Long time ago, people used to communicatewith each other either personally or bysending someone to deliver their messages. When technology unlocked it doors to scientists, communication became much easier for people to interact with it. Nowadays, technology has made us more connected. People can send text massages, make a phone call or send an email to whoever they want and whenever they want andat any time. Cell phones, Emails, and Facebook are ways of communications methods to stay connected with our friends, families, and the world too. Furthermore, technology has led to inventions in more fun games inside our rooms. Although technology has made our communication much accessible and brought funny games that children could enjoy playing, it could be a threat to our socialization if not handled well. Technological advancement is a potential cause of loneliness in people’s life.
The growth of technology has led to enormous inventions in the field of media such as social media in the name of twitter and facebook that many people have embraced and use them more often during communication. People use this channel to stay in touch with their families and friend while they are away. However, this trend has seen a decline in social interaction among the people without them noticing and, hence propagating loneliness between individuals. Use of Facebook and Twitter, for instance, removes the intimate connection that people have while communicating. It also becomes tiresome to keep on looking and punching the keyboard of gadgets used for a long time. Not only does this lead to stress but also makes people feel detached and lonely.
Face to face communication where people sit together and talk to each other is very rich because the personal touch and the connection are evident. When people nod their heads or smile while listening to a conversation, it creates a good feeling that they are paying attention to what you are saying. These non-verbal cues are very important because they encourage development of good communication and connect the two sides in a unique way during the conversation. This particular phenomenon is, however, lost in the use of other communication media such as emails, text messages, and social media that are very rampant due to technological advancement. Jane Thiebaud wrote in her article “Effects of Technology on People” that “the media and especially advertising have convinced us that written or electronic communication is somehow better and more accurate than our own living spoken word” (122). Nevertheless, not only does it remove personal touch but also leads to loss of non-verbal cues, which causes loss of connection between the sides of communication and, therefore, becomes very boring. These effects of technology can cause loneliness and despair between individuals.
The invention of television sets has had enormous revolution in the way people receive and relay news. It has made it possible for people to be informed in real time about what is going on around the globe. In the homes, however, TV sets have found another use, that of offering entertainment to the family. It is now common to see children and their parents glued to the TV following a program and not talking to each other in the process. Not only does this interfere with the development of the children but also denies them the love and feeling of concern from their parents. Likewise the parents are detached from the lives of their children because they lack quality time to sit and discuss their progress in life. This whole phenomenon culminates into breakdown of intimacy and result in feeling of loneliness between family members to a certain degree.
The invention of video games has had another profound impact on the lives and development process of the child. In the past, children used to play together in the community with their parents busy doing their chores in the house. It was a common place to find children interacting with each other and learning new games outdoor while playing. Things changed when video games were invented and every child acquired their own equipments to use indoors. It is now the emerging trend that children do not interact with their peers as it was in the beginning. They spent long hours in their rooms glued to a screen playing games and being detached from the world. The result is a feeling of loneliness and emptiness. Therefore, technology has the potential to cause loneliness in the lives of people.
