I think people are less isolated today due to technology. I’m speaking in a purely social and emotional context here, and not physical. I think that, yes, physically, we see people less face-to-face. We talk in person to people less, but overall, I think communication has greatly improved our social connections.
The summers when I was 12, 13, and 14 years old, I went to a YMCA sleep-away camp. I made a great friend there, Mindy, and we became pen pals. As the years passed and we both went off to college, we pretty much lost touch. That was until Facebook was invented. When I signed up for my Facebook account in 2008, the first thing I did was look up Mindy. She has three boys and lives in Chicago. Yet here we are, friends again. We know what each other looks like, we are able to see pictures of each other’s kids, and we share funny anecdotes about being moms. I was able to support her during a recent battle and victory over cancer, and we even plan on meeting up again someday soon. I believe that, without Facebook, and thus the Internet, I would have probably lost my friendship with Mindy altogether.
So, yes, physically, we are becoming more isolated as a society. But on an emotional and friendship level, I think we are only making tighter, longer-lasting bonds.
I completely agree. I have noticed that the definition of isolation on the topic in the book is very narrow and the study a narrow field as well. There is only one real focus. I would love to see an expanded study that controls more of the outside factors.
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