"In every handmade object, there is the joy of creation and the essence of human spirit. It's not just an item; it's a piece of the heart." - Anonymous
Impact of social media and instant messaging apps on interpersonal relationships
My Perspective
Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram Messenger, Signal Messenger etc. (primarily WhatsApp in India) do boost one to one connectivity among friends, acquaintances and family members. It also helps improve communication related to mostly once in a while transactional and sometimes friendly topics like family matters, medical, school and college education, fun side of personal life through photos and videos. Jokes and memes, through forwards, add spices to one to one communication. Group chats and social media like Facebook and Twitter strongly influences one to one communication through instant messengers.
There is another side of instant messaging i.e. the not so nice aspects. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a vital role in mood regulation of human beings. It seems that entire society is driven by the feel good factor due to constant availability of cheap dopamine through group chats and social media. Unless it is transactional or related to business, most one to one chats survive as long as the recipients gets positive social stimulus and dopamine influx. It doesn’t matter if something is good or healthy for us, as long as we get that quick dopamine fix.
From my experience of chatting since the days of Yahoo! Chat, I see that loss of reward stimuli and dopamine activity lead to one or both the recipients disengage at the slightest pretext. Read receipts, online status, last seen status etc. further add to anxiety and feeling unimportant or betrayed. There is lack of patience and empathy. Sharing contrarian or critical views, on matters connected to society and politics, often cause functional impairment and getting ignored or blocked.
The day before yesterday, I learned that a neighbour we had known for nearly seven years had passed away. We were not in touch for the last many years. I did think about him a few times during these years and wanted, at least, to send a text message and inquire about his well being. It never happened.
Now the fact that I can never contact him has left an unexplained void in my mind. And also a tinge of lasting regret.
There are many people with whom I should be in touch but this does not happen. I keep thinking if this is the result of a traffic-infested, hectic city life with a terrible work-life balance, my own negligence, or the present impact of social media and instant messaging apps on our lives and societies.
I have lost those days and times when I used to meet people just to spend some time together with no business or vested interests..