SOCIAL NETWORKING HAS CREATED SOCIAL ISOLATION

Living in 21st century, where technology has become a universal safety blanket, it becomes
important to understand some integral part of this technology. One such part is ‘Social Media’.
The modern society has become more and more obsessed with technology in shape of PCs,
Tablets, iPad, Smart Phones, etc. Social Media has transformed the way people interact and meet
each other. However, it is a very threatening situation to most of the people that due to addiction
with the social media websites and apps such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and
many others, people are losing interactions in real lives with ones who are even closer to them
resulting in a total isolation.

In today’s world, mobiles and other gadgets have become more than just devices, they have
become major priority, a device that one desperately cling to while waiting for someone, standing
in a queue or even while sitting at homes with their loved ones because each one of them would
either be using WhatsApp and a few would also be using Facebook or a few on Instagram and so
on. They just hang onto their electronic devices waiting for someone to be online without
realizing that the one sitting right next to them are waiting for him outside this social networking
world. They have hundreds of friends on their friends list but a few of them are those whom they
have never ever seen or met, and a few are those whom they have never ever chatted with. So, at
the end of the day, one remains alone even having a bunch of people liking the status or a bunch
of followers that sit in the list.

The moment one pauses to check a notification in mid-conversation, they are sending an indirect
message that the person on the other end of the phone is more important than the one in front of
them. As they become more and more accustomed to interruption, their ability to have
meaningful, focused conversations weakens. Paying attention to some meme on a phone rather
than listening to the person sitting right next to one, results in the total abandoning of the actual
real-life relationships which ultimately fuels to already broken society.

On the network, people undergo an internal monologue while scrolling through the pages. They
see people posting their vacation pictures, them being at the party, and they appreciate their
activity by liking it, in turn, they have the urge to be liked the same way. Thus, they also start
posting only the admirable things happening with them – their highlight reel, or sometimes
create something fake and make it appear real. They may not even be travelling, but a simple
picture with a sunset in a park in the middle of the city becomes their hill station, copying a
random quote from a famous book makes them a bibliophile, they unnecessarily associate
themselves with things they do not and what they are not. This pretentiousness is due to the
compulsion created by social media to be appreciated and liked on the network by others. This
leads to a very serious personality withdrawal. They lose their distinctness and obliviate from
their own selves – becoming an impression of the contrived personality and living a fake life just
to get a like and a good comment to soothe themselves through this senseless thought that this
might make them anything extra in eyes of the ‘followers’ that do not even care. The main reason
behind this is to make them less lonely but results in a total loneliness because a like or a heart
can does not talk to the one in any ways.

Social media or a like or a funny meme or a random video or a tweet cannot bring people
together. Social networking has created barriers among people. It causes teenagers, adults and
children to develop a habit of checking their phones for random notifications, scrolling news feed
of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc., for no reason instead of having a conversation with the
people around them. They might have a MILLION friends on Facebook or thousand followers on
twitter but how will they ever help them, even if they wish to? Virtual friends will never beat real
friends. This is something many people cannot perceive as true and they finally loose actual living
beings in trying to maintain a better social life. This moment, the world has become fully
dependent on the technology, most importantly Smart Phones and the Social Media. These
technological creatures were developed to serve mankind, but their excessive use really creates a
serious issue in lives of especially younger generations. Social networking is really a double-
edged sword and really does make the one less social and isolated even if it presents the whole
world in front of them by a single click.