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posted by martyb on Friday June 19 2020, @09:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the only-the-lonely-can-play-♫♫ dept.

Tech and social media are making us feel lonelier than ever:

You've had a social day. Two hundred Facebook friends posted birthday messages, your video of Mr. Meow shredding the toilet paper stash got dozens of retweets, and all the compliments on your latest Instagram selfie have you strutting with an extra swagger. Still, you can't help but notice an ache that can only be described as loneliness.

That we feel this way even when hyperconnected might seem like a contradiction. But the facts are clear: Constant virtual connections can often amplify the feeling of loneliness.

"Internet-related technologies are great at giving us the perception of connectedness," says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, a Stanford University psychiatrist who's written about the intersection of psychology and tech. The truth, he says, is the time and energy spent on social media's countless connections may be happening at the expense of more rooted, genuinely supportive and truly close relationships.

If virtual socializing cannot substitute for the real thing, will social media prove out to be nothing more than a fad of the late 20th and early 21st centuries?


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 19 2020, @10:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 19 2020, @10:22PM (#1010187)

    Once when I was unemployed and really needed some funds, a friend of mine "bought" some of my books. Later when I was back on my feet, he "sold" them back to me at the same price.

    Even later when he was unemployed, I "bought" some of his books from him. Then I "sold" them back to him, same price, when he was back on his feet.

    This let both of us retain a bit of pride. We both knew what we were really doing, but we didn't have to say it.

    Starting Score:    0  points
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