Face-to-face interactions among younger people are becoming less frequent because of their dependence on online communication apps. Because of this trend, there are some issues that are prevalent nowadays. This essay delves into this issue and suggests steps that can alleviate this trend through encouraging in-person interactions.
Having less instances of face-to-face interactions create two main societal issues. Firstly, these platforms encourage echo chambers, which are discussion spaces only accepting a single opinion on a certain issue. If a person has a different point of view compared to the majority in a echo chamber, they are shunned or isolated. This tends to force that opinion on everybody, which makes people narrow-minded and less likely to compromise. Secondly, it inadvertently encourages isolation among people. Humans are social creatures by nature, so isolation is not good for a person’s mental health. Thus, there are higher instances of negative mental conditions like depression in the world today.
To encourage more face-to-face interactions, the people must be provided opportunities to actually meet new people. One way to do this is to have the initiative to create third spaces like parks or forests. These spaces must be accessible to the public and must also be conducive place to explore their interests with other people. Another way is to create hobby clubs, which focus on a certain activity or interest for people to explore as a group.
In summary, face-to-face interactions are declining due to the rise of online communication platforms. This phenomena creates issues that negatively affect how society interacts with one another. In order to fix this issue, people must be given chances to meet new peoples through initiatives like providing them with third spaces and organizing hobby clubs.