Why is it that teens today are so lonely? The world has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Today, we live in a world that prides itself in being “socially connected” and “mobile.” We own devices that are used primarily to communicate with others, yet the topic of loneliness is more relevant today than ever. In this socially connected, high-tech world, there is even more loneliness than in the past. A generation ago, technology had little effect on teens’ social lives. People made friends by socializing face to face, not text messaging each other from across the room. Teens need the emotion that comes from communicating face to face. Technology is just too impersonal. Today many teens think that technology can be used as a replacement for conversation, but the impersonal nature of technology leaves them lacking and lonely.
People love Facebook, but it isn’t doing them any favors. Many teens today spend more time “socializing” on Facebook than they do actually conversing with their friends. The problem with Facebook is the impersonal way in which people use it to communicate. It is a great tool to organize events, but it isn’t a great way to make friends. Many lonely teens spend hours “socializing” on Facebook and have hundreds of “friends” that they barely know. The problem is that social networking sites like Facebook use text as the primary form of communication. Teens who rely on social networking to share their emotions aren’t doing it effectively, since the text does not convey emotion. They look to their online friends for advice and reassurance, but don’t get quality information back. This leads to a feeling of rejection, one of the leading contributors to loneliness.
The impersonal nature of technology makes it easier to distance people from oneself. Things that are said via text messages have no immediate fallout. Essentially, it is a one way conversation in which it is easy to insult but difficult to comfort. People are much more likely to hurt others’ feelings when they are not there to see the result of their actions. They can easily distance themselves from the people around them. For example, many teens break up with each other over a text message. Aside from being incredibly insulting, this is also unemotional and leaves one or both of the teens broken hearted and alone. Explaining feelings in person is obviously a better choice, but teens today tend to keep their feelings close to them.
Rather than talking about their emotions, Teens lock them up. Teens today are arguably worse at expressing their feelings than teens at any other point in history. Rather than opening up and talking about their feelings, Teens today try (and fail) to express them through technology. This is one of the many reasons that teens today are so lonely. Technology should be embraced for its ability to help connect people, but it should not be a replacement for a real, face to face conversation.