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> For me, I stepped out into an uncertain future. I don’t really see meaningful human interaction anymore. People may think it's because he's been disconnected

> For me, I stepped out into an uncertain future. I don’t really see meaningful human interaction anymore. People may think it's because he's been disconnected for so long. But I have the exact same feeling, and think about this problem every day. I'm a software engineer, and doing everything okay in the modern world. But I mostly use smartphones as a phone like in the last century unless I have to, I don't use most social media stuff, and I don't even take pictures. I don't feel bad or sad about it because I was not interested in the first place. But I feel disconnected, and cannot empathize with people. Everything seems more and more pointless to me. I wonder how many people feel the same, or it's just the op and me?

oneforty4 6y ago
I feel the same way. I think just a lot of people in the tech industry have a starry-eyed view of technology. Don't get me wrong, technology has done positive things and obviously affords us many conveniences. But there is a negative side as well. Its funny to me that people don't think technologies like social media and smartphones have changed how people socialize when that's the very purpose of them. There's something that's definitely changed although I can't quite articulate it. I'm a millennial but I find it easier to talk to people many decades older than me, they seem more attentive. I try to socialize with my colleagues who are my age or younger but they struggle when I ask things like "Hey, how are you?" One of them finally said to me: "I still don't know how to answer that question."
twodave 6y ago
I haven't used really any form of social media (besides HN I suppose) in close to a decade at this point, and I don't feel at all disconnected or left out. Instead I tend to feel real benefits from: 1. Being hard to "reach". If someone wants to talk to me, they have to call, text, email or show up at my house. They can't just broadcast something on their whateverplace and expect me to find it. That makes me appreciate the people in my life who do make the effort to communicate with me personally. It lets me know they value me as a person and that I'm worth their time. 2. I am almost never tempted to think about my image. As a result I'm more "in the moment" and also more certain of my own motives. If the family is doing something fun, we can simply _enjoy it_. No need to document (though there's certainly no rule about this, and plenty of candid pictures are still taken). As someone who at times struggles with anxiety and loneliness, this is one (very large) less thing to worry about.

oneforty4 6y ago

I feel the same way. I think just a lot of people in the tech industry have a starry-eyed view of technology. Don't get me wrong, technology has done positive things and obviously affords us many conveniences. But there is a negative side as well. Its funny to me that people don't think technologies like social media and smartphones have changed how people socialize when that's the very purpose of them. There's something that's definitely changed although I can't quite articulate it. I'm a millennial but I find it easier to talk to people many decades older than me, they seem more attentive. I try to socialize with my colleagues who are my age or younger but they struggle when I ask things like "Hey, how are you?" One of them finally said to me: "I still don't know how to answer that question."

twodave 6y ago

I haven't used really any form of social media (besides HN I suppose) in close to a decade at this point, and I don't feel at all disconnected or left out. Instead I tend to feel real benefits from: 1. Being hard to "reach". If someone wants to talk to me, they have to call, text, email or show up at my house. They can't just broadcast something on their whateverplace and expect me to find it. That makes me appreciate the people in my life who do make the effort to communicate with me personally. It lets me know they value me as a person and that I'm worth their time. 2. I am almost never tempted to think about my image. As a result I'm more "in the moment" and also more certain of my own motives. If the family is doing something fun, we can simply _enjoy it_. No need to document (though there's certainly no rule about this, and plenty of candid pictures are still taken). As someone who at times struggles with anxiety and loneliness, this is one (very large) less thing to worry about.