The interconnected and hyperconnected generation is communicating through social media the sense of isolation it experiences, telling us that beyond virtual “likes” there is a desire for real contact, for building meaningful relationships with peers and with the adult world.
It is a “paradoxical” loneliness that sees teenagers immersed in the crowded network of social media contacts, in TikTok communication, in the endless scrolling of Instagram stories, in the sound of WhatsApp notifications. A relational network that they are beginning to perceive as increasingly illusory. Discomfort, self-isolation, social withdrawal, relational difficulties, fear of being judged by peers and by the world.
Sometimes, however, they lift their heads from the phone screen, leave their room, and discover around them the absence of a “true” friendship — sincere, lived in person, made of laughter, physical contact, confidences, arguments, shared experiences, moments of growth, and fundamental developmental milestones, especially at this age. Our young people are “hungry” for encounters, for real life.
Our task as educators is to understand what friendship is becoming in the age of the web, in order to help them grasp the potential, the beauty, and the consequences of what happens online and in real life, where direct experience is essential for healthy growth.
