Free Essay Sample on Technology Into Our Daily Lives

Introduction

With the changing lifestyles and the integration of technology into our daily lives, interactions between people are becoming fewer which has resulted into people becoming lonelier. The Cigna health insurance company recently sponsored research on human behavior in association with social networking where it was identified that a staggering 46% of the studied population registered loneliness despite being on social media and other networking websites (Herz & Lalander, 2017). According to the study, people feel lonely because they spend so much time online fashioning friendships with strangers and keeping up with friends, that they fail to create real connections with other people. The lack of one on one interaction eliminates personality from individuals as most try to keep up with the trends, and they opt to create different online personas to fit into the online community. This leads to the feeling of loneliness growing due to substituting the need to be accepted for who you are in the real world and connection to others with a persona dictated by online communities and the trends being followed.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Social Anxiety

Individuals with social anxiety are the most affected by social networking because they find it easier to make friends online and to socialize. Therefore, the temporary feeling of connection disappears after logging off the internet, and it is replaced with loneliness. With today's social expectations, people are getting depressed from using social media (Herz & Lalander, 2017). These platforms are shared by people from all economic groups. They have created a "showoff "culture where people share the best of what they have, ranging from houses, cars, lifestyles, and even bodies—those who don't have it as right end up comparing themselves and feeling insecure. With the obsessive checking of what others have and comparisons only lead to more insecurities and unhappiness, eventually depression.

It has been proven that individuals who spend a lot of time online have a hard time making friends offline. These people end up being socially awkward and prefer spending time alone than having to interact with people one on one. Subsequently, family ties have been disrupted by social media. Most parents and their children no longer talk on a personal level because children feel more comfortable googling things on their phones than talking to their parents. Mobile devices have become a common thing at dinner tables, with both parents and children preferring to be online than connecting. As a result, his has led to family ties getting weakened, thereby creating a sense of loneliness within the family setting as well.

Conclusion

The social networking platform is, however, not all bad as it has eased communication to people all over the world. Moreover, it has provided an easy way of connecting and keeping up with friends who are far away, maintaining long-distance friendships. Consequently, the adverse effects of social networking can be controlled by cutting down the time spent online and working on connecting with people in real life. This way, we can enjoy the benefits of social media without forgetting to live a full, contented life. From the above provided supporting evidence, it is clear that people are becoming lonelier but with the interventions suggested, it is possible to curb loneliness.

References

Herz, M., & Lalander, P. (2017). Being alone or becoming lonely? The complexity of portraying 'unaccompanied children's being alone in Sweden. Journal of Youth Studies, 20(8), 1062-1076.