I believe people were naturally happier in the 1980s. With our advanced technology today, you would think people were more connected but, in my opinion, we couldn’t be drawn further apart. When I step into an elevator or classroom, all I see are people busy on their phones. Back when there wasn’t technology, we would’ve been forced to talk to each other more often. The power of connection is important; someone exchanging a smile with me or passing a compliment can make my day, but our phones minimize these interactions.
Robert Waldinger, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.” I think technology and social media increase superficial interactions instead of the genuine ones that bring us close. Somone who has triple the number of followers as someone else isn’t necessarily loved more and by every individual who follows them. We live in a society where you can have 4,000 followers on Instagram or 200 people added on snapchat but still feel alone. According to UCLA health, “In the 1980s, 20 percent of Americans identified as lonely. That figure has now doubled to 40 percent. Psychologists know a human’s need for interaction is fundamental, so it’s no surprise that feeling lonely also has significant health consequences.”
Along with this is a statistic from the CDC, “From 1988–1994 through 2005–2008, the rate of antidepressant uses in the United States among all ages increased nearly 400%.” These facts demonstrate an insane increase in mental health struggles since the 1980s and today. There are probably many factors to this, but I believe technology plays a big part. Friends today can easily see if they’re being left out from a hangout or if someone their age across the country is accomplishing much more than them. These things weren’t as assessable to people growing up in the 80s. You could live your life freely without having so much information and comparisons thrown at you 24/7 by phone.
In addition, I feel the dating life has changed so much. When I talk to adults today about dating, they find the differences crazy. For example, I believe people really don’t “date” anymore in the sense of going out with different people to get to know them. I feel that people enter a talking stage or even situationship immediately with one individual. According to the Pew Research center, “47% of Americans say that dating now is harder than it was 10 years ago.” and “Most people now use dating apps and social media to communicate with each other, compared to earlier years when people had to talk face-to-face.” Going along with the differences in dating and constant comparison, without social media, boys and girls would only see the people around them. Of course, there were television or magazines, but people only interacted with those in their direct environment. Today you can scroll on TikTok and find hundreds of beautiful people to compare yourself to. I think there is also a toxic idea today with dating that there is always better. This is because we grew up seeing so many different people and even unrealistic beauty standards people think there is better somewhere else instead of appreciating the beauty within the people already around you.
Now, you could look at this with a pessimistic look, or you could use it as motivation to implement healthy awareness into your everyday life! For example, socializing with the people right in front of you instead of the ones on your phone. Try smiling more at people or making a new friend in class. The power of human connection in person is so important and it’s easy to forget while busy on our phones.