Now that the internet has become an integral part of our everyday lives, face-to-face interaction has become limited as people have been resorting to socializing from behind a blue screen.
It is a common belief that technology is affecting social interaction. According to The Daily Universe, children are apparently spending an estimated seven hours per day either watching TV, playing video games or using the computer, which has been reported by the ICMPA (the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda, established by University of Maryland). It is believed that this has been a contributing factor to the dramatic rise in obesity in children over the years.
Pictured above is a graph that relays the rising percentage of obesity in children ages five to 17 across the globe in the year 2015, which has been provided by PhitAmerica.org.
As for the decline in human interaction due to the rise in technological advancements, the article by The Daily Universe suggests that "Relationships are essential; humans are social creatures. Human nature craves human interaction, and that interaction cannot be effectively replaced by technology."
An article by BuzzFeed titled "30 Things Only Antisocial People Understand" even recognizes and parodies this common disorder rising in children and young adults. There is a search tag for "anti-social" on Tumblr, where you can see posts from young adult and teen users describing their personal experiences with the personality disorder, some accepting of it and others depressed because of it.
According to an article by the Wall Street Journal, the real issue here is that people are spending more time on artificial, online relationships than they are on creating real, in-person connections.
However, fortunately, there are apps out there that are granting users with opportunities to build in-person relationships with people from all over the city, and even possibly all over the world.
Online dating websites and apps can sometimes lead to a decline in commitment as users find the experience to be very online-shopping-esque, suggested by an article from The Economic Times. It has been noted by users there are many times when they will have great conversations with people via messaging on the app, but then the person on the other end will never commit to even meeting up. TheGuardian.com's online dating advice column, "Ask Eva," believes that this could stem from users simply wanting someone to talk to and could even be married, or just extremely shy. Nevertheless, these apps can still be successful in helping users finding people to date, or even to just hang out with.
Meetup/Tinder: It can certainly be much more nerve-wracking to go up to someone at a bar or at a supermarket to make conversation than to just "slide into someone's DM's." So, apps like Meet Up and Tinder actually help encourage users to not only meet new people but also to get a conversation going and develop a relationship that may become worth meeting in person for. It simply depends on how proactive a person wants to be on the app.
I haven't used either of these apps personally, but after my parents got divorced, my mom had a lot of free time on her hands that she didn't know what to do with. Sure, she's had our neighbors to hang out with from time to time, but they have their husbands or families to spend time with whereas all of my mom's kids have grown up and no longer depend on her as much. She wanted to go out and have a good time, but obviously, no one wants to do that by themselves. When my mom discovered the Meetup app, she suddenly started receiving invites to go out to fun events. The events are for local users on the app, and she began to foster relationships with some of these people very quickly. My mom actually ended up meeting her current boyfriend at one of these meet ups, and they really are great for each other. They have been going strong for quite a few months now, and I couldn't be happier to see how happy she is now.
Uber/Lyft: In today's modern world, you no longer have to be rich to request a car to come pick you and drop you off at your designation. Now, with the press of a touch-screen button, you can order an Uber or Lyft driver to take you from one point to another. Since these apps hire drivers that are just everyday people like you and me, you are more inclined to have a conversation with them than you would be if you had a stuffy limo driver or a foreign taxi driver who doesn't speak much English. This helps us to become more social in everyday settings, just by catching a ride to wherever you're headed.
Airbnb: You can even meet new people when you are traveling or vacationing with apps like Airbnb! When you stay at someone's home or apartment, whether they are present during your stay or not, you will likely get the chance to meet them in person and get to know them at least a bit. This eliminates the isolated environment of staying at a hotel, where no one bothers you unless you call them up to your room or make small talk with another hotel guest in the elevator. If you are from Russia and you want to vacation in San Diego, you can now stay in someone's home, condo, apartment or even beach house, and get to know the locals living right under that roof, or at least renting that roof. Either way, if you are someone who doesn't like going to unfamiliar places without knowing someone, once you've made a connection with someone by staying at their place, you now know someone in this unfamiliar place and can choose to keep in touch with them if in case you ever decide to visit again.
These apps may have flukes and flaws here and there, but what doesn't? We have to give their creators some credit for at least trying to push society into socializing with their fellow species. I really appreciate how these apps are helping humans relearn how to become social again, especially in a world where kids are now being raised by iPads and the internet.
