Who do you know?

You scroll by a comment on an Instagram post. You read a tweet on someone's timeline. You watch a video on someone's story. The internet has brought about so many new methods of interaction. You can see other people anywhere, and wherever we go, just by pulling up their social media on your phone. However, with all this space to interact in, why do nearly half of all Americans always, or sometimes, feel alone or left out?

In this age of universal connection, one of our biological needs remains relevant. We are lonely. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many people you know, or friends that you are close to. Sometimes we just feel lonely, so we are lonely. This phenomenon can be compounded by social media. Rather than relieving our isolation with pictures of our friends, it adds to your growing unease. There is no replacement for face to face interaction. Every post on social media is a glimpse at what your friends are feeling, but it is a permanent glimpse at a fleeting moment in time that has already passed. We are inforgs, but our digital persona can sometimes be so mind numbingly different than our non-digital persona that there’s a sense of discomfort similar to the uncanny valley. We see other people on social media, but they’re not exactly human. They’re a facsimile, and one that prods our real need for human connection.

Loneliness is an epidemic, but not one that attacks viciously and quickly. It will wear at you. Hiding behind the guise of a savior is one of it’s key perpetrators. At the same time that social media permeated into society, Pestilence rode his ivory horse among us as well.