Social media is a double-edged sword. It can foster relationships or induce isolation. The impact of social media largely depends on our intentions, expectations, and reality-checking abilities. [1] Social media is helpful when it cultivates connections that lead to real friendship and community where there is purpose, meaning, and real-life contact. The use of social media that draws people away from the real world into an imaginary perfect world is a road to isolation and mental illness.
In-person relationships are essential for true belonging, happiness, and human thriving. Susan Pinker, a well-known Canadian developmental psychologist, writer, and the author of the famous book The Village Effect: How Face-to-face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, and Smarter, says:
“In a short evolutionary time, we have changed from group-living primates skilled at reading each other’s every gesture and intention to a solitary species, each one of us preoccupied with our own screen.” [2]
Today, many people seem to be living by the motto “My screen, my life.” Being glued to our screens for long hours takes us away from the real people around us. Pinker writes, “Neglecting to keep in close contact with people who are important to you is at least as dangerous to your health as a pack-a-day cigarette habit, hypertension, or obesity.”[3] In contrast, in-person interactions are proven to boost the immune system, release positive hormones, and help people live longer.
The current generation has made great advancements in areas like medicine, technology, and transportation. However, we are losing our ability to connect on a human level. It is tragic to have everything but to lose our connections with others. Close and in-person interactions are essential not only for human flourishing but for survival too. It is high time that we started shifting our focus from screens to the beautiful real-life faces around us.
Thank you first of all for sharing your articles with me I enjoy reading them.Communication helps us be real, it allows the opportunity to flow towards growth.
ReplyDeleteI feel I 've experienced both sides. Post technology and all the new social media explosion . I feel I have a choice of which I can take advantage off.
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