Some people believe that technology has made man more social. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Experts throughout both the developing and developed world have debated whether the advent of sophisticated modern technological electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and iPad have helped to enhance and improve the social lives of all walks of life or whether the opposite has become the case. Personally, I strongly advocate the former view. This essay will discuss both sides using examples from the UK government and Oxford University to demonstrate points and prove arguments. On the one hand, there is ample, powerful, almost daily evidence that such sophisticated equipment can be detrimental, especially to the younger generation who are more easily affected by its addictive nature which can result in teenagers feeling more isolated from society. The central reason behind this is twofold, firstly, the invention of online social media sites and apps, such as Twitter and Facebook have reduced crucial face-to-face interactions dramatically. Through the use of these appealing and attractive media, adolescents feel in touch and connected yet lack key social skills and the ability to communicate. Secondly, dependence on such devices is built up frighteningly easily which may have a hazardous effect on mental health and encourage a sedentary lifestyle. For example, recent scientific research by the UK government demonstrated that 90% of people in their 30s spend over 20 hours per week on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and similar applications to chat with their friends instead of meeting up and spending quality time together or doing sport. As a result, it is conclusively clear that these automation advancements have weakened and diminished our real-life interactions. On the other hand, although there are significant downsides to technological developments, their manifold advantages cannot be denied. This is gorgeous because of the popularity of machinery such as cell phones allowing users to connect freely and easily with no geographical barriers. People are able to share any type of news, information, photos, and opinions with their loved ones whenever and wherever they want, thus keeping a feeling of proximity and closeness simultaneously. For example, an extensive study by Oxford University illustrated that those who work, or study abroad and use applications like Facetime and WhatsApp to chat with their families, are less likely to experience loneliness and feel out of the loop than those who do not. Being consistent with this line of thinking is that businessmen are also undoubtedly able to benefit from these advancements of technology by holding virtual real-time meetings using Skype, which may be escalating the chance of closing business deals without the need to fly especially in this pandemic -- CoVID-19. From the arguments and examples above-mentioned, I firmly believe that overall communication and sociability has been advanced enormously due to the huge technological progress of the past two decades and despite some potentially serious health implications which governments should not fail to address, it is predicted that its popularity will continue to flourish in the near future.