At this point in time, technology has paved its way to make a dilemma between human beings and their actions. The innovation of technology has been at its peak in the 21st century and it has made quite an impact on society and the people in it. People today can connect with their relatives from miles away and feel like they are sitting beside them with just a single click. So it is true… it is a small world after all.

However, the world being small does not always make it a boon of our existence. Although technology can have an advantage towards society, it can also pose a threat by invading people’s private lives. It limits one’s power and control to be their autonomous selves. Someone can be observed at all times, but he/she may never know when, where, or even why. One’s rights are violated and ignored with a single click. Where is the privacy that one has the right to have?

One is greeted by eager, scattered spectators wielding camera phones who do nothing but take a video of everything that is happening. The pleasure that people feel makes it all the more horrific. Barely moved by pleas, people film and follow everyone. This implies a lot about the society we are living in today.

This act of camera lenses as our eyes affect our everyday interactions and could soon take over our lives; it could even lead us to the extreme version of Victoria’s day from the White Bear, an episode from the TV series Black Mirror – people walking around constantly with phones in front of their faces. Nowadays, the use of mobile phones and other gadgets is becoming endemic. Everywhere we turn, they are present. It shows an aspect of detachment from what they’re watching, which would inevitably lead to an inability to interject in a real life situation.

Take a look at the voyeur culture and our desensitization to individually-fostered mass communication. If we are to assess reality at the moment, we could already be considered heading down this path, either on a short or long term sense. Screens of every sort — phones, tablets, laptops, televisions — are dominating our lives more than ever, and it can be hard to determine an appropriate barrier between them and our real interactions. Everyone in the world, therefore, is gradually deviating from his/her affection, emotion, and empathy. In other words, less human.

There is a culture of demanding entertainment no matter the cost. Are we really that famished for entertainment? If we allow technology to swallow up our humanity, this world will inevitably become a desensitized one.