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Social Media Creates False Intimacy
After 2 years of lockdowns, I think I’ve had enough.
I have been working from home for almost 2 years. I haven’t seen a single colleague or stepped into an office for that long — well, now, I don’t even have colleagues.
Since the first lockdown in the UK last year, I moved 30 minutes away from central London. When I look out the window, it’s all green. I don’t really see any neighbors either. I don’t really know anyone around here that isn’t a family member (I live quite near my future in-laws.) I see my friends and sister now and again, but most workdays, I’m by myself (my fiance is in his office.)
Yet, I don’t really feel alone. It’s because I’m constantly plugged into social media. I see people on my little phone screen all the time. Twitter. Youtube. Instagram. Tiktok. I hear voices and I read thoughts that seem to come from people standing right in front of me. They feel real. Very animated.
Tonight, I’m alone in the evening because my fiance is attending a work party. I feel sick of looking at the phone screen so I put it away. I lie on the living room floor after a workout. I feel the urge to check my phone again, perhaps to get a dose of dopamine or be connected again. Then it hits me that no one is here. It’s just me. It’s just me inside the house, and it’s been…
