Around 20% of Americans - 1 in every 5 people - suffer from loneliness. Thats what was reported in todays New York Times, and Ill come back to that in a minute. Meanwhile, I had a long debate yesterday with my sister and my uncle about the possible perils of social media, which, they argued, causes many people to abandon their authentic self in favor of projecting an image where life is always just swell. Or, they suggested, it causes people to be thinking ahead to their next Facebook post, rather than actually enjoying and savoring the moment that theyre in. Yes, this happens. But my rebuttal is that we cant blame new mediums and technologies for aspects of our human nature. Put another way, I think wed all agree that people who are phony or distracted from being in the moment certainly existed before Facebook ever came along. Social media simply provides a new outlet for qualities that have always been there. Heres what I think is the important part: social media can also provide a platform to exercise the better side of our human nature. Its all about how we decide to use it. Facebook, for example, is not the relationship or the friend-ship itself; Facebook is a tool that can deepen relationships and further friendships: It lets us know more about whats going on in the lives of people we care about; it helps us connect with people in-person in places where it otherwise wouldnt have happened; it helps set the stage for making new friends and for entering new networks. All of which is to say, I think Facebook is as authentic, meaningful, and useful as its given user. So back to a final point about loneliness. Weve all endured valleys of loneliness, and alleviating it is complicated and demands different remedies for different people. But never before have there been more platforms and pathways leading not just to virtual and online interactions, but to real, in-person opportunities for being part of a community. Consider the actions we can take: Messaging that old friend you havent checked in with in a while; attending an open civic event you got a Facebook invite to; inboxing that person youve always wanted to meet but havent had the chance to. Its all right there - and real connectivity awaits.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:31:08 +0000
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