Technology is here to stay and it is getting bigger

This article originally appeared in the online magazine - eBubble Life - follow this link

Technology has changed the way we manage our life. Most us have a smart phone in our pocket. Our smart phone is full of apps that manage so many different aspects of your life.  Technology is making our lives easier. It is also moving so fast it is hard to keep up. Technology is becoming intrusive on our lives. And it is getting bigger and bigger.

As a business owner and marketer, I get so excited at how access to technology is giving businesses so many more opportunities. We can tap into data about people so easily and cost-effectively. We can then use that data to customise products and services. To communicate with our customers. To be able to access this information, without copious amounts of research, is pure gold.

However, as a mum, I am watching my 7-year-old daughter becoming more and more ‘addicted’ to devices. She has an old phone of ours with games and music, a tablet, she has just acquired one of our old laptops. Plus, access to the TV which is connected to You Tube and Netflix. She has inherited all these devices from us and has access to the world via the internet – a world she is only starting to understand. Scarily the world has access to her also.

You can’t shut the door on technology. Our kids are exposed to it through school, their friends – it is like telling them they can’t eat lollies and find they are the ones at the party overdosing on sugar. They will find ways to get their hands-on technology. As businesses we need to be across how technology is changing our customers. As consumers we need to be aware of technology and how to protect ourselves online.

Here are some tips:

• ·         Keep your devices safe by using anti-virus protection
• ·         Use Google Kids for your children on their devices
• ·         Be aware of the information that you put online – use privacy settings
• ·         Monitor what your children are watching and sites they visit
• ·         Keep an open conversation with your children about what they see online – teach them that it is not always truth

Embrace technology, understand it, try and keep up with the changes. Our kids are adapting to technology so fast, and earlier and earlier. They swipe through phones like they were born doing it. 

They are learning and discovering new things all the time. Shouldn’t we encourage this and keep it safe?

Embrace technology in your business – it will open doors for you. Your competition is. Don’t you deserve to be ahead of your competition?

Use technology to connect with others, to learn new things, to help organise your life. Stay safe and be aware of how and what you share. Remember to also unplug. Give your mind time away from technology, away from reminders and notifications. Look up and be present in life also. As we become more and more reliant on technology, we sometimes forget to plug into the real world around us – and that is the big danger, in my opinion, with technology.