The way we live, work, and play has changed dramatically over the course of the past half-century. When we want to have more of a person-to-person interaction, our own technology sometimes gets in the way of us creating that meaningful bond. And, when we want to go out and do things, we must wait for our technology to be charged so we can take it with us and post online the activities we are hoping to do. Texting is devoid of so many important aspects of human interaction! It strips away the inflection of our voice, our body language, our facial expressions, and our ability to assess and respond in real time as a result of these challenging interactions. Little by little, the Internet and mobile technology seem to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society. Instead of spending time in person with friends, we just call text, or instant message them. It may seem simpler, but we ultimately end up seeing our friends face-to-face less. Ten texts can’t even begin to equal an hour spent chatting with a friend over lunch. And a smiley-face emoticon is cute, but it could never replace the ear-splitting grin and smiling eyes of one of your best friends. When technology replaces in-person relationships, it has been found to increase loneliness and disconnection and reduce well-being. It is helpful for online connectivity to supplement in-person relationships, but if relationships are maintained primarily online, they ultimately do not satisfy.

The irony of social media lies in the illusion of connection. We look to technology to engage with others and that same technology makes it easier to disengage and protect ourselves from human-to-human interaction. Social comparison and feelings of missing out all stem from the content we see online. These negative impacts lead to more depression and anxiety. Our bodies experience the negative effects of technology, too. More screen time can disrupt sleep, especially if this screen time is before bed. Technology has also made cyber bullying possible, and children are now particularly vulnerable to harassment online. People can quickly gain access to a mobile phone or a computer, and connect with anyone with the use of the Internet and social media. Kids who are bored and looking for entertainment will sometimes resort to cyberbullying to add some excitement and drama to their lives. They also might choose to cyber bully because they lack attention and supervision from their parents. As a result, the Internet becomes their only source of entertainment and an outlet for getting attention.

Living in a digital age is strange and different from that which generations before us have lived through. We are more connected than ever, yet we isolate ourselves more than we ever have before.

Brief: When first hearing about this assignment in class my eyes lit up, I thought this would be “light work”. An easy “A” and all I’d have to do was just scroll through ten websites and copy and paste information. However, once I started, I realized I might’ve jinxed myself. It was difficult to find pieces of info that related to each other enough that I could put together to make a coherent response. Although, I have to admit it was an interesting process.