Does Technology Make Us More Alone?
The majority of the current generation spend so many hours of the day staring at screens. Does the time spent in the virtual world help in making new relationships around the world or is it making them more alone in real life?
Many of us spend time talking to people who are far away from us while ignoring the people who are right in front of us. It might seem like we are building new relationships but are these virtual relationships going to survive for long?
Though social media helps us in making thousands of connections with people each day. But there lies a problem, these communications are usually one dimensional and momentary. When we consider one of the most popular apps Snapchat, do you think by maintaining a streak you are able to make a long-lasting connection with someone?
Social media allows people from every place and background to interact with thousands of people they never would have met otherwise. The problem is, that access can give us the sense that those interactions are somehow just like real-world contact which isn’t true. In fact, many studies have shown that the more time spent on social media is linked with lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and depression. At the end of the day, one can have thousands of Instagram followers and still feel alone.
The image that we create online of ourselves is an impeccable self. We create that image carefully which is garnered to gather the attention of others. With our various social media accounts be it Instagram feeds, snaps, YouTube channels, blogs, and more, we’re actually just convincing others and ourselves that our lives are unflawed. When we hide behind this disguise, we can’t genuinely connect with others. No matter how many people we talk to online, the mask we’ve created ensures that communication will almost always feel shallow. We aren’t showing our real self to these people and a real connection cannot be made like this.
These platforms also use our fear of missing out. One is instantly able to see what happened at every event and party that they weren’t invited to. Even if you didn’t go to an event you may feel left out as you watch others interact on the same on various social media platforms.
On the surface, it may seem like technology has led to more connections and more social involvement but in reality, social media apps just make it seem like we are connected with others. They only foster shallow relationships. And these kinds of connections instead make us lonely than before because we end up ignoring our real-life relationships because of them. And we end up being isolated from the real world.
