Members of today’s families are more isolated than ever before. The reason is not because of large distances between them. Rather new technology makes this isolation possible.
Ironically, we adopt new technologies to save time and effort. Indeed our new devices are faster and more efficient. However, they are also more demanding; they consume more time. The ties that they supposedly facilitate are more distant and less social.
Sherry Turkle describes what have been called “postfamilial families” in the following manner: “Their members are alone together, each in their own rooms, each on a networked computer or mobile device. We go online because we are busy but end up spending more time with technology and less with each other. We defend connectivity as a way to be close, even as we effectively hide from each other.” (Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, New York, Basic Books, 2011, p. 280-281.)