HOW DO YOU IMAGINE SOCIAL INTERACTION WITHIN 10 YEARS GIVEN THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON HUMAN RELATIONS.

By Shashank Bansal

EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY

During 1990s Early 21st century Before 1990s

PRESENT DAY SCENARIO

TECHNOLOGY in Social InteractionA BOON A CURSE

Helps us to communicate in ways that are easier, faster and more frequent.

Advanced means of communication can make people addicted to them.

Connects people around the globe. The value of physical presence & emotional understanding diminishes.

Video calling enables visual sight of a distant person.

Uncontrolled use of social networking mediums leads to detachment of youngsters from their family.

Free messaging tools provide economic means of communication.

The value of human expressions and mutual bonding declines.

Social networking sites allow users to communicate with an expansive network of people.

Increased dependence on technology limits the possibility of social contact.

DEPICTION OF HOW TECHNOLOGY IS HAMPERING SOCIAL INTERACTION

2023…WHAT’S IN STORE FOR US ??

10 YEARS FROM NOW…• According to a survey by Gartner, the sales of smart phones rose from 40 to around 170 million units in only a span of four years (2009-2012). •People are extensively switching to smart phones to avail its unique facility of providing easy and highly accessible features of social interaction.

Therefore, I believe, in 2023, not less than 600 million people would be carrying smart phones.

•According to World Wide Web Consortium, the world has seen a 566.4% growth in internet usage since 2000; 34.3% of total population (2,405,518,376) use Internet.•Millions of people are using it as a medium of social networking. •Extensive research is being carried out to provide better and more advanced devices which may eradicate the need of physical presence completely.

The number of people using Internet for social networking is likely to be tripled after 10 years.

2023 will witness extreme dominance of technology in the field of communication and social interaction.

10 YEARS FROM NOW…Virtual presence would become the most preferred choice of social communication.

Holograph:A technique where the image changes as the position and orientation of viewing changes just as if the object were present, thus making the image appear three-dimensional.

10 YEARS FROM NOW…Social relationships would become increasingly dependent on high-tech social networking applications such as a Wrist PC.

Wrist PC:It allows the user to remain connected to the web anytime, anywhere. The wireless earpiece can be detached from the wristband and used for making conference calls.

I fear that in spite of technological developments, we will not understand each other.

THE EXPERTS SPEAK…“By 2020, the idea of turning off technology is going to be the equivalent of trying to stay dry when you are underwater. And I think relationships require uninterrupted time. They require being present. They require attention. And the more immersive our world will be by 2020, the negative result of this constant interruption with people we truly care about

will be only harder as we are pulled in even more directions.” —Tiffany Schlain– filmmaker

“My guess is that people who only make friends in person will be seen as socially handicapped.” — Charlie Martin– writer on science and technology

“Social relationships cannot improve when people spend less and less time in face-to-face encounters.” —Luc Faubert, president of dDocs Information, Inc., consultant in IT

governance and change management

“What I already miss the most is personal contacts in the real world. Too much communications through the internet can damage real quality of life. I fear this will be

worse in 2020.” —Bernhard Adriaensens, professor at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management

Social Interaction

Electronic Media Use

As electronic media usage will increase, social interaction will decline at an alarming rate.

MY PREDICTION FOR THE FUTURE…

BUT WE CAN PREVENT IT…• Communication undoubtedly is one of the most essential component of society.• It is the backbone of professional and personal environments. • Advanced communication techniques do play a significant role in making social networking

easier, cheaper and efficient. • However, to ensure that social interaction and emotional attachment do not fade away in

the shine of electronic gadgets and tools, we should implement some necessary amendments in our lives:

Widen our social circle personally.

Hang out with friends whenever possible.

Start or become a part of social and leisure clubs.

Educational institutions should impart this knowledge to children on a compulsory basis to inculcate the significance of social interaction and safeguard its essence despite continuous

technological advancement.

A healthy, interactive, cohesive world OR a virtual, expressionless world of technological domination?

The choice rests upon us!!!