Yes! Technology has made the world smaller in different ways and spheres.
Think about it and remember that there were the days of switchboard operators and party lines, now we have nearly instant communication with anybody in the world right at our fingertips. Information and Communication Technology has always served to make the world a smaller place.
Most probably, the biggest way that technology has made the world smaller is through the internet. The internet or World Wide Web SEEMS scary when you think about how accessible it has made the places that were once the farthest away to the extent that the layman sees it to be “witchcraft“. With internet facilities like Google earth, you can actually look at just about any place on the globe. Just type in an address or a name of a town and you can instantly see a satellite image of that place, zooming in and you can start to make out the streets and houses. The technology doesn’t actually transport you there but by looking at it with your own eyes, you feel like you are there.
It’s not just Google earth that help the internet make the world small. It’s the internet in general. The World Wide Web is just that, it is a web that connects every computer in the world. No computers are more than a few links away and you can use the computer to do amazing thing, like see your baby take his first steps, even though you are in a different state. Programs like YouTube guarantee that anything captured on camera can be viewed by millions and millions of people, often within seconds or minutes of the event.
Web cams also in their capacities make the world smaller. You can check out webcams anywhere and get up to the minute information about what is going on there.
Smart phones are another instance of technology making the world small. The new business phones are so efficient and so high tech that you can now do face to face international business from thousands of miles away. If you wish to speak with a whole roomful of people in FCT (Abuja) from the comfort of your bedroom in Delta State while wearing your pajamas, you can use your smart phone to do just that.
Technology therefore has made the world a small place considering the above listed. Furthermore, technology has also made the world small consider the phenomenon of online dating. There were times that a person had to put on nice clothes and go out into the real world to meet a lover, crush or someone of interest; but in recent times, you can be “out there” without ever having to go out. You can meet hundreds of interested singles for dating purposes, see what they look like, find out about their interests, backgrounds, and values while locked in the comfort of your room. You can even engage in a virtual relationship by using email or instant messaging. It is possible to get to know a person on a relatively deep level without ever meeting at all these days. This and many more are parts of the beauty and the ‘indespensability’ of the internet resulting from technological advancements; makng the world a smaller place to live in.
