Does Technology Kill Empathy?

 Technology: Does it breed or kill empathy?

 I don't think it's easy to argue that technology is making us more empathetic. Realisticaly, it is making a less engaged and less empathetic generation of students. According to professor Jennifer Aaker, "a recent analysis of 72 studies performed on nearly 14,000 college students between 1979 and 2009 showed a sharp decline in the empathy trait over the last 10 years." (see inserted article above).

There have been many times when social media has been used to benefit the world, a community, an individual, etc... For example, "social media networks like Facebook have been used to promote fundraising and awareness about global humanitarian issues. Following Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake in January of 2010, FarmVille, a Facebook application, launched the “Sweet Seeds for Haiti” campaign, which raised $487,500 in donations within three weeks" (Levine)

On the other hand, the primary use of daily technology is not to raise money for people in need... We  use it to scroll through Instagram, Twitter, Tinder - trying to find things that temporarily entertain us.  There are always new posts, new tweets, new girls and guys to swipe on. It is exciting and new every time. We would rather sit and scroll through our phone than make conversation with the person sitting next to us. It's deceiving, though, because we fail to recognize the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from a real-life relationship, that can be much more entrtaining and valuable than technology ever will be.

Technology can be used for good things, however it is more of an entertainment addiction than it is a tool to better the world. There is still a healthy balance that needs to be focused on, but at this point in time, I think there is too much focus on technology, and not enough on face-to-face interactions.