The age of alone

 There are trends that I see in the tech world which obviously affect the very essence of everyone's day-to-day life. The pandemic has been harsh enough already, the physical, mental and emotional health toll cannot be fathomed. However, it is evident from history that come crisis; there have been significant changes in the way humanity behaves, recent changes are something that worry me though.

It is said that post the last pandemic; the workers' lives changed for better as their wages were increased because there were unfortunately so few people left to work with. It is assumed that humanity does itself a favor by upping its quality of life post a drastic and sad event such as the pandemic

However, I'd beg to differ in the case of the Coronavirus Pandemic; and that is because of digitization ; YES that's correct, this is coming as a person who'd only be excited to know about increased digital penetration in all things we do. One must ask him/herself, just how much is too much?

The issue at hand post this pandemic most prominently is this has now become the the age alone; again, not claiming that social media didn't exist before the pandemic; but you could only do so much on there because there can't possibly have been a day where your classes, lectures and meetings happen online where you can simultaneously be on instagram👀

The pandemic has brought about many changes, one change in particular that I'm quite petrified of however; is getting used to feel, be and act alone. There is no doubt in my head that our lives became increasingly online as we went along in the pandemic; zoom simultaneously with Insta and the whole shabang. But the one thing that I notice now is our increasing tolerance of what one can do online, it appears as if some companies are after making your whole life, online.

Now the problem with all that is indeed isolation and loneliness; social media would be your go to in case of boredom or casual catch up with friends; but simultaneously what it's doing is showing you content that you'd absolutely love/hate. It is in the interest of these apps to keep you as hooked as possible for as much time as possible. So tech has gotten TOO smart into suggesting stuff  you'd like and thus the endless reel scrolling😄. However; not only is it learning you better than you have learned yourself; it is also triggering you in ways you'd have not thought. For example; say you think a particular person named Semlon Khen is in your opinion the worst person that has existed, you'd be suggested hilarious memes that troll the individual. All fun and games, until it starts shaping your opinions in matters like politics, religion, gender, race  and equality; Should you choose to engage in content that's against a particular political leader, you'd not know when exactly you started hating the person. Similarly, should you choose to (unfortunately) engage in content that undermines a Gender, community's struggles in the form of social media hate you'd not know when you started behaving violently towards that group of people. The world is becoming increasingly radical, polar and unrestful and I'm seeing a pattern as to what helps them engage in such behaviors. Without your knowledge, you've gotten to a point where there is absolutely NO WAY you'd hear an argument from a person who likes Semlon; as to why he does so.

Not only this; but it is my own experience that even as the pandemic starts to wane off a little bit (Arguably, please carry the precautions on) I find myself reluctant to actually go out and meet the people I've missed; I infact don't find the need to, I can just log onto my computer and play an insanely interactive game with my friends. We've gotten used to stay by ourselves, as the world on our screens can most definitely entertain us more than some friends or family. 

I thought about writing this because I myself am going through such, however as the world is inching closer towards work, studies, entertainment, pleasure, hangouts being online; one must ask self;

when did the tools of convenience replace the conventional?

When did zoom become office space, when did Instagram became a Café? And why are we more lonely than ever?

Until next time, Thank you so much for the read.💖