Debate (no.49) Does Technology Separate or Bring People Together.

Hello Steemians. I'm participating in this debate that says "does technology separate or bring people together"
Personally, i feel technology does both but for the purpose of this debate, I'll have to stick to one which I feel has lesser disadvantages.

First, on the one hand, technology helps us connect with people faraway, helps us gain information on concept that are not so clear, socialize with people and gain the audience of many.
On the other hand, excessive use of technology has created this void that cannot be filled, in that, physical interaction is becoming lesser and lesser. Even in families, members no longer engage in prolonged interactions and get to know each other's daily worries. Everyone seems to be on their phone for the most part of a day. Fellow feeling and empathy is declining.

Like I said for the sake of this debate I'll stick to one part. Irrespective of the fact that physical interaction is declining, we cannot completely say that technology is the outright cause of this sudden decline. Individuals can also make needed efforts to mend their relationships with family and friends. For example, when eating at the dining table, we can actually make conscious efforts to put our phones down and engage in physical talk, look at the faces of our family members and ask how their week is going, if they have plans for the day or if there is any thing we can help them with. Technology doesn't glue our hands to our phones or tie down our arms from stretching and touching the next person seated at the table. Thus, we need to adjust our reasoning and make needed changes if we are to achieve and create a household that is united, filled with fellow feeling and affection even in the society at large.

Do you feel closer to your friends and family because of social media, or do you think it keeps you apart?

Well, I feel social media actually makes me feel closer to my friends and family. I often chat with my sister who is faraway from home, i do video calls, voicemails and even group chats with the whole family. I don't feel it keeps me apart because when I chat with my friends, I feel as though we are together and after chatting for weeks or days, we make conscious efforts to adjust our schedule so we can see each other face-to-face.

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How often do you use your phone or computer to talk to people compared to meeting them in person?

It depends on the situation and the proximity of the individual I'm chatting with. If I'm chatting with a friend who lives really far away, then we'll talk more online than in person, but if the individual is close by or not so far, I'll make out time to meet occasionally. This will help me to ascertain various characters that may be hidden online or may not be so obvious online. For people I do not know or haven't met before, I just keep the conversation online and formal as the case may be rather than meet in person.

Can technology help us make new friends, or does it mainly connect us with people we already know?

Technology can indeed help us meet new friends. The cyber space is really wide, even on Facebook we often see an area called "people you may know" and there we see people we know and mostly people we do not even know physically but share mutual friends with. Other applications such as TikTok, Instagram and X offers us the opportunity to meet people who share the same interest with us. Most times whatever we are more interested in watching or reading is presented in our news feeds along with new people who are posting this information which we do not know and can connect with easily. The follow button links us with strangers that may turn out to be good friends.
So it doesn't just connect us with those we already know but it connects us with those we do not know at all.

Have you ever felt lonely while using social media? Why do you think that happens?

For me, I only feel only when I send a message to a friend and do not get a reply as soon as expected or someone I know has been offline for quite a long time and when that happens I just leave the messaging section and go back to watching reels or viewing interesting pictures, posts and funny comments. For those who feel lonely, I feel maybe something that interests them is going on social media and they can't partake in it, maybe a wedding party, bridal shower, gameshow or some other contest or fun activity that they would love to participate or have made plans to be part of but weren't called or outrightly neglected, then they may feel lonely seeing those things ongoing and not been able to participate. Others may feel lonely seeing old friends getting it all easy perhaps going on an expensive shopping spree, vacations or fun cruise and they loneliness creeps in because they can't attain such level of luxury.

How has technology changed the way we communicate with each other?

For some, technology has helped them to improve their communication skills while others have further deceased in their skills of communicating.
For example, an individual working online will probably use technology to make in-depth research on concepts, job skills, about a company and how to ask questions or how to answer questions effectively, how to teach or how to ace interviews.

But for those who use social media for chatting with friends only and not any other thing more productive, their communication skills can decrease. The ability to reason and have interesting conversations as well as constructive criticism can be dampened. People tend to say a lot and be interesting online but during face-to-face interactions, you see quite a different person.

Finally, I would say technology brings us together. The ability for us to interact lies in our use of social media and how best we maximize the tools and features displayed and train ourselves to value physical interactions and affection for family and friends. If we use technology well we will be more concised in speech, actions and our overall knowledge.