EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

            Nowadays, the first thing that we do after we wake up is checking our smart phone. We check our messages and our social network account, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The rest of the day, we always spend our day on mobile device, tablet, laptop, or desktop.

            People nowadays use technology on almost everything that they do every day. This includes in the way people connect among each other. Of course, technologies are beneficial in order to connect people together. However, there are also drawbacks of the technology on human relationships. Human relationships here don’t need only to be the relationship among couples only, but also among families, friends, and society.

1.      Technology cause the conversation to lack in context

This is because, when we use technology to communicate with each other, such as Whatsapp, or Facebook Chat, it is quite hard for us to detect the exact message of the other parties. We don’t know sometimes whether the other person are being sarcastic, joking, or serious. This is because we cannot hear the tone of the voice, and we cannot see the face the other party make while talking about that matter. So sometimes we can misunderstand the message of the other party.

2.      Online communication lack on empathy.

This is because, we cannot see the face and hear the tone of the other party. For example, if the father of our friend pass away. Then we Whatsapp our friend saying that they should be patient and we feel sorry for their loss. Of course sometimes we really want to reassure our friend. But technology doesn’t really pass that message towards our friend. So, as a result, it is lack on empathy.

3.      Technology cannot give the essential personal touch

Sometimes we just want our mother or father to give us a hug, or pat on the back. However, our mother just sends us an emojis to reassuring us. The emojis are cute, however it cannot serve the same purpose and give the same feelings as the actual hug. So, sometimes, we need a real thing and action, not an emojis.

4.      Technology overloads can lead to cocooning

Some people are addicted to technology, after some time they don’t leave the house in order to communicate with others. This can leads to social isolation which is very bad. They didn’t socialize at all. They only socialize through social media.

            I admit that technology serve many purposes and had made our life easy. However, we shouldn’t forget that overusing of technology can also sometime give drawbacks in our live. We should be the one controlling the technology, not the technology controlling our lives.