By Alec Nunez

Technology is at the forefront of human interest, and continues to grow and become ingrained in every generation’s culture. No longer are the days of needing to walk to a library for information, we, and our posterity, have every single answer to our curious thoughts at our fingertips. With our beckon call, answers seem to look for us now, with thousands of results rushing to appease your inquiry. It is understandable that we as a society would view this boom in technology as a golden age, but is it really as golden as we perceive it to be?

Contrary to the image social media (or not-so-social media)  provides, technology actually separates us from reality. We spend our time on these social sites believing we are connected more than ever, but are simply socializing with our screens. Heavy use of the internet, according to an article written by Bob Affonso, pulls individuals away from the communication abilities of society. Prolonged internet solitude results in the deterioration of communication skills, leading to neglect of family, enhanced stressed, and depression. The progression of technology continues to disconnect us from the world as we find ourselves infatuated with the newest devices. According to the same article, frequent internet users, on average, spend one hundred minutes less with family than those who rarely, if ever, frequent the internet. This demonstrates a clear distinction of lifestyles between internet users and non internet users. Because those who spend more time separated from others tend to experience higher rates of stress and depression, it can be extrapolated that frequent internet goers fall victim to this same pattern.

The internet is undoubtedly mankind’s greatest achievement thus far. The web has taken such a strong foothold in modern culture, so much so that it is hard to imagine life without it. As the world continues to evolve and shift its functions to being internet-based, we too should start to evolve our mindsets and worry about the destruction it may do to the world we find ourselves in. The internet is an incredibly powerful tool that allows us to expand our plane of understanding, but as we become more knowledgeable, we become more separated than ever. As this tool continues to strengthen its grasp on society, it is important to ask “are we becoming more advanced, or more primitive in our ability to socialize?”