The Loneliness Epidemic:

The modern age and the technological revolution has brought about countless advancements in all facets of our lives and all sectors of industry, I believe wholeheartedly that those who were born in the 90’s and early 00’s would have grown up in a society going through the whirlwind that was the transitional period into the technologically abundant and innovative era that we now find ourselves in.

I myself personally contribute to this technological era through my day job in IT and communities that I run in virtual reality.

I distinctly recall back in 2009, where I was only 9 at the time, that  I had my first flip phone, for the life of me I cannot remember the brand but it was fantastically cool at the time being able to hang up on people with just the flip of my phone which definitely makes for a theatrical and dramatic scene, however the flip phone was limited in its capacity compared to smartphones today it only allowed me to call, text and would only store but one mp3 file admittedly it was ‘Eminem – Ass Like That’… I also only had Snake that I could play on the phone and an internet browser that was frustratingly clunky and slow, I think it was Opera.

Suffice to say all I saw my mobile phone at the time back then was just as another utility not necessarily the “Swiss army knife of tools” that we use them as today.  

Whilst I do have a deep love for technology I also believe that it has also had considerable consequences on our societies, particularly social interaction and interpersonal relationships. 

Sure, social media has allowed us to become connected with millions of people but ultimately I see these days that a lot of younger people and even myself are so enamoured with our phones, games and social media that its causing this loneliness pandemic because we are all addicted to our devices which takes away from real human interaction, even more so with the advent of artificial intelligence which every business is trying to jump on the bandwagon and promote as heavily as they can.

Perhaps all this is just my biased anecdotal ramblings and maybe it is (its my website after all), but truly I believe that we should really strive for a balance in our society particularly in children to actually have in real life social interactions as well as online because it cannot be understated how much can be gained from real social interaction rather than just talking to someone on a Discord voice chat or texting.

There is so much more to people that is just unseen from the picturesque profiles on social media and or masked characters and personalities you find online. Body language being a language all of its own to learn, it can teach you so so much about someone, particularly their intent and sincerity. Its so much more easier to figure out if someone is being manipulative by looking at how they present themselves and how they react when talking.

Also take this bit with a grain of salt, because I have absolutely no way of backing this up with proof but I have this suspicion that social media and by extension our dependence on technology have directly contributed to increased social anxiety and depression.

I personally feel that we would rather all stay hooked to our technology and devices, wasting our days away watching mind-numbing stuff on YouTube just to simply stave off boredom, when in fact what we ought to be focusing on as a society and individuals is weaning our selves off social media and moving to create/join groups in the real world, so to speak “get out of your room and go outside” like many a parent might have said during your childhood!

And perhaps its a cop out if I just blame technology for my own depression but I do believe its a huge factor in it, to the extent that I recognise its role in my life as wasting what precious time I have left on this earth. I have been personally focusing on meeting new people in IRL, trying to find groups and folks to hang out with however its increasingly difficult, to find people IRL, especially not without financial cost or just even stuff that I believe I would actually take interest in participating in.

I guess  I just gotta keep looking and saying yes to doing stuff rather than making an excuse or saying no. I and perhaps many others really ought to step out of their comfort zones into the great unknown that is the real world, because ultimately you must remember you will die someday ‘Momento Mori’, and I say that not to be negative, I say that to hopefully inspire urgency.

Please if you are reading this, please look at your relationship with technology in your life, are you controlling the technology in your life or is it controlling you?

P.S: Thanks for reading my first post, at some stage ill add a comment box and email subscription for those that want to respond.