Does Social Media Decrease Human Contact?

When new communication methods emerge, many people have a negative outlook on how it will affect the existing forms of communication, especially human contact.

From letters to telephones and the Internet, a worry develops that the new technology will decrease physical contact as people don't need to engage in it as much since they can more easily talk and relate to others through electrical signals that transmit their voice, face or text information. Instead of having to travel to communicate, you can send them a letter, email, call, text or video chat.

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Social media has been the newest human invention that is a cause of concern for reducing human contact through social displacement of alienating friends and family in favor of using social media sits like Facebook or Twitter for communication with others to give and receive attention. Steemit also falls into this category of possibly taking time away from being physically present in other people's lives.

But how real is this social displacement and loss of human contact? According to a recent study from Information, Communication & Society, the claim that social media pushes out face-to-face contact with those that matter most in our real lives, lacks evidence.

That isn't to say that overuse of social media isn't an issue or doesn't have negative effects on our physical interaction with others, but in general, social media is not as bad as what people think.

One part of the study on Gen Xers found no correlation between a decrease in interpersonal contact related to an increase in social media. There was no consistent effect on the direct social interactions of users, consisting of leaving the house, visiting people, phone conversations, meetups and group organizations.

A second part involving half adults and college students also found no relationship between people's social media use and who and how they were talking to in the day. Using social media didn't mean they would be alone at the time or in the near future later that day.

During the rapid boom and adoption of social medias like Facebook and Twitter, there wasn't a visible decline in the direct contact people were having. For social displacement to be valid, people would have to get out less and make fewer phone calls, but this isn't the case.

Questions about social displacement have been around for a while, and despite evidence to the contrary, the theory persists over and over. What does seem to happen though, is that newer forms of technology and communication will displace older forms of media like newspapers, browsing other sites, or watching television.

Steemit is adding to the displacement of old media. Blockchain technology, like Steemit, is already seeing more adoption in the mainstream. Will Steemit or another social media site be able to displace a giant like Facebook? Only time will tell. I think matching or improving the capability for people to interact will be required, not simply incentivizing them with monetary rewards.

Have you noticed a decrease in human contact with your use of social media?
Have you seen an increase in time on Steemit resulting in less time interacting with friends or family in real life?
Do you think Steemit is more "addictive" than other social media sites?

Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.