In the past decade, technological developments have been growing exponentially. Over the years, technology has revolutionized our world and daily lives, as it has embedded itself in everything we do, for example Health, Communication, Education, Information, Entertainment … there is no aspect of life in which its impact is not evident. This blog is about my encounter with the digital world. Indeed, I will reflect on my experience with technology and how it shaped my life, making it easier and more fun.

Since my childhood, my parents were doing their best to give me the best education possible, so they were very strict with me. For example, when I used to get home from school, I wasn’t allowed to watch television unless I reviewed the material we took in class and did the assignments I had. But aside from being strict, my parents always encouraged me by buying me small gifts when I got high grades. When I became eight, my parents promised me that if I do very well in my studies and get high grades throughout the year, they will reward me at the end of the year. So I did my best and I had a very successful year with very good grades, and when my parents asked me which gift I wanted, I didn’t think twice: I wanted a PlayStation 2!! When my parents accepted, I went crazy and started running out of joy.

When we bought the console, I was amazed! Its design was amazing, the controller was so comfortable, I was so excited to start playing. So, this was my first encounter with the Digital World.

However, because I didn’t have much experience with technology, I had a hard time to learn how to turn on the console, put the CD, open it from the interactive menu… but with time, and with countless trials, I adapted to it and started enjoying it.

Some years later, my father bought a new phone, so he gave me the old one, and I can’t describe the joy I felt at that moment, because I’ve always wanted to have a phone. My favorite games on that Nokia phone were Snake and Bounce; I used to spend all my free time playing these games.

Day by day, I started discovering digital platforms that enabled me to talk to my friends and discover what was happening around me, and my relationship to digital technologies was getting more fruitful.

The first social platform I used was Facebook. I used to watch funny videos, follow soccer accounts to be the first one to know any new information about my favorite football club Barcelona and tell my friends about it. In addition, I also used Facebook to ask my friends what homework we had, where are we going out the coming weekend, to tell a friend to come to my house… for me, Facebook was like today’s WhatsApp.

However, I never spent more than two hours on Facebook, because my parents wanted me to focus more on studying and going out, instead of laying on the sofa and scrolling through Facebook.

Social Media Facebook GIF By Weinventyou

Nowadays, the platforms I mainly use are WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube. I mostly like WhatsApp because I can share with my friends or university colleagues PDF files, images, word documents, excel sheets, PowerPoint slides, links to websites… and these are mainly the types of files I deal with everyday; so, WhatsApp really makes my life easier. Indeed, I just drag in the file I want to share and with some few buttons tapped, it will reach whoever I sent these files to, wherever he or she is, isn’t it amazing?

I also use Instagram a lot, because it enables me to stay updated with my abroad friends, or friends from other universities that I don’t have the chance to see a lot. Moreover, I also use Instagram to see the goals scored by my favorite football club F.C Barcelona, and to keep up with the news of this club, as I don’t always have time to watch the matches they play due to lack of time, or because the match’s time is very late.

Moreover, YouTube is another platform I use frequently; for example, when I am studying and there is something I can’t understand, I directly open YouTube and I watch a short video after which I master the notion and understand it. Also, when I am curious to know how a certain mechanism works, how can I improve my gym training, or also what are the new features in the update of a video game I play, YouTube is my best resort!

As I already said before, when I was young, the maximum daily usage for all the platforms I used combined never exceed two hours, but as I grew up, my daily usage got higher and higher. For instance, I approximately use my phone and laptop up to five or six hours daily; I mainly spend time on my mobile on Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube, whereas I use my laptop for studying purposes or to watch movies.

So, my evolution in the Digital World started with a Nokia phone, then a PS2 console, then a Wii console, then a smart phone, a laptop… technology is astonishing, isn’t it?

The technological breakthroughs had a huge influence on my life. Indeed, some decades ago, you couldn’t communicate with a person unless you see him in person, you couldn’t be aware of what’s happening around in the world unless you went to buy a newspaper and read it, and you also couldn’t understand a lesson you were given in school unless you read some books or articles.

Consequently, nowadays, although technology can make us lazy sometimes, but it made our lives more convenient, comfortable and enjoyable. On the personal side, technology enabled me to be successful in my studies thanks to the internet and different learning platforms available, and it also enabled me to enjoy my free time by playing video games, watching football matches online…

Personally, I think that Digital Humanities are the intersection between the innovative digital technologies and the disciplines of humanity. In other words. I think that the technological breakthroughs brought us digital tools and methods to the study of the humanities, and hence it can reach a broader audience especially in today’s world; indeed, the new generation’s use of printed books, articles, stories… is significantly decreasing, so the digital platforms are a better way to share the knowledge of humanities, because they help us in finding what we really want to know much faster and easier than before.

This is it for my first blog, I hope that you enjoyed it!

Stay tuned, and have a wonderful day!