Modern society is packed with cutting-edge technology such as new communication devices. Due to such convenient apparatus, it is often said that people are brought closer and amicable than ever before. However, I believe that modern relationship is becoming more superficial and egocentric for two reasons: hidden identity and competition.

To begin with, anonymity is prevalent in current society. In the past, majority of the conversations consist of face-to-face conversation and friendly non-verbal expressions. However, interaction among current people is not serious but ephemeral. Thus, people do not care for hurting other people's feelings. They think that their rapport with others is transient and ostensible, so if they make mistakes, they can just move on to other person. For example, when I was chatting via MSN messenger, there was a guy who suddenly wanted to have a small talk with me. I accepted his offer because I was curious about the unknown guy. From the beginning of our conversation, he spewed up nasty foul words to me. I felt humiliated so I just ignored him and exited that chatting window. If he had known me in person, he could not have done this shameful and rude demeanor. Also, I must have asked him for his wrongdoings if he were my friend. This shows that people are not afraid of being mean to others as they know their identity is not revealed and will not get punished by their behaviors.

In addtion, modern society is severely competitive society. This is becasue current generation is fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, if a person does not strive hard enough, he or she will definitely fall behind and not be able to survive in the race to the apogee of the social status, salaries and self-actualization. This overwhelming competition deters people from trusting each other and cooperation. For instance, when I entered a company as an intern, I expected that people all around me would be willing to help me out and teach me some skills. However, people saw me with wary eyes and felt threaten by me. As I am a young and promising applicant, they considered me as an enemy who might take over their position. Hence, I was malginalized and felt isolated. This implies that too much competition causes people to behave in apathetic and rude manners.

To sum up, I firmly believe that previous generations are more kind and tender because of revealed identity and distrust amongst people. All in all, we should reconsider our relationship.