Technology & Human Interaction
In
last week’s posts I explored the ways in which technology is being used to
enhance the field of psychology and specific online therapeutic tools. This
week’s focus will be on technology’s effects on human interaction. I know it
may seem a bit cliché because this topic has been extensively explored,
nevertheless it will be briefly discussed.
Technology
has indeed increased human interaction because there are now more opportunities
to connect with others. What is suffering however, is the actual quality of
these interactions and relationships.
It
is quite normal to have 1,000+ friends on Facebook these days, and one would
think that someone with that number of friends definitely interacts frequently,
which may in fact be the case. But what is the quality of these interactions? Just
think about it: how many close friends do people really have and engage in
meaningful face-to-face interactions with? Exactly – not that many. Research
shows that regardless of the number of people one has on their social
network/s, the maximum number of actual social relationships he/she can
maintain is between 100 and 200 (The Bottom Line, 2012). And that’s just the number
for social relationships; the number of (close) friendships is way smaller.
Although
technology has clearly aided in interactions and connections made amongst
persons, it has definitely contributed to some damage to the quality of these
interactions/relationships.
References
The Bottom Line. (2012). Technology is destroying the
quality of human interaction. Retrieved from https://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/01/technology-is-destroying-the-quality-of-human-interaction
You spoke a book by saying, "What is suffering however, is the actual quality of these interactions and relationships." It's the sad reality of our society. I honestly don't think anything could fix that. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteI think the 'quality' of these relationships should not be compared with that of traditional ones which were unaffected by technology. We have to consider the fact that these relationships are relative to their era and, therefore, cannot be viewed as poor quality but of 'evolving' simply in lieu with the human interaction trend of the day.
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