It hurt at some point in my life when I lost connection with friends after relocating to a new environment where I knew no one. I felt lonely and isolated, missing the rich memories and special moments we shared. This was partly due to my parents’ upbringing, which restricted my access to smartphones until I began my undergraduate studies. Instead, I used electronic devices solely for academic purposes. Meanwhile, if not for my parents’ pattern of  upbringing, I would not have felt the pain of losing connection with my friends. Technology would have been readily available to prevent me from missing my friends and the rich memories and special moments we shared.

However, when I started my undergraduate studies, my parents allowed me to use electronic devices with unlimited access. I was thrilled to reunite with friends and explore how digital technology could help us build stronger bonds. We used social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and others to create and share fond memories. Through technology, we reconnected and strengthened our friendship. We communicated as if we were physically present, sharing jokes, stories, and plans for meetups. This experience underscored the importance of technology in enhancing human connection in the digital age.

Although technology helped bridge the distance between my friends and me, our reunion and interactions were not without challenges. We encountered issues such as network distortion, difficulty concentrating, and the absence of real livelihood that physical presence provides and about eighty percent of our plans to meet up physically were abortive due to the significant distance between us.

Despite the rewarding effects of technology in making human connections a reality, despite geographical boundaries, we cannot deny the importance of physical, mutual connections with friends. As psychologist Dr. Sherry Turkle aptly puts it, “connection is the foundation of human relationships,” and the bonds, memories, and special moments created when physically present are invaluable among friends and any social relationships and this is to say  that technology works to enhance our humanity, not replace it, hence technology is a tool , no replacement.

Written by Nathan Ibrahim