During the pandemic, people used technology to create community groups to help restaurant owners, to collaborate and create music, and to communicate with loved ones by using technology.

 

We sought out Penn-State Shenango Coordinator of the Communications Program and Author of, "Friendship and Technology," Tiffany Petricini to find out how technology has changed friendships in our digital age.

 

Petricini talked about how texting, tweeting, video chatting, commenting, and hitting like, are now mainstays of modern friendships.

 

21 News wanted to know if that's for better or worse.

 

Petricini told people during a Lecture Series, that technology can be a lifeline to provide needed human connections for people lonely,  isolated in hospitals, nursing homes, and for so many other people.

 

"Not just during the pandemic, there are people with disabilities who are excluded from the everyday world that all of us take for granted, and technology really is a bridge for so many different types of people," said Petricini.

 

"Our ancestors could only talk to people who were very near to them, and now we can meet people who are across the country, across the globe," Petricini said.

 

Technology has put millions of people in touch with old friends they lost contact with and had helped people make new social media friends.

 

"Another really great thing about social media is the fact that you are finding each other based on similar interests and values. For most of human history, our friends were based on proximity, so it didn't matter if the kid next door wasn't someone you liked, they were the kid next door and you played with them," added Petricini.

 

But there is a downside if someone says something hurtful it can cause stress affecting mental health. 

 

"There used to be a level of accountability when someone wanted to end a friendship with you, and now it's much different. It is literally the click of a mouse and they're gone and you literally cut out of their private world," Petricini emphasized. 

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She says for parents and guardians I wouldn't say keep technology away from your kids, but teach children how to use technology responsibly and effectively, and to set healthy boundaries so your children can keep themselves healthy and happy. 

 

You can buy the book, "Friendship and Technology, A Philosophical Approach To Computer-Mediated Communication," by Tiffany Petricini at the Penn State Shenango campus book store, Amazon, and Kindle.