social relationships issue
The advent of communication tools has turned our world into a global village, where citizens from all parts of the globe can make contacts with one another in less than no time. While the positive effects of such technological advances cannot be overlooked, they are not without their share of problems, especially in terms of social relationships. In this essay, I would like to examine the downsides of these life-changing technologies in more detail.
To commence with, the most alarming issue posed by overdependence on communication gadgets is social isolation. The emergence of computers and smartphones in the modern age has enabled people to make phone calls or text messages within the matter of a second, eliminating the need to travel a long distance in order to visit friends or relatives. Convenient as this may seem, communication by such a way often loosens the strong bond between family members. Moreover, many people become so absorbed in the visual world with its many attractive features that they neglect the importance of socialising with other individuals, imprisoning themselves in the world of their own. A youngster, for example, may not be able to hang out with his peers or share the school day experience with his parents due to the enormous amount of time that he allocated to the Internet.
Secondly, technological advances can wreck the nature of friendship. Since communication tools offer unlimited access to the outer world, people can easily make online friends by means of social networks such as facebook or twitter. The need to find friends in the real world which often requires time, efforts and patience will, therefore, be reduced. However, unlike friends that we make from regular contacts, visual friends are highly unreliable and thus unlikely to offer us help and comforts in times of difficulty. We cannot confide in them our secrets and expect them to share ups and downs with us. Life would become rather dull and unmotivating without someone we can count on.
To sum up, although the technology proves to be advantageous in some ways, they are far from being flawless as long as social relationships are concerned. In the end, it all boils down to people's awareness to make proper use of communicative devices.