Technology as a Factor of Evolution in the World

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My First Text Message
Technology is changing constantly everyday acting as a major factor in the evolution of almost all other things (Trosby et al., 5). This ideology can readily be applied to my own story of the evolution in my life. As young adults, we are always faced with the task of deciding what we want to become in life. Deciding on the career path we want to take plays a vital role in the university we attend or vice versa. The presence of technology in my life has granted me the opportunity to think critically and analytically and engage in both educational and enjoyable activities. It all started long time ago when I was a child; for 7 years of my life I was an only child. Even though I was too young to remember certain events that occurred at this time in my life, I do remember being spoiled. The significance of this narrative is to explain how I managed to write my first text message using different platforms like AIM, Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and whatsapp. I believe technology through text messaging has transformed my life because I can communicate with my professor, my fellow students, and parents easily. I only need to text my professor to confirm class assignments. In addition, I am able to share questions with my classmates using texts. Since messaging involves writing short messages, I have gained the ability to summarize points in class so that I can go through them during examinations.
My life changed when I was in my 6th grade. I was in my first year of junior high school and it was also the first year when I walked to and from school alone. My father bought me my first cell phone as a surprise present in my birthday and sent it to me via a courier service. I must confess that was the most valuable gift I have ever received in my entire life. That cell phone changed my life; it is an experience I will always hold to. It is an experience I will never forget. I had been used to seeing people in movies sending and receiving text messages. I had never thought I would ever own my own cell phone so when my father bought me the cell phone; I was very excited and looked forward to using it to chat with my friends.
My first message was to my father during my birthday. I had read in books the benefits of text messaging, and there I was ready to compose and send my first message. I had of course seen many of my friends who owned cell phones send and receive text messages but I had never send any single message myself. Therefore, when I got my first cell phone I was eager to compose my first text and send to my recipient. I immediately went to my text messages application, opened, and started composing my message. It was of course a message of appreciation to my father for the wonderful gift he had given me. It was a defining moment to me, a dream that had come true.

Most of my friends had cell phones also and we would chat with each other all day long, even when we were sitting next to each other in class. Within no time, I became addicted to texting. It was just a short while before I could realize that I was in for a rude shock. At that time most cell phone providers did not have an unlimited text messaging option, instead each text message, both outgoing and incoming messages cost 10 cents each. I received my first $700 phone bill and found myself in big trouble. I learned to control my texting habits due to my financial status. My friends and I were soon introduced to a new form of communication, AOL instant messenger also known as AIM. AIM quickly became my new addiction as my friends and I chatted about everything. We would all sign in as soon as we arrived at home from school. My favorite part about using AIM was that we could all sign into a group chat and speak with various people at the same time. AIM was better than texting for many reasons. You could deliver messages a lot faster because they were typed on a keyboard and it was free.
After the use of AIM came the use of MySpace. MySpace was a perfect tool to stay updated with music, friends, fashion, family, and world news. I especially enjoyed MySpace because I could upload pictures create my own profile designs and share music with friends. MySpace was however surrounded by controversy because of its accessibility to potentially harmful strangers. When using it one had to be very cautious of whom they were speaking to because it was no longer just you and your friends, MySpace was global. My favorite part about MySpace was finding a teacher’s profile. It was very interesting to see how they led their life outside schools; sometimes I could spare myself with some of the things I learned about them. MySpace became outdated as expected and Facebook quickly filled the vacuum. It seemed as if some technology genius was always trying to capture the attention of young people and I willingly gave in. Facebook was a cooler way of texting, it had less going on than MySpace but it was more personal. The inbox was appropriate since I would chat with many friends at the same time. From relationship statuses to adding your location when you posted a status, Facebook was like a public diary. I would update a status and have many people comment on the issue whether they were my Facebook friends or not. It was all up in your business, but people allowed it to do just that.

The invention of the Facebook phenomenon led to many people including myself investing in Smart phones. The application fascinated and still amuses me. One did not have to sit in front of a computer to access the social networking site and the internet. This allowed for unlimited texting and constant updates. It was probably one of the best days of my life. My first smart phone was an Iphone and I have been a loyal customer since. Suddenly, everything around me was changing at a lightning speed. Teachers in high school used Smart boards instead of chalkboards, preferred assignments to be submitted via email, and one could now fast forward live television.

Then the Twitter application came about. It was much better than all other text apps I had ever seen in my life. I would follow and chat with people online through out as long as I had an internet connection. Just like Facebook I could tweet and have many people retweet, favorite or reply to my message. I could particularly enjoy sending my twitter messages and contribution on live television shows. I always got very excited on hearing and seeing my messages being read in live television. From the first day of using the Twitter application, I have learnt a lot and always been updated with the latest events.

Then recently the invention of the Whatsapp messaging application greatly changed me. It definitely shook me and instantly transformed my life. Using the application I could chat with people all over the world, send them photos and videos. This eased my life since I could text my friends, share with them real time pictures of myself in the daily activities, and catch up with them every time I needed to. It was the high level of evolution of technology. It was fun using it especially chatting in groups with my friends and sharing jokes and funny pictures and videos. Even in my education, Whatsapp has greatly assisted me; I can share photos of examination questions with my colleagues.

Generally technology has greatly assisted my educational experience immensely over the time. Technology has however made people lazy, for instance nowadays students procrastinate completing assignments since they know with technology they research on the assignment some few hours close to the deadline. The internet provides access to a large amount of information in a matter of seconds (Trosby et al., 5). Students, including myself have developed skills that include the ability to scan long readings. Most of us prefer shorter texts compared to reading lengthy passages. I believe that our professors should understand the world we are leaving is constantly changing.
Assignments should be short and direct to point. The professors should be more adaptive to the changes in technology that have already occurred and continue to. Technology is dynamic hence constantly evolving to become better and more simplified. The evolution in technology has significantly affected the lives of all people (Trosby et al., 5). Technology has transformed my live, I am sure I would still be living in the Stone Age period if it were not for technology.
Work Cited

Trosby, Finn, Ian Harris, Friedhelm Hillebrand, and Kevin Holley. Short Message Service (sms): The Creation of Personal Global Text Messaging. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley, 2010. Print