Dahye Han
Thanks to the tremendous development of technology, the world has been more connected via social network services such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc. As much as the world is connected, the quantity of information social network services provide people is huge. For an hour, my time in the mediated environment was taken up with entertainment and some new information I’m interested in. The first thing I did was to communicate with my friends on Instagram. Wherever I am and wherever they are, we could communicate right away regardless of our location. I could see some beautiful scenery that my friends saw through the pictures they post on Instagram. I looked at their pictures and left comments, and they replied again. And we communicated with each other through direct messages. After communicating with my friends, I turned on the YouTube app for the rest of the hour. The YouTube shorts provided a lot of information in a short time which is about 30 seconds to a minute. For example, the short videos include how to make yogurt, cute puppy videos, best combinations of food, travel videos in Africa, what happened in another country, and how to fix broken things. I could acquire various information in a short time, but I could only remember some of the information because I got various information in a short time, and even some of the information I remember was not accurate. Finally, I looked up a science video and watched a video titled, “What if people threw trash into a volcano?”. Even if I didn’t go to the library to find information, I could easily get answers to my questions. Additionally, even if I don’t travel to other countries, I could enjoy the beautiful scenery of other countries through the video posted on YouTube. The scenery I saw in the video was really beautiful.
Contrary to what I saw through my phone screen, it’s time to give my eyes a break. I took a walk around the house, away from the media world for a while. Usually, when I walk on the street, I wear Air Pods and listen to music, but this time, I was out of all the media. The first 10 minutes were really boring. Also, even though I had a lot of work to do, I was worried about taking a walk. However, as I endured the boring time and focused on the present time when taking a walk, I began to see and admire the surrounding scenery. Pretty flowers and trees, dogs and people taking walks, and pretty houses were combined to create a picturesque landscape. Additionally, I had a really interesting time comparing the scenery around campus with South Korea where I had lived. While walking while appreciating the surrounding scenery, I sat on the bench for a while and focused on the sound of nature. The sound of the wind, the sound of cars passing by, and the sound of birds chirping helped the landscape look more beautiful. And on the way home, I went home with a more relaxed mind, unlike the impatient mind I had when I started taking a walk.
Through this experience, I could feel the difference between the beautiful scenery I see through my phone and the scenery I see myself. The beautiful scenery I saw through my phone was definitely a really beautiful thing. I could enjoy the beautiful scenery without going there. However, there is a limit to watching through a phone. To appreciate the landscape in a confined space in one position was simply limited to “appreciation”. On the other hand, the surrounding scenery I saw myself was not only beautiful like the beautiful scenery I saw through my phone, but also brought me a break. It was an experience to realize again that there is such a beautiful scenery near me.
However, I think the convenience of technological advancement is really great. Because I can get the information I want between 1 minute and 15 minutes without going to the library. In addition, I can contact and communicate with my family and friends whenever I want, regardless of where I am in other countries or regions. As mentioned above, it is also a great advantage that I can appreciate the beautiful scenery of other countries even if I don’t go there. Therefore, I realized that the balance between life through the development of technology and life I can enjoy nature is important. Because if I’m too biased on one side, I might miss something without realizing it.