“Social” networks and loneliness are two very unlike things to be discussed simultaneously... The two are complete opposite of one another: “social” is associated to relating to one’s society, loneliness can be defined as “a complex and unpleasant emotional response to a feeling of isolation” (Ye and Lin 166). While loneliness can mean solitude, it also includes feelings of isolation and disconnection to other people (Ye and Lin 166). John Cacioppo is labeled as the world’s leading expert on loneliness. He proposed a thought provoking analogy: a car can be used to pick up friends, but one chooses to ride alone. Did the car make the person lonely? (Marche 68). Absolutely not. The car is simply a tool in the person’s everyday life. This relates …show more content…
The majority of society has SNS’s, and some of these users are considerably lonely. But just because the statistics of loneliness and social networks are increasing at the same time does not mean the two are related. Loneliness is expected to become a growing trend in the next decade is because of the growing number of older individuals, not the advance in Social Networking Sites (Aarts, Peek, and Wouters 942). This rise of elders in society is a result of the Baby Boom era. During this period of time, an abnormally large amount of babies were born, and now these people are getting older. This means that there is a much larger population of elderly people than usual, and these older individuals are more likely to become depressed and lonely. Many losses come with old age, such as loss of a working atmosphere, physical mobility, or loss of a spouse/child (Aarts, peek, and Wouters 942). Each of these things can be responsible for feelings of loneliness and a reason behind growing loneliness. Also, quality of life is a major factory in whether or not loneliness becomes an issue in one’s life. Certainly a person who deems themselves to be successful, with a healthy marriage, children, and a stable job will not be as lonely as someone who does not. Social Networking sites do not cause people to become lonely when the factors outside of SNS’s have all the power to do
I-Chieh Chen (2015) in The study The Scale for the Loneliness of College Students in Taiwan (http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/download/46795/25238) stated that Loneliness was initially studied by Sullivan (1953) (A Peplau, D Perlman, LA Peplau… - Loneliness: A …, 1982 - peplaulab.ucla.edu) who proposed that loneliness was an unpleasant and intense experience related to unsatisfied requirements for intimacy (http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/download/46795/25238). Sullivan’s research was all but neglected in his time. This neglect lasted until 1973, when Weiss, an American scholar who was an adherent of Bowlby’s attachment theory, published an article entitled “Loneliness: the experience of emotional and social isolation” (RS Weiss - 1973 - psycnet.apa.org).
4) and says that in contrast to Artistotle, Americans take friendships not at all seriously. We may have plenty of casual acquaintances, but very few true friends with whom we can share deep connections. Rather than gaining the benefits of a relationship with boundaries, we focus on relationships that can take us over. Taking care of our emotional health is something we choose to do independently, even though we are so dependent in many other areas of our survival. We live alone more often, we join social organizations in the lowest numbers of the last century, and up to one fourth of us have no one to confide in, and on average, a person has four close relationships, and half of these are spouses and children. In fact, when we do feel like talking, we pay for it when we hire therapists, or adopt pets. He says, referencing University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, that Americans are lonely more because of the rushed way we tend to our social relationships which reduces meaningful connections. He goes on to say that we are “locked in what social critic Barbara Ehrenreich has called ‘the cult of conspicuous busyness’,” (par. 10) and that we strive to gain a respect from this lifestyle that then leaves us no time to devote to building intimates
T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats portray their characters as two men, who are trying to deal with the idea of loneliness. Both men are presently depressed with their existing lifestyles and crave to become a part of an entirely different state of affairs. As these authors present their characters desires to live a separate life from their recent one, Prufrock and the narrator (Yeats) take a different approach to expressing their ideas of loneliness. Eliot chooses to depict his character as an overly educated man, whose mental state is deteriorating because he longs for companionship, while Yeats chooses to depict his character as a man, who wants to live-out his childhood dream in solitude. Both authors show their characters as men who are trying to cope with their feelings toward seclusion.
The purpose of Philip Slater’s book The Pursuit of Loneliness is to “reach some understanding of the forces which are unraveling our society” for his readers (xxii). It is a common conception that America is the best country, an idea which is substantiated by economic figures. However, Americans are not happy. According to Slater, “all societies frustrate certain human needs and satiate others (because) humanity and any particular society’s idea of what humanity should be is never very exact” (2). In America, the gap between reality and perception is growing farther and farther apart, at human expense. Americans work their entire lives for the future, in the pursuit of economic security, which ultimately leads to continued unhappiness in the present. American culture “struggles more and more violently to maintain itself, (but) is less and less able to hide its fundamental antipathy towards human life and human satisfaction” (122). Slater’s book teaches people about the existence of the “wide gap between the fantasies Americans live by and the realities they live in,” in the hopes that this will inspire people to react in positive ways (xxiii).
One’s amount of Facebook reflects how popular one wish to appear online more than how healthy one’s friendship truly is. Constant usage of Facebook allows user to potentially feel like they have a meaningful social life, when in reality, they are missing something. In Stephen Marche’s 2102 article, “Is Facebook making Us Lonely?” he notes that Facebook was introduced to the world in the midst of spreading and intensifying loneliness, an idea to which he greatly attributes Facebook’s appeal and success (Marche 26). Initially, social networking sites seem to be evidence of modern-day social interaction being easier and more convenient than ever.
Loneliness is a terrifying feeling that never escapes our lives. When I was younger, my largest fear in life was that I would make no friends and would be lonely. As I grew older, the fear shifted to dying alone. Now that I take steps back to look at this I realized everything I have missed, everything I have misunderstood. I am finally strong enough to understand that loneliness is inescapable, it lives with you all through your life. Life is a lonely place, where even if you are lucky enough to have people around you, all you have to look forward to is losing them either through going separate ways or death.
In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", written by T. S. Elliot in 1917, J. Alfred Prufrock makes the reader privy to his innermost thoughts on an evening out. Prufrock wants to lead the reader to an overwhelming question, raising expectations, but he is a bitterly disappointing man; he never asks the question. He lacks self-esteem, women are intimidating to him, and he is too much of a coward to ever be successful with women. The title is "The Love Song,", not "A Love Song." So whenever Prufrock is around women, he behaves the same way. He always has and always will. Because of his inability to change he will die a lonely man.
Not much is worse than feeling all alone in the world, feeling like no one cares or understands. The complete emptiness of being solitary for long periods of time is enough to drive someone crazy; enough to make up imaginary people living with in the confines of a room. It is enough to force an older woman to put complete confidence in a stranger that probably doesn't care at all. Lack of attention from a husband can be one of the worst forms of loneliness for a woman to endure.
There is a relationship between old age and late life loneliness; whether is perceived or actual is irrelevant, as society views elderly people differently
Today we live in a society that has been engulfed in technology and that question is does technology make us lonely? Personally I don't think, I now we can communicate with one another faster than ever whether it's by text message, email and through the many social networking sites that we have today we can reach out to each other in so many ways. There has always been a debate on how this technology affects us and some would argue that it's ruining us as we speak while others would say it's a step in the right direction. Such devices and applications as smart phones, tablets, e-mail, texting, Facebook and Skype are bringing families together, offering an easy avenue to communicate when you’re loved ones are far away and or when they are as close as the next room. People have the sources to interact with others around the globe with just the click of a button. We can share our lives with those around us and at the same time see what others are doing as well. People can keep in touch with their family and loved ones with all of the social networking sites available, or make new friends through these sites. People can talk to their relatives that are station in the military using video chat services such as Facetime and Skype, which a vital way for people to keep in touch with their loved ones while their away on duty. The social networking sites also is a way for us to meet new people and interact with them. It helps a lot of people that don't have friends in their daily life to have friends through social media such as Facebook and Twitter people can talk with each other and build bonds with one another through these sites which can help them to feel a lot less lonely than they would in their normal lives which helps a lot of peo...
Life in the modern world is difficult now because of technology has taken up most of our time. It can make us feel lonely and disconnect with reality. As we spend much time on the internet, such as web surfing or instant messaging, we lack with our social skills because we don’t know how to interact with people. People who are “socially anxious” and “lonely” tends to focus more on the internet by making “relationships with others” and slowly interact with people on the web but we don’t socialize with people in our life (Tyler 200-201).
I feel uncomfortable in my own world. Being alone unnerves me. I always have felt the need to share my world, my mind and my feelings with somebody. My feelings about myself seem less important than what others think of me. I'm scared of being lonely. And so are we all. We all seem to be on a continuous search for someone who will really love and understand us. Someone to provide us with a purpose for life. And yet I think we are all essentially alone. We are alone in our thoughts an emotions.
He concluded that social relationships are important when trying to refrain feelings of loneliness to bring happiness, but it is technology and its numerous social forms that derives from it which can boost those social relationships even higher. In other words, you cannot maintain social relationships without some sort of technology that allows each other to keep in touch, whether it be Facebook, Instagram, text messaging, or perhaps just old-fashion calls. Based on personal experience, it is impossible to meet my family in real life since we live so far away from each other, yet we still manage to maintain a strong relationship. How? We text each other every day through a group chat, keeping up to date on how are day has been, what we ate, or any achievements or mishaps we faced. We call when any of us has free time just to see their face once again, and we send pictures to each other to see what is happening back in our own homes. By staying connected, I do not feel alone but rather happy that I always have someone to talk with - someone who I stay connected to and informed about. Through all these means of communication and connectivity, people like me can remain linked and informed about each other as they would in offline communication. Therefore, it is important to use these opportunities that technology has granted us to prevent loneliness and keep us
Marche, Stephen. “Is Facebook Making us Lonely? (Cover story)”: 8 (10727825) 309.4 (2012): 68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Before technology, face to face communication was a normal everyday thing and loneliness was a problem that was rarely talked about or experienced. People went about their day without checking their phone every five minutes or so to see if anyone liked the status they posted or feeling lonely when nobody new liked it. In new studies more and more people have feelings of loneliness and depression. However, more people now use social medias such as Facebook, twitter and instagram. While it is true that technology mainly sites such as Facebook can lead to a person feeling alone, it is also true that it depends on how you use the technology, either to your advantage or as a depressant.