Is the Digital Age the downfall of intimacy? Every time I turn around, someone is complaining that Millennials can’t connect. “Their noses are stuck in their phones. They can’t hold regular conversations. They don’t develop deep and meaningful relationships.” Digital technology is getting the blame, but I think something else is the real culprit.
As long as you have a cell phone you’re never alone. – Stanley Victor Paskavich
The age-old inevitability of change.
Do you really think an entire generation of people are simply missing out on a core human need: belonging and connection? I have two Millennial-age sons, and while they are smartphone users, they are also very capable of connection. It simply looks different than, say, when I was a twenty-something.
Millennials, Z-ers, smart phones, social media and other digital platforms are changing the intimacy game and fulfilling their basic human needs for connection in nontraditional ways. Sure, there may be some loss of face-to-face social skills, but ask yourself: In today’s remote-workplace, long-distance-dating, virtual-community, email-therapy world, are in-person communication skills as important as they once were?
