Monday 22 February 2016

HOW MODERN COMMUNICATION GADGETS AFFECT OUR LIVES AND RELATIONSHIPS


(Love Around the World)

 

The advent of modern technology has brought about many tremendous positive changes in our daily lives. However, some negative aspects of modern technology are being encountered especially in our relationship with our spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. Our obsession with our smartphones has not only changed the way we spend time with others, it has also changed the way we behave, and has affected the way we feel and think.
We are creating and encouraging a culture of distraction and isolation; and this increases the chances of being disconnected from people and events around us. A lot of relationships have been ruined by people’s addiction to the social media. This addiction can lead to connection with a past love or crush, or even an unknown online date that may be half way across the globe, while being totally estranged from people closer to you physically. This can be detrimental both filial and romantic relationships.
 Sometimes, partners exhaust everything there is to discuss through internet chat while at work; it simply means that one gets home at night to spend time with one’s spouse and there is nothing to talk about because one has already spoken about everything all day through social media.
Technology has become an integral part of our lives with more of emailing, texting, tweeting, face-booking, etc. A recent survey by Facebook found that the first thing 80% of people do in the morning is to check their phones; the average users then go on to check their devices 110 times a day. This must mean that we are more connected to one another than ever globally. But what exactly does it mean to familial and romantic relationships? Are we giving our partners the quality time and attention they need from us? Or are we spending more time than we should in our own worlds with “always on technology”?

Research conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on a sample of 2,252 American last year indicates cause for worry. 25% felt their partners were distracted by their phones when they are together.
Nnenna Obi, a Psychotherapist also takes on the same view. She believes technology has a destructive value all of its own. “Viewing your phone or tablet is a solitary exercise”, she says. We get into a relationship to be with another person for lots of different reasons, but instead, we exhaust the time chatting with friends on line. Technology can and is destroying our idea of what a relationship is for. Checking emails or surfing the web in the bedroom can impact negatively on couples’ intimacy and this technology layer wasn’t in existence 15 years ago.

Today’s couples are busy and tired and there are all sorts of reasons for them not to be intimate; having phone or tablet by the bed is yet another barrier getting in the way. Time given to technology is sometimes time taken from a partner; that is experienced as rejection if it is not discussed. All aspects of the relationship, including intimacy, will suffer. A word of advice to be taken is to make the bedroom a technology free zone. Bedrooms are for sleep, pillow talk and intimacy.
Many people have complained that technology has become the third party in their relationships. It has interfered in the relationship so much so that two people can be sitting down together, but will be in their own different worlds with their phones. Others feel their spouses don’t give them the attention needed due to obsession with this new technology in the form of smartphones.  

In all that has been said, the advent of modern internet technology is huge blessing on every aspect of our lives. The ability to use the latest gadget and balance it with our relationship to achieve the best should be our aim. Having the latest gadgets and software with no filial and romantic relationships is always wrong.

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