Technology is supposed to make us more connected. We can stay in touch with our friends all the time on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and obviously by texting or messaging. But are our smartphones actually getting in the way of real socializing? Could technology be making us more alone? Even though technology helps us to communicate with people around the world but it also can make us become more isolated. “Get connected” is a phrase that we have grown accustomed to hearing and seeing in the 21st century.
With technology developing faster than ever, the digital world is at our fingertips. Some might say that the introduction of social networking has helped to bring people closer together all around the world.
Though our online communities may have a likeness to real-life societies, they are in fact nothing but numb conceptions of our day to day lives fuelled by self-pride and egoism. With our reliance on social media sites such as Facebook actually cutting us from real-life society, it is a sad truth that mankind is looking at a very forlorn and pitiful future.
Instead of meeting someone in person and hanging out with them more, we tend to text or utilize our smartphones to talk to people. Technology makes us more alone because we are always depending on our phones and other technology; when we start to get too attached to our gadgets, we start to compare our life with the lives of others, and we just ourselves with the amount likes and followers someone else has. Besides, being lonely is a big deal. Research revealed that being lonely is even more dangerous to your health than being overweight.
Loneliness can increase your risk of dying by 26%. According to The Independent, “Recent research indicates that this may be the next biggest public health issue on par with obesity and substance abuse.” Technology is great if we use it correctly with a certain limit, if we do not it is going to tear our lives apart if we become too attached to it. We are more focused on talking to someone thousands of miles away rather than someone who is right next to us. When we use technology constantly it makes it harder for us to interact with people in real life. The more time we spent on our phones and televisions the harder it will be for us to interact and talk to people in the real life. Research has shown that people who have lots of friends tend to be happier, healthier and they live longer than the ones who do not have many or any friends in real life.
Many people build relationships online and for a while, they would not feel lonely but over time we will feel frustrated because we cannot interact with the other person face to face. We scroll through our Instagram in silence when we are in the car with your family. We text our friend instead of meeting them in person. It is easier for us to make friends virtually than in real life. This shows how attached we are to technology. Being too focused on a screen makes you forget the difference between being alone and being lonely. Technology negatively influences our social interaction, it makes people more socially awkward and lonely. In fact, a study by greater good suggests that “smartphone use may be taking a toll on our biological capacity to connect with other people”. Technology is affecting our society in a negative way, but that does not mean that we are going to stop using technology, it has come to stay. But it is up to us to decide how much we let technology dominate our lives. At the end, it is always our decision if we want to see the world through a screen or your own eyes.