say “BRB, I have to step out”. Never would I think that someone would talk like this, but people from all age ranges in our organization understand what they mean and it doesn’t even faze anyone. Our brains understand that BRB means “be right back” and it’s becoming a social norm to use abbreviations in our every day lingo, online or not.

Michelle Sroda did ask an excellent question “Do we need to be more responsible and exercise more due diligence when we access and pass on information?” This is something I think of before I post on any social media platform. We are in the era of “fake news”, and we should be responsible to make sure that anything we post or pass on to other followers is credible information. It reminds me of one of my favorite comic book quotes “with great power comes great responsibility”. Tools must be used responsibly, and the age that we’re in now, technology and information that we gather should be used in a responsible manner, not in a dangerous manner, just like any other tool we use.