Skip to content
THINK Magazine

THINK Magazine

Is new tech killing social interaction?

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn

by Matthew Cesareo from the Gadgets team

msn, hi5, and Myspace started the social media trend. Facebook turned it into a frenzy with over 1 billion people signed up. This could be, perhaps, because Facebook enjoyed the birth of smartphones and super-fast mobile Internet making the service available virtually anywhere.

Matthew Cesareo
Matthew Cesareo

But with such facilitated tiny, portable devices, I can’t help but think that these innovations have hindered social interaction. I mean, yes, one might argue that you can now find your great uncle Larry from Australia and communicate with him whilst sipping a coffee at the Sliema Waterfront. Then again, is that what people are using facebook for? All I can see are people stuck to their devices posting images of food and statuses about how happy they are, whilst ignoring their significant other sitting across the table who, incidentally, is doing the same thing.

Go to a restaurant and all you can see are people glued to their phones. Families sit silently around the table on tablets or mobiles, ignoring the fact that they are wasting their precious life playing Candy Crush, or browsing funny cat photos.

As time goes by, things will become worse. Smart clothing, smart jewellery, and smart appliances hit the shelves late this year—you can actually get a facebook-ready fridge. Are these actually necessary? In five years time, people will spend less time going outside or travelling, and spend their lives living a fictitious virtual life in a bid to boost their ego.

I don’t mean to sound like a grumpy old man, or like the guy from the Pepperridge Farm advert, reminiscing over simpler times. Truth be told, when I was young I used to be glued to my consoles—the Sinclair and SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)—but I always made sure to spend proper time with my family and friends, and enjoy the great outdoors. •

More to Explore

Adrift at Sea: Laws, Morals, and Policies in Malta’s Search and Rescue Region

17/11/2022 No Comments

Since 2016, EU member states have scaled down search and rescue operations that save lives at sea and replaced them with policies intended to reduce the number of migrant arrivals to Europe. These policies of non-assistance and forced returns to Libya render the central Mediterranean one of the world’s deadliest border spaces and force asylum seekers back to a war zone where inhuman and degrading treatment is well-documented. A growing network of civil society organisations continues to challenge these policies in the courts, on the streets, and at sea. This article, the second in a two-part series on migration, is based in part on interviews conducted with Dr Omar Grech, Senior Lecturer in International Law at the University of Malta (UM), Dr Derek Lutterbeck, Deputy Director at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at UM, and Dr Felicity Attard, expert in International and Maritime Security Law at the Faculty of Laws at UM.

Concentration Camps in Libya

17/11/2022 No Comments

Following the NATO-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya descended into a decade of disunity and violence resulting in incalculable suffering and loss of life. Today, much of the country remains a war zone, and migrants in EU-sponsored Libyan detention facilities continue to suffer well-documented, gross human rights violations. This article, the first in a two-part series on migration, is based in part on interviews conducted with Dr Omar Grech, Senior Lecturer in International Law at the University of Malta (UM); Dr Derek Lutterbeck, Deputy Director at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at UM; and Dr Felicity Attard, expert in International and Maritime Security Law at the Faculty of Laws at UM. 

No comment yet, add your voice below!

Add a Comment