Face Time

Trey Brown
2/20/09
12:22

In a world of ever growing interconnectivity worldwide more and more people are able to connect with those they would never normally know. Social networks have had an exponential increase far past any point possible before the silicon age. And yet a Dr. Aric Sigman of the British Psychological Society has a very important warning against social networking sites such as Facebook, the largest of its kind, as being people’s only social interaction methods. Dr. Sigman warns that social networking sites are closing us off from each other instead of just broadening our avenues of communication. He and his colleagues fear that the lack of “face time” that has become an essential part of human development over centuries of evolution may lead to substantial health problems as serious as cancer, heart disease and dementia. It is the human body’s reaction, through chemicals and hormones, to being in the vicinity of another human being, “face time”, and the dangers of a lack of it that Dr. Sigman is worried about. It has also been noted that the largest growth for social networks is among the youth and they may lose out on learning body language and important social skills that can only be learned through “face time.” Despite the fact that the reactions of humans beings being in close proximity to one another are not fully understood Dr. Sigman shows valid reason to be concerned.
When the foundation of human society, social interaction, is in danger of falling apart everyone should be worried about. The problem of a lack of more intimate social interaction would affect human society in ways nothing else has. With the wide range of Psychological and physical health problems possible it is a problem that should definitely be at the top of the list in terms of urgency. Society has always changed and adapted to new technology over time but the slow and steady approach isn’t always the most safe. Just like the laws coming into effect over in-car cell phone usage, sometimes adaptation to technology has to happen more quickly than usual to ensure the safety of those who use it. We have to adopt better methods of communication that allow for well rounded and not just isolated individuals. When communication breaks down there are always problems, but if communication breaks down on a global scale there would be no telling what the consequences of that could be.


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