Is Social Media Making us Antisocial?

We live in the 21st Century and this world today is most accustomed to gadgets and tools in the online space. With the improvisation in the technological aid, what has simultaneously improved is the connectivity. Marshal McLuhan, the darling of new media technologies had emphasized how the world is becoming a global village with social media in practice. Social media has perhaps removed all the physical barriers and has brought the world closer at one platform, i.e. internet. It has enabled healthy communication and discussions are an extremely viable manner through various social media platforms. Social Media Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, etc have formed a space where like-minded people can chat and talk whenever they want. The technological improvements like the facilities to have real-time chats and video conferences are adding more to the already excellent connectivity. 

What is more interesting here is the fact that these sites allow an individual to interact with a community which is existing online and is perhaps virtual. Where 'being social' is a tendency of being around people and interacting friendly, with social media, the mere physical presence of people doesn't exist. Furthermore, social media and the virtual community developed on these social sites makes a person highly addicted, implying the question, "Is Social Media making us Antisocial'.

We sleep wishing our virtual friends Goodnight, get up with a notification on Instagram, and spend the whole day posting and interacting with the friends online. Undeniably, one can be social to the environment and human beings. But how often we close our eyes immediately wishing our family, Goodnight? Do we think of playing or even talking to the children who enjoy their evening in the society compound? How often do we call our friends instead of asking them about their wellbeing over text? Will any of us prefer to stop using our WhatsApp for an hour just to have a random conversation with our parents?

Maybe some of us will, but if we talk about the majority of people, all of it might appear to be a little difficult for them. Where social media enables communication even across borders, it deprives us of our natural tendency of interacting with people around us. A part of being social involves being emotionally attached and affected by what is around you. Social media perhaps devoid us from being social in real sense. Hence, we can say that to a large extent, social media is enabling communication, yet, it is slowly making us less socially expressive to the real-time world. Without any second thoughts, the real question that remains exist is "Is Social Media making us Antisocial?" and to a large extent, we can't deny that it is making us antisocial.

By: Ishika Aggarwal