Technology and Family Bonds How can Technology be altered and used to reinforce family bonds while inforcing privacy?

Inclusivity

The first thing that needs to be considered when discussing reinforcing family bonds in extended family is inclusivity. This is to ensure that the technology is accessible to all family members, regardless of age, technical proficiency, or location. This may involve creating user-friendly interfaces and providing support for those less familiar with technology (ChatGPT). I believe that Facetime, and phones in general need to be more accessible for elderly people so getting in contact with grandparents, or older relatives wouldn’t be so confusing for them. One experience I have is always having to explain to my grandparents how Facetime and text work.

Tech is not very user-friendly for older generations that have a hard time adapting to new technology. There may be some good adaptations like, voiceover, adjustability text size, and spoken contact (Stocks, 2021).

Altercation offered

One solution I propose is limiting all of the unnecessary thing’s phones come with. One thing I believe that should be gone is extra apps, these clutter the phone and I have heard my grandparents even say before how distracting they are, as they seem to hide the important things they need. Another thing that the older generation could go without is unnecessary phone jargon, some things in settings and on the home screen use words that may not make sense when connecting them to an action, like ‘focus’, ‘control center’ and ‘widgets’.

Connectivity

Connectivity through collaboration apps is a great way to connect extended families. This is something that isn’t done in my personal family but I think it could make a significant difference. One example is group calendars. Even putting something as simple as your birthday can help include yourself in your extended family’s lives. A reminder of a birthday or a big event, even if you can’t go to it, can create a sense of connection and a conversation starter. These calendars should be easily accessible for older generations as well. Having organized communication about group events as well is important and can improve the time you spend with your family. Figuring out all the details through group calendars allows families to settle and relax when you get there and really put the technology aside. This is implied; however, calendars allow people to really be able to set a time that is not stressful for everyone to get together in person and be 100% there. Connectivity is important as it allows relationships to grow outside of time spent together in person. It is “important to make being connected to our extended family a priority, and technology is a great tool to utilize”(“Why”, 2017). Group calendars could be a great addition to the technology used to stay in contact with family members.

New technology is becoming increasingly more likely to invade our privacy. technologies like smart tv's, rumbas and social media are being smarter using technologies to try and become more and more accurate for its users.

The primary purpose of these disturbing new technologies is not to influence consumer behavior but to generate accurate predictions about it (Fitzpatrick ,2019).

As previously mentioned, Facebook is one way to aid in connections with family members. However, Facebook, although it may seem private, is not. The app and its creators are using personal information to try and manipulate and control our actions within and outside the app (Fitzpatrick, 2019).