Anti-Social Century by Amanda Stadtmiller

Americans today are opting for social isolation due to the increase of technology.

ars590 — 2025-09-26 16:19:54 UTC

"Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. It's changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality." (Thompson 1)

The Effects of Covid 19

ars590 — 2025-09-26 16:40:18 UTC

Covid 19 has played a huge part in the recent increase of social isolation. During the global pandemic everyone was forced to stay in their homes. Work and education switched to online learning, using platforms like zoom to meet. Places like restaurants, movie theaters, and community events were restricted. Some businesses never reaching their level of customers before the pandemic. Levels of loneliness and anxiety skyrocketed. All of these factors severely reduced face to face socialization. For some covid was a dark time. However, for a lot of people covid was an escape. They became too comfortable with never leaving their homes and didn't want to return to their previous way of life.

The Movie Industry

ars590 — 2025-09-26 16:57:57 UTC

Movies and video entertainment used to only exist in movie theaters. Movies were always enjoyed in the company of friends, family, and even strangers. With everyone having their own TV with every streaming platform imaginable people don't feel the need to go to the theater anymore. "Today, the typical American adult buys three movie tickets a year and watches almost 19 hours of television." (Thompson 3)

Restaurants Feel the Effects

ars590 — 2025-09-26 17:07:53 UTC

Restaurants were another great form of social interaction. Today takeout and delivery are much more popular than sitting down at a restaurant. "74 percent of all restaurant traffic came from "off premises" customers-that is, from takeout and delivery." Even restaurant owners miss the connection and social interaction they had with their customers.

Counterargument- Social Connections

ars590 — 2025-09-27 03:05:24 UTC

Being able to constantly communicate with one another has strengthened connections and friendships. Parents also spend more time with their children than parents did years ago. People are also able to know what is going on in the world through media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Critics believe that just because people are meeting up in real life doesn't mean they are truly isolated when they could be forming those bonds online.

Counterargument- Cost

ars590 — 2025-09-27 03:12:35 UTC

It is much more costly to eat out more often, go to the movie theater, and travel in general. Staying home, buying groceries, cooking, eating at home, and watching movies whenever you want on Netflix saves so much money. For some people social isolation isn't a choice, it is their only option.

The Effects of Technology

ars590 — 2025-10-01 20:33:55 UTC

Technology has completely rewired the world in positive and negative ways. On one end using technology makes daily tasks much more convenient, it gives access to so much information, it allows people to connect with each other, and it is also a very popular form of entertainment. However Thompson argues that technology is one of the main reasons for social isolation. Thompson includes insight from political scientist Robert D. Putnam who argued that reason why community involvement dropped by almost 50% and places like libraries, school gyms, and union halls have become less accessible is, "among other things, to new moral values, such as the embrace of unbridled individualism. But he found that two of the most important factors were by then ubiquitous technologies: the automobile and the television set."

The Formation of the Suburbs

ars590 — 2025-10-01 23:55:16 UTC

People used the creation of cars to move further and further away from each other. Automobiles then led to the formation of the suburbs. The suburbs created a new way of life where family's had their own homes, their own backyard, and their own fence surrounding their entire property. With such a private day to day life people didn't see a need to befriend or even get to know their neighbors. "Home-based, phone-based culture has arguably solidified our closest and most distant connections, the inner ring of family and best friends (bound by blood and intimacy) and the outer ring of tribe (linked by shared affinities). But it’s wreaking havoc on the middle ring of “familiar but not intimate” relationships with the people who live around us, which Dunkelman calls the village. The village teaches us tolerance." (Thompson 20)

Television Transformed America

ars590 — 2025-10-02 16:59:51 UTC

Television was one of the earliest forms of technology that drastically increased social isolation. "From 1965 to 1995, the typical adult gained six hours a week in leisure time" (Thompson 7). Children starting getting television sets in their bedrooms and almost every family had them in their living rooms. Putnam found that people who said television was their primary form of entertainment were less likely to participate in community events like volunteering, going to church, attending dinner parties, giving blood, etc.

The iPhone- Social Media

ars590 — 2025-10-02 17:33:22 UTC

The creation of the beloved iPhone also led to the invention of social media. Phones provide us with constant connection to family and friends. They are also another popular form of entertainment where people can watch videos, post pictures, listen to music, learn something new, and so much more. Although there are many positive effects, depending on how it is used, there can also be a very negative side. Issues like social comparison, low self-esteem, and cyberbullying are all common among the younger generation who grew up online. Frequent social media use is directly linked to anxiety and depression especially among adolescents girls. "The latest government survey of high schoolers, found that more than half of teen girls said they felt "persistently sad or hopeless" (CDC 11). iPhones and social media are also a huge contributing factor to social isolation. Thompson found that "people are less likely to get their driver's license, go on a date, have more than one close friend, or even hangout with their friends at all" (Thompson 10). "Screens occupy more than 30 percent of teen's in America waking life" (Thompson 9).

Counterargument- Why Would People Want to Leave their Homes?

ars590 — 2025-10-02 17:46:16 UTC

Homes in America have become so much more lavish than in the past. "In the past few decades, the typical American home has become bigger, more comfortable, and more entertaining. Streaming services, video-game consoles, and flatscreen TVs make the living room more diverting than any 20th century theater or arcade" (Thompson 14) Thompson acknowledges this argument but he states that "a homebound life does't have to be a solitary life" (Thompson 15). Homeowners should frequently have dinner parties, invite company over, and get to know their neighbors to not be so isolated.

Romanticizing Isolation

ars590 — 2025-10-02 18:09:10 UTC

Not only does social media promote social isolation, it romanticizes it, especially in young men. On platforms like TikTok many young men who are usually rich post videos of their "morning routine" were they exercise, write in a journal, eat healthy, take supplements, etc., however their videos usually never include other people. This has caused men and women to delay starting a family. Andrew Taggart, a religious observer, wrote, "Instead of focusing their 30s and 40s on wedding bands and diapers, men were committed to working on their body, their bank account, and their meditation sharpened minds." (Taggart 16)

Social Isolation is Making Society Weaker

ars590 — 2025-10-02 18:11:59 UTC

Without socializing in our "village," as Dunkelman calls it, people aren't familiar with ending a difference of opinions with compromise. On social media there is no need for compromise because you can't see the other person. Thompson includes a study from the American National Election Studies where Democrats and Republicans were asked to rate the opposing party from zero (cold/unfavorable) to 100 (warm/favorable). Forty percent of participants gave the opposing party a zero, some people even said they would never go on a date with someone from the opposing party (Thompson 21). Thompson claims that practicing politics alone, on the internet, is making us more likely to demonize and alienate our opponents. People on the internet who are constantly looking for chaos and arguments are typically very lonely. However their outbursts on social media aren't to find friendships but for recognition and status. (Thompson 23)

Anxiety

ars590 — 2025-10-02 18:51:43 UTC

Anxiety has skyrocketed since the increase in social media usage. It also plays a key role in social isolation. Many people don't engage in social interaction because they are scared it will be awkward an uncomfortable for them. Nick Epley conducted a study where participants were asked to either spend the ride alone or socialize with strangers. Most participants predicted they would enjoy a silent commute better however the people who had a conversation with a stranger reported feeling more positive. (Thompson 25) Thompson sates that "our mistaken preference for solitude could emerge from a misplaced anxiety that other people aren't that interested in talking with us, or that they would find us bothersome" (Thompson 26). Even though our day would be much more enjoyable with positive social interactions people don't want to risk awkwardness.

We Can Choose Differently

ars590 — 2025-10-02 19:13:57 UTC

Technology is such an important part of our lives however it is constantly being misused. Thompson doesn't support completely getting rid of technology however he thinks we should used technology based on long-term health instead of instant gratification. "Teens should choose to spend less time on their phone, and their parents should choose to invite more friends over for dinner" (Thompson 31). There are many causes of this anti-social century, however it is not to late to build a new social century.