Has social media made us antisocial?

This is a question often pondered and one that I’ve thought about from time to time. I’m currently staying in a Hostel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As I look around the room I can see three people on their phones, and another on an iPad, plus myself. The only person in the room who isn’t on some technological device is fast asleep. This is a big change from 2011 when I first visited Cambodia. While people still had phones and computers you rarely saw people sitting on them for hours at an end, it seems the use of these devices is now nearly as frequent as it is at home.

Recently, Gary Turk’s video, ‘Look up‘ went viral. Turk encouraged us all to ‘look up’ from the screen with his bad attempt at spoken word. Interestingly enough Gary chose to share his message across the social platforms he is calling into question. And oh, I think he forget to share that he made money off the video…

I guess the central question is – is social media causing us to become more antisocial? is really only answered based on your personal opinions and experiences…

Yes, it is frustrating, and sometimes rude when you are trying to have a conversation with someone and they are constantly tapping away on their phones. It’s terrible when you leave your phone at home for the day and you feel a sickening anxious feeling. I have done this a few times and have been filled with dread, then sheer annoyance at how dependent I am on my phone.

Do we rely on our phones too much? In all honesty, I feel the answer is yes – BUT I’m not convinced it makes us more ‘antisocial’. The way we socialise has simply evolved and changed to reflect our changing environment.

As I mentioned previously, while travelling I’ve noticed people are definitely on their phones a lot more than they were even just three years ago. There are so many reasons for this though… our phones aren’t just phones anymore.. they are our cameras, our newspapers, our iPods, our computers and even more! Even if these travellers are just using their phones as a phone – is this really a bad thing? I chatted to a guy aged around 21 who had been travelling for 18 months + I asked him “do you miss your family or friends?” He said he did, but he also felt like he wasn’t missing out as much as he once would have, because it’s so easy to stay in touch with people now and to still know what’s going on.

Further to this, I was lucky enough to meet one of my best friends in Vietnam three years ago. I live in Australia and Ria lives in the UK. We so far have managed to visit each other a few times, but our friendship has blossomed into what it is today through emails, Facebook and Instagram. We can still be apart of each others lives in real time.

People blame youth suicide and depression on social media and there is no doubt cyber bullying and depression are issues, and yes, the internet may contribute to these issues, but so does society and many other forms of traditional media. Social media isn’t all bad. It often raises awareness and money and provides information resources on these issues like Headspace does.

As Andy Boxall points out Turk’s view of a world without social media worryingly portrays a alternative romantic universe where everything is awesome. The world he is talking about does not exist, will not exist and is plain creepy!

Yes, we could all do with putting down our phones from time to time and having face to face interaction, but let’s not paint social media as all bad. It gives us the ability to share aspects our our life with people who aren’t necessarily geographically close to us, we can keep in touch when we travel and sometimes there are even times in your life where you don’t WANT face to face contact, but you might not want to be isolated – for example, in a situation involving grief. Sometimes it’s easier to not have those conversations face to face…

Anyway enough of my rambling what are your thoughts? Do you think social media has made you more antisocial?