The quick evolution of technology has left a serious mark on our society as a whole. Today, we have more “friends” we’ve ever imagined but hardly ever met even the smallest part of them in real life. We discuss preferences and pet peeves with complete strangers on social networks but hardly ever do so verbally – we mostly “speak” using our fingers on a screen or a keyboard. Even when it comes to distraction, we’ve exchanged theaters for streaming and nights out gambling with online casinos Canada. We are more connected than ever… yet we distance ourselves from our fellow man more with each day that passes.

We meet and date online because it seems easier and more convenient than doing so in person. Today, humans of any gender and orientation can find a place where they can meet singles looking for what they have to offer. But the same online dating that seemed to help so many shy, anxious, and socially awkward people even get a date is becoming the source of frustration for many – and they often end up simply giving up on dating as a whole.

We play online. Although board games have become more widespread than ever and card games are now very easy to learn, we hardly ever gather around a table to play. Instead, we arrange “play dates” over the internet, connecting to the same server and teaming up with each other against a similar team of similar players than ourselves. Kids hardly ever play with each other anymore – they use their phones to engage in endless showdowns in massively multiplayer online games, even when they sit next to each other on the sofa.

We hardly ever speak anymore – instead, we send text and instant messages, pictures, emojis, and GIFs to each other. Quite often, significant others spend hours at a time with their noses buried in their phone screens instead of exchanging even a word, sharing the things they find on social networks and tagging each other in their updates.

And we don’t enjoy our experiences anymore but we focus on taking pictures and recording videos of them, no matter if they are our kids’ first steps or the concert of the band we’ve been waiting for months to see live. And after the event, we brag about the things we’ve only seen through our phones’ screens and cameras instead of feeling and seeing them with our own eyes by sharing the pictures and videos we’ve taken on social media.

Back in the day, the slogan of the famous Finnish phone maker Nokia was “Connecting People” – and that’s what they did. But the phones today no longer connect: despite bringing the world within our reach, they take us further apart from each other each day.