While I'm slightly too old to have experienced what the article is describing, the trend is there and I believe technology plays an undenyable role (followed by

While I'm slightly too old to have experienced what the article is describing, the trend is there and I believe technology plays an undenyable role (followed by parenting). I have many siblings but notably a brother who's in his first year high school. I also just attended a wedding and got to meet the high school brother of the groom. I was talking to my brother on NYE. He was lamenting that he could not find anyone to hang out with on NYE for a party. We asked why he didn't text people and get something together, "that's not how it works, people communicate with snapchat, and I'm not allowed to have that, not that I want it.. it's just people posting weed and coke stories". He was obviously a little moody but still unable to find any social gathering (even a parent hosted on) on NYE of all nights. The brother of the groom: nice kid but wholly uninterested in anything other than maintaining his snapchat streaks. First he came to me for data. A few days later his phone was dead and he wanted to install snapchat on my phone to continue the streaks. It's psychologically addicting. And it made me realize how much people are depending on fabricated social experiences on their phones instead of real social interactions. One thing is common: snapchat. People don't hang out anymore, they have streaks. If they do hang out it's over pot or coke, no one is even that interested in drinking these days. Oh no tech is ruining everything! Well, no. But something is happening. It's not snapchat's fault, either (unless they deliberately exploit addicting behaviors to increase engagement and retention). I think parents are largely to blame. It's easy to let your 14yr old become consumed in their phone because that means more internet time and less driving around for you. My parents are very wary of this and it's largely why they waited as long as they could before giving my younger brothers a phone and why they are reluctant to let them create an entirely digital social life. My generation, we discovered the internet before our parents knew what it was. I administered networks at 15. I built websites at 14. I was a moderator of large forums at 13. My dad gave me his old laptop when I was 12--bobs celebs era. And I think I've turned out pretty decent. So it leaves me all really torn. Do we embrace technology or shun it? My main fear isn't necessarily the tech itself, but the dependence on it. I fear the iGen isn't learning how to use computers as tools and simply becoming consumers of all the experiences we create with them. And at the same time I hate some of those things we've created like SC and FB for literally taking the human out of humanity--despite having grown quite accustomed to virtual interactions growing up. So I guess the real question is whether it's a problem that people aren't socializing anymore, or at least doing it differently. And if so what will we do about it? Maybe AR to the rescue...