I consider the impact that technology will have on social interaction within 10 years - considering technological developments and social trends.

1. Social interaction within 10 years,
considering the impact of
technology on human relations
Alexander Harrington IE MBA Application 2017

2. Technology’s impact on social interactions is
accelerating
Over the past two centuries, communications technology has significantly impacted social relations.
However, it’s only recently that it’s managed to be both fast and effective at conveying message and
emotion. This is accelerating its ability to affect social interaction:
Post Telegraph Telephone Email Internet Chat Video calling
Slower, Instant,
Effective message, Effective message,
Ineffective emotion Effective emotion
Technology has even also into new realms of social interaction such as online dating:

3. Tech is driving increasingly public and
impersonal communication
In the last decade or so, social media has emerged as a dominant means of social interaction:
MySpace Facebook Twitter Instagram Snapchat
2003 2004 2004 2010 2011
Social media has had a huge impact on how we communicate: We’re spending more time physically
alone broadcasting our views to many rather than talking to one person or just a few. Perhaps worryingly,
we can silence disagreement by simply deleting responses to our posts.

4. But technology not designed for communication has
also had an effect on social interaction
A few examples:
Car/train/plane Video games Personal music/silent discos
Modern transport has From multiplayer with People spend less time
increased our ability friends in the same room enjoying music with others
to interact with others to multiplayer with unknown Perhaps the most interesting
by traveling to them “faceless” others offshoot of this is the “silent disco”

5. What does this tell us about the next 10 years?
We can see two key trends:
Technology is removing the
need for physical presence.
Social interaction is
increasingly by distance.
Social media is facilitating a
move from one-to-one
communication to open, public
communication.
These trends are likely to continue, if not accelerate, over the next 10 years…

6. Increased Interaction by distance through the
spread of current technology
One impact of technology on social interaction over the next 10 years doesn’t revolve around a
technological development but the spread of existing technology….
The increased use of internet in less developed countries in the coming years will spread the effects
of distance-based communications we currently see in more developed countries.

7. Increased interaction by distance driven by
Holograms
 The coming years will see increasing use of
Holograms and Immersive Virtual Reality in both
business and social settings. These
improvements will make distant social interaction
easier, more enjoyable and thus more popular.
 It is possible that within 10 years’ time, Hologram
calls will replace video calls and that this
technology will be available on a phone or even
a watch.
A Hologram conversation from your
phone may not be too far away

8. Increased interaction by distance driven by
Immersive VR
Facebook Friends as avatars in a virtual shark tank
 Immersive Virtual Reality is VR that is so
convincing that users are able to suspend
disbelief and fully engage with the created
environment. It is a step further than
holographic tech as it allows wide creativity.
 Facebook is already developing a social virtual
reality app where people can interact with each
other using their avatar in any environment. In
the next ten years, we may see this become
truly immersive with realistic representations of
our friends.

9. Public interactions will continue to replace
private ones thanks to Social media
 Social media will increase its share of social interaction and
conversations will become more one-sided.
 People will become more used to sharing and openness. This,
combined with more demand for instant content, will mean
more honest and realistic representations from people (more
like what private conversations are now).
 We’re already seeing a shift away from the written word to
the visual and to video (consider the increasing popularity of
Snapchat videos and Share Your Day videos in Facebook).
Enhancements in computing power will make this even
quicker and easier.

10. Increasingly, we’ll be interacting with machines
instead of people
 Developments in the field of Cognitive Computing, particularly Chatbots and Virtual Personal
Assistants, will continue apace. These Chatbots and VPAs will help us do everything from
ordering dinner to booking a vacation.
 The Internet of Things (machines communicating with
machines) will increasingly become part of everyday life.
We will see in the home for example:
 Fridges that know when they need to be replenished &
order food delivery.
 Machines automatically calling out tradespeople for repairs
and monitoring them when they attend.
These developments will mean much less need to deal with other humans, reducing incidental social
interaction.

11. However, Interactions in the flesh will
continue, but will also change…
In the next 10 years, we could possibly see:
Technology allowing
people with social anxiety
to overcome it, improving
their interactions with
others.
An increased use of
wearable tech meaning
we are distracted in the
midst of conversations.
Instant language
translation: We speak one
language but it comes out
as another via a device
worn in front of the mouth.

12. Interactions in the flesh & Cognitive Computing
 Advice in advance on what present to buy someone, using
information on them farmed from the internet, social media
and demographic predictions.
 Real time advice on what to say or reply to someone. This
could be delivered by some sort of wearable tech (such a
watch) through to wireless earphones.
 The ability to record your eye’s vision resulting in accurate
memories (but also likely resulting in more hesitance to speak
freely; and also likely to be legislated against).
We could see cognitive computing developments aiding social interactions such as:

13. So is this good or bad? It’s both…
POSSIBLE UPSIDES
 Ability to spend more time around your loved ones as a result of taking
business meetings by distance and a reduced need for housekeeping tasks (due to IoT).
 Increased use of internet across the world, especially in less developed countries, will enhance cross
cultural communication and understanding.
 Emigrants will be able to stay in touch with family back home via realistic IVR interactions.
 Interacting socially will become easier and quicker.
 Real time advice would mean less chance of offending someone in an in-person interaction.

14. So is this good or bad? It’s both…
POSSIBLE DOWNSIDES
 Distance based socialization will still be a poor substitute with our loved ones: Holograms and IVR are unlikely
to be provide the same warmth as a real human hug, especially within 10 years.
 The increasing use of social media has implications for privacy (or possibly even government abuse, which is
already beginning with China’s “citizenship score”). It may also be leading us to more, but shallower
“friendships”.
 Overdependence on devices for socialization could leave us helpless in the case of service failure.
 People could use social technology to silo themselves in intolerant circles, further inflaming prejudice.
 Real time advice would mean in-person interactions are no longer authentic, real or as interesting.

15. Conclusion
It is clear that technology’s impact on social interaction will continue to grow – increasing the
amount of interaction by distance, removing the need for certain interactions to take place at all and
shifting many of our interactions to the public sphere. This brings with it a range of benefits, but also
a range of downfalls. We must be careful to capitalize on the positives and minimize or mitigate the
negatives as much as possible.
Whatever, the case it’s an exciting future….