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There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relat

There certainly is a crisis that social media and greedy online platforms (greedy for your time and ad dollars) prey upon. And yes the breakdown of social relationships with family, community and neighbors is certainly a big part of this. But consider historical factors in the USA. The breakdown of church - this was the de facto center of many communities for generations up until the post-vietnam era and the culture wars that have ensued. Combine this with the loss of farms - from more than 6 million in 1935 to roughly 2 million in 2012 - farms have gotten bigger. When agriculture dominated the rural economy having closer knit ties with neighbors was not so much a choice but a necessity. Also we are a country that embraced the idea of moving - be it from the city to the suburbs or the American South to the industrial American north. We have not done a very good job replacing those connections and it is breeding an epidemic of loneliness and addiction - not only to digital media but also to opiates. There is not an easy fix of course but folks should certainly consider the intrinsic value of these things before they decide to write off their family or community because of a difference of opinion or worldview. And another factor is that capital is increasingly accumulated at the top percent or 1/10th percent of earners. The folks in the middle and lower class find they have to work more to have a quality life than they did a generation or two ago. We are so busy working and driving to work and running our kids around that we barely have any time for friends and that is truly a shame.

rdiddly 9y ago
You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping. I don't mean the ability to go out and take a walk for the exercise, I mean being in a place where walking is the best way to get to useful places and do things... the grocery, the doctor, the hardware store, and ideally, your job. Dense cities have this, to some degree. Rural areas don't, but they usually have a small town nearby with a main street (if Walmart hasn't decimated it). But in the suburbs you're generally inside a car to get anywhere at all, and how much incidental, accidental contact are you going to have with your neighbors from behind a glass pane at 25 MPH?
- bitwize 9y ago
  I used to live in some of the burbiest burbs imaginable. I lived a bit out of the way but many of my schoolmates were right in the thick of it: tract homes, manicured lawns, the whole bit. Back then -- I don't know about today -- going to the store may have been a chore that required a car, but visiting your neighbors was easy. You were bound to see some of them as you went out to get the paper or water the lawn. Car traffic was so light that kids would play in the street -- basketball, hockey, frisbee, racing go-karts or RC cars, whatever. All the kids in a neighborhood all seemed to know one another really well. There's a lot to dislike about suburbs, but by themselves they're not some sort of dark magic socially isolating force.
  - refurb 9y ago
    That was my experience as well. In the suburbs you generally knew your neighbors, at least more so than in the city. I live in a city now, and I run into my neighbors and chat with them, but that's about it. Also, the suburbs tended to have more kids and generally be safer (not as much traffic). As a result, I spent most of my youth just hanging out with neighborhood kids. And my parents hung out with neighbors.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.
  - KozmoNau7 9y ago
    >"Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator." What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?
FooHentai 9y ago
Thank you. Your post is dense with points that have been troubling me for some years. These issues aren't limited to the USA, either. I've experienced them in several other countries.
golemiprague 9y ago
You forget to add that in the 60' the US changed its immigration policy and started to become more diverse. More diversity means less connection between people. In addition the family structure started to collapse and many people grow up in smaller family units. Those developments are now touted as something positive but there are many negatives to it, not only the break of the community. If you go to more homogenous countries with slightly more conservative values you will get a bit of a different vibe.
Terr_ 9y ago
Right -- Fads and technological gadgetry aren't necessarily the root cause, as much as a (maladaptive?) kind of treatment for the symptoms.
- zasz 9y ago
  Exactly--Sherry Turkle made the interesting point that while it is concerning teens spend so much time on their phones texting, it's because they can't drive yet and go see their friends. Tech is a band-aid for a spatial problem.

rdiddly 9y ago

You touch on an important factor: land-use and transportation policy. The lack of "walkability" in the typical suburban neighborhood is certainly not helping. I don't mean the ability to go out and take a walk for the exercise, I mean being in a place where walking is the best way to get to useful places and do things... the grocery, the doctor, the hardware store, and ideally, your job. Dense cities have this, to some degree. Rural areas don't, but they usually have a small town nearby with a main street (if Walmart hasn't decimated it). But in the suburbs you're generally inside a car to get anywhere at all, and how much incidental, accidental contact are you going to have with your neighbors from behind a glass pane at 25 MPH?

bitwize 9y ago
I used to live in some of the burbiest burbs imaginable. I lived a bit out of the way but many of my schoolmates were right in the thick of it: tract homes, manicured lawns, the whole bit. Back then -- I don't know about today -- going to the store may have been a chore that required a car, but visiting your neighbors was easy. You were bound to see some of them as you went out to get the paper or water the lawn. Car traffic was so light that kids would play in the street -- basketball, hockey, frisbee, racing go-karts or RC cars, whatever. All the kids in a neighborhood all seemed to know one another really well. There's a lot to dislike about suburbs, but by themselves they're not some sort of dark magic socially isolating force.
- refurb 9y ago
  That was my experience as well. In the suburbs you generally knew your neighbors, at least more so than in the city. I live in a city now, and I run into my neighbors and chat with them, but that's about it. Also, the suburbs tended to have more kids and generally be safer (not as much traffic). As a result, I spent most of my youth just hanging out with neighborhood kids. And my parents hung out with neighbors.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
pmoriarty 9y ago
For me it's not just the walkability of the suburbs that's the problem, but the lack of places to go... other than stores, bars, and restaurants. It's a cultural wasteland. I'd just much rather stay inside, and often do. Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator.
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  >"Cities are not much better for me, as most of places there are to go and things to do tend to cater towards the lowest common denominator." What do you mean by this? Are there not museums, art galleries, chess clubs and a variety of other venues that are adequate for your high standards?

FooHentai 9y ago

Thank you. Your post is dense with points that have been troubling me for some years. These issues aren't limited to the USA, either. I've experienced them in several other countries.

golemiprague 9y ago

You forget to add that in the 60' the US changed its immigration policy and started to become more diverse. More diversity means less connection between people. In addition the family structure started to collapse and many people grow up in smaller family units. Those developments are now touted as something positive but there are many negatives to it, not only the break of the community. If you go to more homogenous countries with slightly more conservative values you will get a bit of a different vibe.

Terr_ 9y ago

Right -- Fads and technological gadgetry aren't necessarily the root cause, as much as a (maladaptive?) kind of treatment for the symptoms.

zasz 9y ago
Exactly--Sherry Turkle made the interesting point that while it is concerning teens spend so much time on their phones texting, it's because they can't drive yet and go see their friends. Tech is a band-aid for a spatial problem.