Does technology play a role in making feel more isolated?

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The world has become a global village now and we are connected via the internet and other technological mediums. Technology has connected us to the world like never before. Now we can buy, sell anything by just clicking one button. We can interact with the person living on their side of the globe. This is the time where we can have information, entertainment, and a lot more – everything from the comfort of our own home. It sounds great, isn’t it? Well, some people might say we are more connected than ever before however, technology is playing a major role in making us feel more isolated.

Lack of Human interaction

Technology is not the biggest threat to teenagers only, anyone who is consistently using technology is going through the problem of loneliness and depression. People a few years ago were more social. Nowadays fake beauty standards are making people more self-conscious and doubt their self-esteem. Social judgment is an excuse used to avoid human interaction nowadays. Social media platforms have played a major role in this regard. People are now hiding behind the screens and avoiding human interaction because of the fear of being judged by others. However, this excuse is making them feel more isolated and alone. People use social media as a tool to stay in touch with their peers instead of going out. People are using different apps like eBay, Amazon, and skype and replacing people with these technological tools. Therefore, they are feeling disconnected and isolated which is making them more depressed.

Pandemic of loneliness

There is no denying the fact that people feel isolated or disconnected from the world because of the excessive use of technology. This is the time where almost everyone goes through the feeling of loneliness or feels the lack of companionship in their life, this time is also known as the “Pandemic of disconnectedness”. The latest technologies are making us alone in different ways, technology is pulling us away from each other as we are glued to our latest gadgets like smartphones, laptops, and all the other latest devices. These technologies are taking our full attention and these technological tools are tearing us apart from each other. The feeling of disconnectedness or isolation leads to different kinds of psychological problems which are sometimes life-threatening. We all are addicted to technology.  The more we use our phones, laptops, and all different gadgets for socializing the less we interact with the people around us which eventually makes us feel isolated.

Illusion of Connectedness

“Our culture has put upon us these expectations that if we’re going to be successful we need to have a huge network of contacts.”

-Susan Matt, history professor, and author

Technology is everywhere, we use technology all the time, it has created the illusion that we are so close with each other, we are more connected than ever before but the reality is the complete opposite. Technology has provided us a way to interact with anyone anytime to support the illusion of connectedness however, we require human interaction, there is a lack of human interaction due to which we feel alone and isolated. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of need, the need which comes after the need for food & shelter is the need being loved. We long for the commitment, love, and relationships. To fulfill this need we need to have human interaction, we have to step out of our comfort zone. Well, technology is a barrier that pulls us away from the people. We long for relationships but we are addicted to our devices and we find it hard to step out and interact with others.

Conclusion

Technology harms our social skills. We no longer physically interact with our peers. We prefer social media interaction, Instagram likes makes us feel superior, technology, not in the just form of social media but also the form of games, etc. are tearing us apart. Technology has positive impacts on our life that we cannot deny but the negative impacts are there as well. Hence, we can say that technology is like a double-edged sword. Advanced technologies have changed our life pattern and now it has created more social distance.

Feeling isolated or alone is not just one negative impact of technology. There is a list of the negative impacts of technology. Companies put effort into creating the feeling of loneliness or isolation and then make their software so addictive that people excessively use those tools to feel connected and eventually their brain feels bored and unhappy and they end up feeling more alone and isolated. However, it is up to us to change this pattern, we can choose to go out and not use those tools, after all, they are just tools choice is always ours.