Social interaction in the Internet age
While the global messaging capabilities offered by email and Internet access can bring us into contact with other human beings around the world, many of us feel alone and isolated by the rush and brevity of electronic exchanges.
Furthermore, the anonymity of chat rooms and electronic groups can lead to a tendency to embellish the truth, or even to invent a completely different identity, with many chatters around the world reinventing themselves from their income to their vital statistics. . In some cases, the difference between an individual’s made-up Internet personas and the factual truth can lead to unwanted self-concept issues and further social isolation as the image of the Internet moves away from social reality and into an isolated keyboard realm. , screen and I preferred.
be realistic
Paul gets a text from a friend saying “how are you?” He’s having a bad day, he’s worried about his father and he’s stressed at work, but what can he really say about it on the keys of a mobile phone? How much more supportive and sustaining would that same message be if it had been delivered directly to him in a warm and caring tone of voice?
Too often we go around “asking” without asking. We can ask another how he’s doing, technically speaking, but the query has no more depth or value than an initial “hello” and will inevitably invoke the short, standard response anticipated… “fine”. It would be rare to hear the truth, “I’m stressed” or “my cat died” or “I have a bad headache”, yet many of us walk desperate to reveal that truth, and to express our feelings in the willing ear of another being. living, breathing human.
A pinch of interest can be a real tonic
Our fast-paced lifestyles and entertainment options are leaving us out of touch with ourselves and each other. We stay in front of the TV at the end of the day, meet up with friends, and then go somewhere that’s too loud to hear each other or too dark to see each other. Too often we find ourselves sitting next to a friend, but taking an interest in the faces of people we will never meet in some fictional encounter on a movie screen.
To live, to really live, to feel alive and vibrant, we need to regain an active spirit of human concern, we need to be involved in the process of life, in the details of the lives of others, and we need to seek out socially. antidotes to the intimate but meaningless relationships we are having with computers, televisions and mobile phones.
Human investments, human returns
Paying attention is an investment. Listening, asking and exchanging are the active currencies of real human interaction, and such an investment brings quick and invaluable returns. A socially satisfied human being is one who can cope well with the demands of a fast-paced life without feeling that they can be carried away.