Technology’s Effects on Social Relationships: How It Makes Us Lonely

Technology was supposed to make us feel 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 because of the way we use our smartphones right now, they are actually getting in the way of real socializing. Our generation sees both as a part of everyday life and we have become addicted to checking for notifications every second of the day. In this day and age, technology seems to get in the way of personal relationships. We no longer have the days where someone could sit down, spend time chatting, and get to know someone; all it takes is to look them up online, send them a friend request, and wait for them to accept. After they accept you then can find out almost everything about them. Not only is it affecting the way we handle human interaction, but our heavy dependence on social media sites has also been proven to result in children and adults alike participating in fewer outdoor activities as well as studying less and working less. 

Technology certainly has effects on social relationships due to the fact that it does not build strong relationships, but reduces the importance of face-to-face conservations. It is not the same thing if we meet someone online instead of actually meeting him or her personally. There's no doubt that technology can bring positives to our relationships. Just think about how many people today meet their partners online. But are these relationships as real as finding someone at an event and taking the time to talk to each other and figure out each others likes and dislikes. It is a lot more personal than having a matchmaking system spitting them out for you on a screen. Without face-to-face contact, people do not need to show their real personality as well as express their feelings. In other words, this makes people feel more comfortable and boost confidence in making new friends. However, loneliness is not having people in life, but it is the inability to communicate about things that appear important to a person or holding some views that others may find inaccessible. They can’t express themselves as much because there are so many people out there that will just bash on them and try to put them down. The majority of the teenagers are demonstrating anti-social behavior. This is because the only time that they can communicate is through the use of a cell phone when texting and facetiming. As far as we are concerned, it would be preferable to communicate through cell phones as opposed to face-to-face. 

The fact is that technology does make people feel more lonely in the sense that they are more focused on their cell phones and that they lack proper training on how to converse with other people. Society is becoming obsessed and is sharing too much information on the internet and spending pointless hours on it when they should be spending time on more important things. Despite the fact that we now have technology that allows someone to communicate with anyone else that is on the other side of the world. These online friends cannot satisfy our needs, our wants and our desires for more than a little while. When we are born we are already designed to gain satisfaction from meaningful relationships. Especially when we are first born, we are in constant need of human contact. Margie Warrell, a writer for Forbes women, states that “People are feeling more connected online, but very alone in real life.” This makes us feel lonely because our minds crave more social interaction, it doesn’t matter if we receive more or less than others. Apps on our phone try to get us to believe that they can help fill that hole. However, even when we IMessage or Snapchat our friends, we may still feel lonely or detached. I agree that we all have certain social platforms that help us chat and connect with our friends. But on the other hand, we have a very big group of people spending too much time on their phones/laptops and neglecting to talk to their family/friends. If someone was to walk into a Starbucks or any restaurant/establishment that provides a wifi connection, we would see that at least three fourths of the patrons are on their phones or computers. This new era of technology has made us lonelier, and recent research indicates that this may be the next biggest public health issue on par with obesity and substance abuse. A recent review of studies indicates that social isolation increases mortality risk by 26%. While it does have its benefits technology also causes us to overlook opportunities to spend time with our loved ones and partake in new experiences that would end up providing us with richer and more fulfilled lives. 

As the new technological era reshapes how we are able to get in touch with people, we as a community will have to rethink what we believe to be the best option to end up feeling fulfilled in our relationships, and how to realize that no amount of likes on a social media platform will be able to provide that. While social media is a great tool, there is also a very big difference between an online relationship and a real life one. Our generation is spending too much time on social media. We put tags on what we believe our friends and families to be even though we know them to be different. All we end up seeing is the sculpted, perfect, godlike versions of their profiles online. With all this research being done I just can’t help see how far technology has made us more lonely than we have ever been before.