Isolating Ourselves With Social Networking

It amazes me that the more "social networks" we join, the more socially isolated we become. If society believes that social networking is a positive outlet for human beings, our society is sadly mistaken. We were created for human contact and experiences. I have yet to see a computer that will embrace us when our hearts are breaking. I stand amazed, as the social networks expand – Facebook, My Space, Twitter, and other online groups – we find ourselves hunkered behind our computer screens, communicating with strangers and we do not even know the names of our neighbors. We can tell you the details of virtual strangers’ lives living in a foreign country yet we don’t know happenings within our own families. We are sadly very isolated and there appears to be no end in site.

This isolating of America began many years ago. If you consider homes constructed in the early and mid 1900’s, many had large front porches. Families escaped summer heat and humidity and evacuated to their front porches. Neighbors were united in front porch communities. Nowadays, families cocoon when they return home in the evenings.

In addition to online social networks, other technology advances have drawn us backward as a society and made us a nation of isolationists. Recently, a local news reporter decided to remain inside his home for a month to prove that he could order everything online that he might require for daily living. He survived quite well, as any of us could, especially if we have an online career or can work from the comforts of home. And you call this progress? I don’t find it exceptionally healthy for us to isolate ourselves and live lives positioned behind laptops, blackberries and other computer devices.

Once upon a time, customers traveled to their neighborhood banks and performed bank transactions. They knew and trusted the tellers handling their money and investments. Today, online banking eliminates the need for trips to the bank or any interaction with a human bank teller. In another day and age, customers carried their written prescriptions to their friendly pharmacist and then returned to purchase their pills. Today, I order my prescriptions online and can have them delivered via mail – another personal interaction severed by the Internet. And remember the dear librarian who would help to search card catalogs for that specific book needed for a research project? Now, a wealth of knowledge beyond comprehension is available online with search engines replacing the human searching card catalogs for specific journal articles or books.

I notice our mailbox at the street has fewer and fewer pieces of mail each year. Friends and family send their correspondence to my In Box. More and more advertisements and bills are directed to my computer. It makes me ponder if Mr. Postman will even have a job in a few years? With a touch of the keyboard, the United States Postal Service allows me to purchase stamps and other shipping supplies.

I cannot imagine past generations of grandparents and great-grandparents ever being able to envision the life we are living. Social networking as we know it is a paradox when compared to the networking of which our grandparents were partakers. Their generation was the true social networkers – they knew the names and concerns of their neighbors. They could recognize a neighbor’s voice on a party line. They felt welcome and comfortable enough to walk to a neighbors’ home and ask to borrow sugar or flour or eggs. Their neighborhoods and their lives intertwined in an attempt to survive difficult times.

Although this age of online social networks allows us to learn a lot – I am concerned we learn a lot about nothing of life-changing importance. Let us ask ourselves if all of the time we are dedicating to online activities is time that we will regret on our death beds.