Is technology making social anxiety worse

I love video games, I love my computer, and I love my flat screen, but I find myself wondering sometimes if technology is making social anxiety worse. Has the convenience that technology has given to us also hindered us from overcoming social anxiety as a whole? Has technology made overcoming social anxiety even more difficult by placing a virtual barrier between human interaction and physical contact?

We can research and make friends with people online, but there is a lack of human interaction. The advantage of being online is that you can find a community to help you with whatever problem you have, but the disadvantage is the lack of action. We start using the internet as our outlet to being social. There is a huge lack of "real" interaction. We can sit at home and keep ourselves entertained with the hundreds of channels we have. We can live our vicariously through the character we play on video games, hell we can even pay our bills online so we don't have to interact with another human being.

I love the benefits that are given to us because of technology, don't get me wrong. I think it's great that I can do everything I listed above. I love the fact that I can save time and money by sitting at home. I think technology can help and hurt you at the same time.

The way that I figure it, technology is like a fine wine. Doctors say, for the time being anyway, that a glass of wine a day is good for you. On the other hand, If you drink too much, it can kill brain cells and also can cause liver problems. Technology, like wine, can affect your relationships if you take in too much of it and let it control your life.

I think it's outstanding that I have friends from all over the world that I've never met and probably never will, but I think it can also stunt your growth when it comes to getting past the reality of shyness and social anxiety. I realize that technology is a tool we can use to reach out to others but we need to use it wisely and apply what we learn with it, to the outside world. We have to make sure we don't use technology as a crutch to avoid physical social interaction.