Technology in YA


I have a love affair with my cell phone. I'm exaggerating when I say this, but only barely. My cell phone accompanies me everywhere I go, from room to room. I will never forget my phone while I may forget money or ID or house keys. Heck, I'll even forget my glasses before my cell phone.

I'm not obsessed with it, but it's my link to the world. To the internet, to social media, to friends and family. I spend a lot of time with my phone and online. My phone is where I organize my life. It's my camera, my diary, and the most important device I own.

My dependence on technology could be considered unhealthy, but I'm not alone. Technology has always been a part of my life, and I use it even more in my teenage years.



Technology has made life much easier. People can contact me instantly. In class, I will Google what I don't know and take pictures of homework questions or work. I had Facebook, and I left Facebook. I use my instagram often and I spend an embarrassing amount of time on Twitter.

The internet is a source of inspiration and creative expression. It improves my writing and introduced me to new concepts and ideas. That's not to say everything in internet land is perfect.

There are problems with social media. Not even the obvious problems like cyber bullying, but what happens when everything you do is there to be seen by everyone? Or randomly being attacked by some troll when you tweeted something negative about their favourite hockey team? There are so many times that I love the Internet and technology but it hurts to. Even small things like being addicted to Candy Crush and the compulsion to keep playing matter.

What I'm getting at is that social media and technology is a part of day to day life. It's something I don't see enough of in YA. You could argue it's the YA I read, but there are so many little things that come with this dependence in technology that deserve some more light.

Technology almost never gets name dropped in YA beyond those books that namedrop everything because they're about rich people. I think that's unrealistic to teenage life, and so I'd like to see books use technology better. One amazing example was in Boy Nobody. The main character had this badass iPhone that was wired to do incredible and special things because he's a solider.

Technology can make books so much more realistic, and it should definitely be used more often.

-P.E.

9 comments:

  1. Ah, great point! I need technology in my life and yes, it's weird that it's hardly explored in YA. I take my mobile phone everywhere, I read e-books and I spend most of my time on my laptop. It would be great to see what more often in YA :)

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    1. I definitely think so. I just feel like it's so integrated to life and maybe that's not translating to YA books just yet.

      -P.E.

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  2. hmmmm... i have read YA books where cell phones, facebook and twitter were mentioned in passing... but i think the reason why specific tech names don't get name dropped is because authors are concerned about dating their books because technology trends changes so quickly. i have also read some contemp YAs that mentioned Myspace and I immediately thought "early 2000s" and distanced me from the story a little bit.

    But I get your point. Tech is such big part of life today and most definitely in the future, it's a glaring omission if there's no mention of people's dependency on them (however briefly), especially in novels set in contemporary times

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    1. Agree completely with Michelle here. It's such a tough line for authors to walk.

      Movies/TV have similar issues and are having to figure out how to incorporate things realistically without detracting from the visual nature of their storytelling.

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    2. @Michelle

      I know what you mean by dating a story, and I understand why authors wouldn't do it. It seems like a fine line, but I think not mentioning it at all is even worse. I've read a few books that completely alienated me just because there was no use of technology whatsoever, and the story was supposed to be set in modern times. It depends for everybody though.

      -P.E.

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    3. @WeHeartYA

      I think that's a good comparison. If there's too many minute details, it will take away from the story as well.

      -P.E.

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  3. At the same time, why would we need it in the story line to begin with? I guess I'm the type of reader who favours the minimalist type of writing? Constant mention of technology such as mobile phones and the like will only deter me from liking a book. I guess it has to be vital to the story line.

    Great post!

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    1. I guess the way I see it is if we're going to get stories about crushes and romances all the time, why not add up some of the anxiety so many people feel from Facebook? Or how it can affect families? A lot of bullying these days is cyber bullying and I think it's much more visible than the typical snide comments or dunking the head in the toilet. I don't think there should be too many name-drops, but maybe just more consideration of what teens do when they get upset.

      Thanks for sharing your perspective tho. This post was mostly written to generate discussion. :)

      -P.E.

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  4. I'm always excited to see technology used in YA books like The Boyfriend App where she codes an app for what's basically the iPhone or my current read Find Me, where the MC is a hacker. I'm hopeful that we'll be getting books that are more realistic in their technology portrayals (as in they actually feature technology) in the coming year.

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What do you think?