In the age of technology, it is continuing to become faster, easier, and more convenient to connect with others around the world. So, wouldn’t more technology equal better communication?
In theory, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites make connecting with old friends much easier, which helps users maintain lasting friendships. They’re also convenient for quick updates about the people you care about without having to spend time trying to reach them in person or even by phone.
However, the lack of face to face communication and the over usage of social media sites hurts us more than it helps us. Simply typing text will not send the same message as talking to someone in person. A couple of keystrokes, such as 🙂 or 🙁 or “lol”, cannot convey the multitudes of emotions and attitudes that are reflected by the tones of our voice and the expressions of our body language.
More importantly, we need to know how to communicate to people in person. Maya Gupta ’17 points out, “Our social skills are declining due to the fact that we can chat online without needing to communicate face to face. These social skills are important when we go for job interviews or try to sell something to someone or meet someone for the first time. You need to know how to act and how to sound convincing or friendly without the use of emoticons.”
Being able to communicate with others face to face is a vital life skill and sites like Facebook and Twitter are encouraging less contact in person, thus making it harder for us to enhance that skill. It seems as if we are approaching the point where we would prefer to huddle behind our computer screens and avoid human contact. Although that may sound extreme, some people actually resort to messaging on their phones instead of talking to each other when they are in the same room.
Sadly, our social skills have declined to the point that even when we meet in person to “hang out,” phones often become the center of attention. Think about it. How many times has your friend checked his or her phone as he or she is talking to you? Is there really an emergency every time that they have to divert their attention from the conversation to their phones? Most likely they are scrolling through their news feed or updating their status as you are standing right in front of them. What is on that newsfeed that is so important? To be frank, these social media sites cause the formation of bad habits. It is just plain rude to ignore others and brush them off to keep up with social media.
Luckily, social networking sites can still be beneficial to us if used in moderation. Facebook and Twitter bring millions of people together, creating great opportunities to bond with old friends and connect with new people. These sites are also useful for instantaneous communication.
Brian McCormick ’16, remarks, “I still generally prefer talking to someone in person as opposed to messaging them, and I don’t really have a problem with actually doing either of them. It just adds another method of communication. It doesn’t really replace face to face conversation as so many fear.”
It’s really about balance and avoiding complete reliance on social networks as our only source of communication. English teacher Ms. Kuscenko asserts, “Social media is another vehicle we can use to interact with others. However, it’s all about knowing the right time and place.” Social media should be used as an additional tool, not as the only means of communication.
So unglue those hands from your phones and take the time to socialize with the people around you. Social media is another way to connect with other people but it should not be the only way you communicate with others.