It was not too long ago that new technology was seen as contributing to our social isolation. As recently as 2006 some social scientists argued in an article from the American Sociological Review that the internet is creating a "post-familial family", with family members interacting with each other through the computer at the expense of face-to-face interactions. I wonder this myself every time I find myself in a texting conversation with my daughter.
A recent PEW Internet survey "Personal Networks and Community Survey" challenges notions that new technologies are contributing to our social isolation. The survey finds that users of cellphones, online social networks, and internet use generally have larger and more diverse social networks than those not these technologies.
I see "new technologies" as a bit too broad to lump together. I wonder if the rise of the personal computer looked at before the rise of email, cell phones and social networking would prove to be an alienating force? Or perhaps changes in the workplace environment that overlapped with personal computing (cube farms for instance)? As it turns out, pilots driving modern remote controlled drone warplanes are not always alienated from the pain of their kills.