Camden, I don’t know anyone who is talking about it from this angle but I love the conversation starter. I believe now that we have a second generation of digital natives as a society (and as a globe/collection of societies all using smartphones) we need to educate people about the addictive and neurological harms that come from only engaging with others online as part of how we prepare people to navigate a healthy, happy life. If you research friendship and loneliness online you’ll see a lot of conversations about this topic and how we help people make real-world connections so they get the social contact they need to develop their brains. This is not just true of young people, but definitely really important for those who are still growing into themselves. Older people need to be careful we are not stunting ourselves with this technology as well. For our own health, we don’t want to forget to connect to the actual people in our lives.
All that being said I don’t think technology is “bad” and that our use of social media and smartphones means there is no good to be had from those tools, they can be so useful, life-changing, and empowering in some ways. But they are a double edged sword, like so many other things. In Asheville I’ve never heard anyone talk about the “third place” but we focus heavily on all the different unique places you can go in town to find what you love, are passionate about, and enjoy as a selling point for visiting. I still think people need help learning how to talk to people they don’t know or to approach a new group and make a connection. That seems to be a universal struggle. Thanks for sharing the article.
