unmuted

I’m just going to come out and say it: I strongly dislike the super-breed of iPad babies that the pandemic created. Whatever happened to one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, will we ever know? Everywhere I go, a child is throwing a fit over a glowing metal rectangle. The other day, I was at the airport, and my friend nudged me and pointed out a baby in a stroller, death-gripping an iPad. “I’m not letting my kid touch a screen until they are 25,” she whispered. Because of her statement, I started to wonder if the parents of these tech gremlins understand the monsters they will eventually be letting loose in the world. While there is so much focus on the “iPad baby,” what about when it grows into the iPad adult?  Until I realized I had met iPad adults. 

Promotional Image by Fisher Price

Fisher Price got into some hot water for releasing the “Fisher price ipad apptivity seat newborn-to-todler.” No, this is not a joke…

We all know one, the person who never leaves the house, and whose room you imagine as a cave illuminated by 200 screens—someone who you want to tell to go outside and touch grass. You don’t even have to wonder what they do for food because Uber Eats bags litter their floors. While it’s easy to joke about, the reality behind it is disheartening. Technology dependency can be crippling, and the opportunity for YouTube to replace building blocks and for text to replace in-person contact all point to something bigger going on. Digital media has become an enabler of antisocial behavior for many individuals. 

How has technology fueled loneliness after the pandemic?

According to the World Health Organization,

I would like to focus on the latter: digital technologies. While many argue that technology helps us stay connected, digital media often limits the need for in-person interaction, which contributes to further isolation and worsening mental health. Although people were already relying on digital communication before the pandemic, COVID was a catalyst for a mass shift towards online platforms. In many aspects, COVID was essentially a how-to guide on self-isolation.

Because in-person interaction was restricted, a need arose for platforms to eliminate human contact, and thus, the “contactless” option was born. Apps like Zoom and DoorDash were forced to fill the gaps between us and the world outside. However, the use of these apps did not end when the pandemic did. For instance, many universities still offer Zoom classes.  My dad’s work only requires him to be in the office 2 days a week because no one wanted to go back in person after quarantine. We have gotten too comfortable not interacting with people in person, and with these technologies, we no longer have to do it. 

Why isolation is bad for us

These platforms are the vehicles through which isolation is perpetuated. Isolation is a problem for us because it has a substantial negative impact on societal mental health. In partnership with west health, Gallup conducted a survey of American’s assessment of their health. The survey explains that

“the recent findings echo what Gallup reported in 2022, when American’s “excellent” mental health rating descended to a low of 31%. The lowest reading to date for physical health, 24%, was first recorded in 2023. And both remained at these levels in 2024 despite the 2023 federal government’s declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency was over” (Saad, “Pandemic’s Effects Linger…”).

It is not a coincidence that when isolation was at an all-time high, mental health was at an all-time low. Still, why has this societal low persisted?

Image by Freepik.com

This image captures the idea that for many, isolation can be a comfort that is almost womb-like.

We as humans need human connection; Clea Simon of the Harvard Gazette notes that social connection has become just as important as our other basic needs, like food, and may be piloted by a form of drive reduction (the need to not feel bad). The Harvard study Simon describes shows how

“By isolating mice for several days, they identified two distinct periods: the deprivation phase (when the mice were alone) and the reunion phase (when the animals were once again together) … Complicating their findings was the discovery that if mice are deprived for too long, their response changes. “If you isolate the mice for more than four weeks, they start to dislike social behavior,” he said. Isolation has become the norm, and having company is disruptive” (Simon “food, water—and).  

Humans are not mice, but I would argue that the reason our mental and physical health remained low in the post-COVID period is that the same phenomenon occurred amongst humans. After such a long period of isolation, social contact became disruptive to us and created a desire to limit contact with others. This contactless technology, popularized during COVID, has allowed us to maintain limited contact for far longer than is healthy.

so… Should we put down the iPads?

Social contact is essential to human life, so when we limit social interaction, it becomes a case of fighting against our own needs. This state of cognitive dissonance, of not wanting socialization but also needing it, has created a decline in mental health. So, while the pandemic may be locked away with the proverbial key, our bodies and brains are still fighting to maintain a semblance of normalcy, even if it is through isolation. The technologies that once served as a crutch during COVID have become what is impeding us in the present from being our happiest and healthiest selves. Now, im not telling you to go throw your costly iPads into the fire. Please don’t. But in the end, we need social contact like the air we breathe, so we must ditch the comfort of the metaphorical iPad, as babies and adults alike, to live advantageously in a post-COVID world.