Are Smartphones the Solution to Urban Loneliness?

"My great project is to make technology more human." This declaration, made by serial entrepreneur and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake at a CityLab panel discussion on Monday, hints at a big concern for a lot of people: Is Facebook making us lonely? Does mobile technology give people an excuse to isolate themselves, or is it an unprecedented tool for bringing people together?

Unsurprisingly, tech enthusiasts see new apps and mobile devices as a great way of building communities. "Technology can be a very alienating, depersonalizing, dehumanizing experience," said Fake. "There’s a great movement away from that. We had this great rash of promiscuous connection, and now we’re pulling back. One of the main components of that is location – and it becomes hugely important when mobile is the default."