The Internet's Impact On Social Life

Today humans live in a world which is dominated by technology which has foremost provided them with the internet. The massive influx of the internet has sucked them into its domain providing them with so many resources that they are forced to believe that they are fully living their lives. However at the end of the day, the unfulfilled demands of their real lives are leaving them isolated and lonely. Although it can be argued that the internet either helps people connect or has no impact on their social lives whatsoever, yet it is evident that that it is making them lonelier as they rely more and more on the internet for social connections, entertainment and These days people are so connected. With apps like Facebook, Whatsapp and Skype

Whatever activities they did, their sole purpose was to merely--. That was primarily how they spent time. However nowadays, the definition of fun has changed. If one has free time to pass, he would just log into Facebook or Twitter or watch a TV show online. The website ‘Netflix’ has especially proven to be addicting which is reflected in the fact that the term ‘binge-watching’, which means to watch multiple episodes of a television show without any breaks, was coined as a result of a wide variety of television available on it. A report from GfK shows that the average Netflix user (ages 13 to 54) watches 5.1 TV shows and 3.4 movies per week via the service. This raises the question: If people spend so much time binge-watching how can they go out and interact with each other? And apart from these occupations, most kids are fixated on to video games available online which means they spend an unreasonably large amount of time glued to the screens, cutting themselves off from the outside world. The research of The Nature Conservancy which tells that 90% of the kids in America prefer to stay indoors supports this observation. It is now fair to conclude that people are stuck in their own little world where they might be successful in entertaining themselves but at the end of the day they have no one to talk to which makes them lonely. However, people can argue that kids do hangout together but it

People argue that: firstly, social media is a hub were you can instantly connect with people miles apart and stay updated on the lives of family and friends. Secondly, it also helps expose one to a large number of diverse communities further broadening their connections. Thirdly, various TV shows and online games aid people find common interests which can lead to relationship development. So in light of these points one asks that why is the internet an issue? The internet is indeed not an issue had this been the whole story about the current situation but it’s not. When internet was first introduced it was presented as a tool (capable of many tasks) which could be used to make peoples lives easier. However today, this ‘multi-tasking’ tool successfully fooled us to believe that their requirements of life are being met. But, that is nothing but a superficial illusion. These ‘friendships’ and ‘resources’ are at the tips of our fingers yes, but they cannot be replaced by genuine friendships-- . So in the end, it can be concluded that technology is harmless if used as a side tool but that is definitely not the case with our