In “Alone in a Crowd,” Michael Rossmann suggestively alludes to the fast-changing American society wherein people preferably keep to themselves at the expense of engaging in social circles. While this was not the case in the past, it is one of the most notable characteristics of American citizenry in public today. Indeed, a lot has changed, especially regarding the communication and interaction of people in modern times due to technology. Advancement in technology has led to the development of communication and entertainment devices, including Xbox, digital TVs, and smartphones. These devices have enabled people to communicate easily over long distances. In fact, people today find it more convenient to communicate via myriad online sites instead of meeting in social circles, as was the norm several decades ago. Most people find it hard to strike up a conversation in social settings.
Personal experience relating to the “Alone in a Crowd” perspective
Being an extrovert, I always find it easy to make new acquaintances. More often than not, however, this is never actually the case. I recently noticed that most people nowadays find it hard to make eye contact with strangers in public on my visit to a friend a couple of days ago in a busy neighborhood. I failed at every attempt to make conversation with a stranger. Most of the people I tried smiling at never responded in kind, and the few who tried to make eye contact never seemed interested in waving back or partaking in conversation.
I seemed to notice the same habit on the way back home. I tried again to make conversation with a passenger on the bus and got the same results. She looked at me and only fidgeted a bit on her seat, and then she turned away from me and continued gazing out the bus window. Indeed, it is true that people have become unsocial in this era.
Response to Q.3
Yes. People have become more and more socialized, especially in bustling urban neighborhoods teeming with nearby people. In such neighborhoods, it is common for people to practice civil inattention by acknowledging the presence of a strange neighbor in an attempt to express no desire for hostility and any sustained interaction.
