Is social interaction dead?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

 Ironically, social media doesn't really promote social interaction- as in meaningful conversations with people. Its basically just picture uploads and quick xxx characters of status updates, rather than actually holding conversations. No one is talking to each other, rather, everyone is talking AT each other. This is just my opinion. Even people irl would  just choose to spent tme on their phones or tablets, rather than engaging  in conversation at the dinner table.

 

Is actual social interaction becoming extinct- both online and offline?

[BlueBrony 388]

I do not think it is going extinct, but rather it is no longer a given in society. Humans are social creatures, and thus we will always crave some social interaction, and if there is no interaction to be found, we will try to remake it ourselves (think Wilson from the movie castaway). Social media and today's technology has made us more isolated, but it has also increased people's craving for real interaction. Also, I think that other methods of communication, such as texting, are slowly evolving to allow for more social interaction. it is almost like building a brand new language, with gifs and memes instead of sentences.

[Ganondorf8 11,315]

It's still alive and well in some places though you would have to look hard to find them.

[Deleted3133333 3,560]

Dying, yes. Definitely. My friends completely abandon me during the summer for their snapchats and instagrams that I don't have and that have no true conversations.

But dead, not by a long shot. As long as there's forums like these, social interaction will persist.

[cmarston1 5,959]

No I doubt it is dead.

 

[GeekySonic 1,150]

[-----Deleted!-----]

Edited May 5, 2018 by GeekySonic

[Ironwood 21]

Its funny, all my irl friends I currently have, I met them first online. I think I would have been completely friendless without forums and chats.

[CT-1138 3,182]

Not if anything to say about it, i have! 

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

It's not dead, but it often feels like it is on life support.

[Mothra 648]

Just a couple days ago I saw a man walk into McDonalds with what I assume was his son, and when they sat down with their food the man took out 2 phones, one for his son and one for himself, and they just sat there in silence while they ate and played around on their phones. It'snot dead for sure, but sometimes you have to wonder what happened

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,544]

Wouldn't say it is dead, but it is something that doesn't seem very encouraged more and more as time goes on. Society is becoming all about being an whore, even at the cost of one's own personality. Why talk about a subject and give an opinion when one can share a photo that has someone else's words instead? Then they can hope their friends notice and forget about it within a minute.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

It's definitely not dead, nor will it ever be. The death of social interaction would go completely against human nature.

[Zyrael 1,471]

people would rather talk to me online than in real life. Nobody ever says what they mean in person. If it weren't for modern things like texting and internet, plenty of people would have less social interaction. Think about that lonely kid in class who can't make friends and nobody wants to talk to. The only interaction he gets is the internet. Without that, he'd only have his parents really. 

[Jeric 46,851]

 

I think in many ways this is dependent on specific people. I'm holding five separate conversations at the moment, and am aware of many many others I could be having. I think it's just a personality thing maybe? Maybe I'm just the old man that doesn't see a difference between IRL and online, and treat them the same? 

Speaking of conversations, I have a PM!

> Runs

[Will Guide 21,360]

Depends on who you're asking. I did interact with other people in RL a week ago from Yesterday. We actually had fun playing the Nintendo Switch and its game 1, 2, Switch together side by side! I say that was social interaction because we were playing together in person and not online.

[Dreambiscuit 9,818]

There may be more socializing going on via internet devices, but the art of real social interaction in person is deteriorating fast. I'm not saying it's dead, just gasping. People become so reliant on their devices that they get used to having an invisible wall separating them from who they're talking with. And now it seems that getting to know someone in person is becoming impossible. Everyone has their defenses up and barriers in place to prevent anyone from getting too close in real life. Social media hasn't put an end to social interaction, but it has shifted it into a far inferior position than what it once was. 

[Guest]

How is it dead, lol. Sure, it's a BIT less mainstream,  but it's still there and it's not going anywhere.

[-D1SCORDANT- 1,080]

Dead? No. I still have long conversations with people in real life. It just depends on who you talk to and what you talk about.

 

Though I will say it's on the decline.

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by -D1SCORDANT-

[Hierok 11,831]

I have conversations with people every day and on schooldays every hour. I think it never will be dead. 

[SONICchaos 824]

I think i've mentioned this in another topic but I still believe social interaction is alive and well but being utilized for more specific purposes. Finding out how someone you know or care about is doing before social media required a physical visit or telephone call. Both were common but took planning on someones part (when the best time to call them was so they wernt busy or not there). This required more effort which often ended in missing the person you were wanting to talk to essentially wasting time. Today finding out news about someone is obviously much easier as it may only take a few minutes to write out a paragraph of your current misadventures and post it publicly. This meant you didnt have to recite the same story to several people individually when they asked "how are you doing".

This made keeping in contact one the main reasons for interaction so much easier that this often did replace actual conversation. That however is still necessary. You surely want to ask questions and want follow up questions in return to experience a fulfilling interaction and of course this can be done just as easily with messengers, VoIP and good old fashioned phone calls. Yes you miss the physical interaction with people seeing peoples reactions rather than just hearing or assuming them when telling them something but what it offers is much more available communication which is the basic reason behind telephones, telegraphs and hell just mail. The ability to communicate with someone in more convenient places and times without having to make plans is what I believe the major benefit of technology has offered us.

That said as I mentioned you miss the physical connection. Seeing the person you're talking to and seeing their body language which is psychologically what our brains are programmed to associate with expression making socializing much more dynamic and personal. The other issue is regarding meeting new people. Obviously if you go to a bar and meet someone you see exactly what that person is like just not who they are or what their personality is. You got the experience of meeting someone with zero information about them and just letting social interaction fill in the gaps. Meeting someone online is much much different because as everyone knows you never know who is on the other side. They can say they are whoever they want and it cant be assumed one way or another. This is what social interaction does that technology could never replace. The experience of meeting someone new thats exciting because you truly have no idea what may happen in the next few minutes whether personal safety is involved. Being able to communicate with someone via text before you meet can help alot with that just by at least scanning if they are outright psycho but yeah people can always hide their intention while texting which of course they can do in person as well.

Social interaction is obviously necessary for any kind of romantic and physical relationship so no post or text conversation will ever replace that but getting to that point also requires social interaction to meet that person so it has to exist somewhere if people are still mating and marrying. It just may not be as obvious as it once was.

And to those who think everyone was always more social before this easier form of communication.

Spoiler

 

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

Social interaction is far from dead. While you see people communicate more often on electronics than in the past, social interactions still occur extremely often.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

It's not dead, I just think it's been decentralized a whole lot more. People don't necessarily want to talk to the people who are in their physical proximity, but might very well be having a conversation with someone on the other side of the planet. Even if a lot of their activity isn't aimed at having a conversation, I'm fairly sure they do still talk to people about the stuff they like or come across. It's just no longer to the people they're nearby to in real life.

[Vefka 1,499]

I don't think plain text will ever replace a real human with emotions, gestures, etc. So no, I think it's more than alive