Social Connections

I believe that today Americans are less intimate because of technology but not necessarily simply more isolated. Technology has given us a place where we can be another person, openly share all our thoughts, and find other people with similar thoughts and expectations, in these ways we are connected through the Internet. The Internet however also takes away a personalization of people and their relationships. You may be having a conversation with someone who is half way across the globe and never know what they look like let alone very much background information on them. My favourite example of this is "facebook stalking". It is something quite a few people participate in and is a way for you to keep tabs on people without really knowing them. Instead of simply asking someone how they are doing or what is new in their life you can hop on facebook, look them up, and see the people they have recently talked to and the things they have talked about, as well as photos. Now with the updates on facebook you can even see where a person has been as well as an entire "friendship" between two people. This gives us a connection but not an intimate one. It does not require actual conversation let alone telling someone intimate details. In that aspect I do believe that Americans are isolated, we are isolated from real, personal contact.

In today's world a person could never leave home. Via the Internet one could buy all their necessities from places like drugstore.com, purchase all their clothes from any number of stores, even order groceries from Giants Peapod service, people can work from home, order dinner from home and even self diagnose illnesses from home. Today almost everything can be done via the Internet and this I think makes us more isolated, this gives a lack of personal contact that shows today in what I see as Americans, especially in our generation, lack of interest in many social activities both in our local neighborhoods and our interest in people across the world.