Introduction
Interpersonal disconnection is a social self-motivated phenomenon involving the reciprocated creation of a distance between people living in the same society. This adversely affects not only the social life of people but also their relationship with one another. Interpersonal disconnections cause a lot of pain and tension as people try to protect their feelings.
It is important to note that, an interpersonal disconnection does not happen overnight but goes through three main stages. The first stage is called the reconnection stage in which a mutual bridging is created; the second stage is referred to as stasis where an individual starts to adopt the rational distance created between them.
Finally we have distance creation in which the rational distance widens. This process does not just happen but it is triggered by people. When this happens other processes are triggered which results in alterations in social organization. This paper will focus on the perspectives of Pappano and Putnam as they try to explain the concept of interpersonal disconnections.
Technology Innovation
Pappano holds that technological innovation is one of the factors that can trigger interpersonal disconnections. According to her, as technology advances, new communities are created from the existing ones; people tend to distance themselves from one another as they seek for a common ground.
They group themselves into different social classes with common interest and aspirations. Pappano argues that, technology is playing a big role in the growing phenomenon of loneliness based on its aptitude to unite people in new and different ways. As this is happening, people are feeling more isolated and estranged from each other. She wonders why this happens and how it is associated with the cultural factors and insinuation that correspond with it (Pappano, L. (2001).
I agree with Pappano’s perspective because, I think technology is the main contributing factor to this phenomenon. People who have advanced technologically tend to distance themselves from others or look for people who hold a common ground with them. Not all people are successful in this and most of themselves becomes lonely and involves themselves in other activities such as reading or watching movies.
Culture of Shopping
Pappano observes that the culture of shopping has changed drastically and most people prefer to do distance shopping for materialistic purposes. This has continued to widen the gap that exist between the haves and have not thereby leading to interpersonal disconnection.
Shopping has become a way of valuing relationship, people no longer shop just to acquire goods and services but to form a basis for negotiation (Pappano, 2001). The language used has changed and now people can shop for almost every thing including mates. It has also become a means for finding love and or attention which might be lacking elsewhere.
Social Capital
Putnam (2001) has used the term social capital to depict how essential elements of society life, for instance, interpersonal trust and social networks present the means for people to work together on mutual problems.
Social capital involves psychological and sociological factors that have inferences to political functioning. It is this concentration on social views and practices away from politics that makes hypothesizing on social capital and civic culture so important in forming an assessment of the association between models of media use and commitment in civic life.
The understanding of taking part in community projects, volunteering, and participating in other communal activities strengthens norms of compulsion and teamwork, cheering further involvement in community life (Putnam, 1995a, 1995b). Similarly, social trust grown in small group relations is considered to function as a heuristic that is useful in decisions to partake in large-scale communal action efforts
Remarkably, Putnam’s apprehension with the collective decline in social capital argues for the centrality of community practices, interpersonal trust, and life satisfaction in studies of civil society. He emphasizes that involvement and trust have declined, equally contributing to the wearing away of community life (Putnam, 2001). At the same time, life contentment appears to have gone through a noticeable drop, with rates of hopelessness and suicide among young people increasing.
Use of the Internet
Putnam argues that, the use of the internet is another factor that triggers interpersonal disconnection. According to him, people use the internet for social recreation, for instance playing games, and chatting with friends. This creates a negative effect on how people engage themselves in civil activities and can even reduce trust in other people.
On the other hand, the use of the internet for gathering information may have a positive impact since it results in life contentment as people are able to learn different things which they may share with their friends. However, the negative effects of the use of the internet are more severe and can lead to interpersonal disconnection. This is because, as people get more and more oriented to the internet, they tend to shun away from social activities such as social gatherings, and rely on the internet for communication (Putnam, 2001).
This only favors people who have access to the internet thereby disconnecting them from the others. It is evident that, people who use the Internet for entertainment or socialization rarely experience the benefits associated with social capital. If that is the case, recreation and socializing may become disconnected while the misapprehension of social interaction is upheld.
Reference List
Pappano, L. (2001). The connection gap: why Americans feel so lone. New York: Rutgers University Press.
Putnam, D. (2001). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. California: Simon Schuster.