Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stop-saying-technology-is-causing-social-isolation_b_8425688
A couple of years ago I happened to tokenize art from an Italian artist, called Rossano Ferrari that is living in Modena, the same city where I live in Italy. He was famous because he also managed to send one of his portraits in the Space, with a Russian mission in 2019. Here some works from him
https://rarible.com/rossanoferrari
Rossano was deeply inspired to Baumann and its concept of liquid society that Rossano evolved towards the gaseous and then the molecular society. This metaphor was representing the impoverishment of the relationship in the society, people not talking anymore but rather writing a lot onto social networks or instant chats. Rossano also taught me that while a few years ago the attention of a person to another speaking was 20 seconds on average, nowadays it has been reduced to 8 seconds.
Source: https://www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/nomophobia
TikTok and the short-contents approach that increasingly social networks are using are enhancing this trend of a fragmentary attention. People and adolescents are bombed by thousands of these contents that they passively stay hypnotized to the screen.
This trend is dramatic and annoying as well.
Why?
This trend is dramatic because people will pay a lot of efforts to re-gain their attention and focus again, since as my first Yoga teacher taught me, the mind is becoming more and more like a monkey. You tell her to stop and the monkey will keep jumping and screaming here and there in the head.
You need to give the monkey a banana, and it will stay calm and focused. But at one time, even the banana will be hardly containing the explosive monkey.
This trend is annoying as well, since when hanging out with people or simply spending time with people that I do not see for many time, they will stay shut at the table, interacting very poorly or even arrogantly and as soon as possible they will go to (or take out) their cellphone and keep interacting (or just being hypnotized) there. I am not focusing here on the dramatic thing here. I am focusing on the fact that we are together PHYSICALLY and still they give more importance to all the s**t they can see on their cellphone or answering empty messages of wishes and so on.
But I am there, I may have traveled hundreds of kilometers to be there and they prefer answering to people that they do not really care of, that they do not really have a relationship or friendship with.
It’s all a matter of appearance and “status quo” (does it make sense in English as well?): showing others that they are reactive and often connected to revert them with stupid emojis and meaningless messages to the meaningless messages received.
What may be a couple of solutions?
Stepping away from the cellphones while eating, while dealing with other people, while talking to others and so on. Showing real commitment of our time to the people we are physically with (or even on the phone when we really care of them).
When we see that we have nothing to say, that can be normal. Also silence is an important moment when spending time with others. When silence occurs just do not rush to the cellphone looking for some chatty noise to bring to your head and simply enjoy the silence with other’s presence.
Stay there with your mind and look for other topics you would like to talk about and share opinions with them or simply tell what you have been doing in the last period you did not see each other and how to create another occasion to get together.