Has Technology changed the Way Young People Experience Relationships?
In the last twenty years, technology has rapidly evolved becoming huge parts of all our lives, including young peoples. By the age of just ten, most young people have already been given a smart phone for their own personal use with access to social media, instant messaging and applications that allow location sharing. While the addition of a smart phone can have a positive impact on a young person’s life, it can also change how young people experience human connections and interactions.
One of the many growing concerns from parents around young people’s access to this kind of technology is the pressure it instils on them to be available 24/7. If we look back over past generations, interactions with peers typically stopped at the end of the school day or when they came home from the park. Young people could leave their social and school life at the door. Home was a safe space for family time. A place they could switch off. Now, their smart devices allow their peers access to try communicating with them whenever they want. Young people are having to be encouraged to switch off with the anxiety that doing so could be interpreted as a form of communication itself.
Historically, teen friendhsips have been difficult relationships to maintain and navigate. They grow in a period of change, anxiety, insecurity and vulnerability. However, the addition of smart phones and social media has only heightened that. Young people are no longer only expected to work on their friendships at school but are now having to nurture them online as well. Things like maintaining streaks on snapchat, being active on group chats and watching friends socialise on social media are adding more pressure to these fragile relationships.
The smart devices in young people’s pockets are not just pressuring them to be accessible all the time, but it is also changing how they communicate and interact with peers both on the screen and off it.
Where previously, young people would have to wait all evening or even a whole weekend to share news with their friends, now they are finding out about each other’s lives over texts and social media posts. We’re seeing this even amongst adults. The ease of instant communication has transformed not only how quickly we share our lives, but also the way our closest relationships share moments with us. In light of this, professionals are left wondering what impact these lost interactions are having on young people’s social skills and confidence.
Not only has technology transformed how young people share life’s biggest moments, but it has also begun to reshape how they experience them. Sharing on social media has become a norm amongst teens and young people. They are no longer just sharing memorable moments and events, they are now even sharing there day to day life’s from gym selfies to “get ready with me” videos. The act of documenting moments and creating content has influenced the moments themselves.
With this all being said, it’s important that we also recognise the positive impact these devices are having on young people.
For many, without the ability to access communities that represent them on social media, they wouldn’t have the confidence to begin exploring and expressing different parts of who they are. They would lose potential support systems and safe spaces they turn to for help and advice.
Many young people (and adults) discover new hobbies and interests, they would otherwise dismiss, on social media platforms. They find the confidence to find something new or motivate themselves to keep trying.
They are exposed to a lot more people with differing opinions to themselves and the people they grew up with. Opinions that could leave them challenging their own perceptions and thinking more critically of things.
Without doubt the technology is here to stay, but the question is at what cost to young people’s personal relationships and how can we support them in developing their critical communication skills away from screens in this ever evolving digital age.