Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Has Technology Made Us Better or Worse at Communicating?
Certainly technology has increased the speed with which we can communicate and the number of people we can potentially connect with worldwide. My question is, as individuals, have we become better or worse at communication. Please post your opinion on this question.
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I think that we have become both better and worse at communicating with one another. First, we can contact distant friends or relatives much faster (for invitations or emergencies). Also, technology these days make communicating somewhat interesting compared to just face-to-face and letters. The bad part is that people can get to involved with their technology and get isolated from the real world and real people.
ReplyDeleteI think that sense of isolation is something that people become more aware of, especially those who are disappearing more and more into virtual realities instead of engaging with their own.
DeleteI agree with Corey that we have become better and worse with our communication. On the plus side we can contact and communicate with people who live farther away, but we can't always share emotion through text. Who knows how people are reacting to little things said or communicated. I still believe that talking to someone face-to-face is better, but with long distance I understand why it seems unlikely.
ReplyDeleteSOME PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS LIKE YELLING! It is difficult to determine emotion ... particularly when people are being facetious (like in my previous sentence) and when they are being sarcastic.
DeleteIn our classroom discussion someone noted how people can be bullies on screen, saying hurtful things they would never say in person. And once that door has opened others burst through it and saw other mean things and pretty soon we have the "wild rumpus" from "Where the Wild Things Are" (one of my favorite books, by the way - I was really sad to hear the news when Maurice Sendak died).
I do not believe using a different form of communication makes you "worse" at it.Isn't it only opinion weather someone prefers E-mail and social media over traditional methods?As far as I know,you can exchange as much information with E-mail and social media as you can in real life.But weather it helps other communicate better,well...It is a hard judgement to make since it usually varies from person to person.For me,technology helps and has no downsides,but I still rather prefer face-to-face(this one above all,since it's physical)or telephone calls since talking is usually more entertaining than reading everything on a small electronic screen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that face-to-face talking is much more entertaining than words on a screen. Even some of the best internet jokes would be presented much better in person. Also, if you're face-to-face with someone they can't hide their emotions when they are going through something difficult. As a friend or family member you can see it in their eyes and no when to reach out.
DeleteSkype has definitely provide the best bridge to the physical challenges presented by loved ones far away. We take comfort just in seeing others' faces.
I do not believe using technology a form of communication makes you "worse". Technology has improved our sense of communication exponentially. We are to communicate faster which takes a little stress out of our daily lives. Technological communication also helps up dwell deeper into the studies of social behavior. People may act a certain way in reality but on the phone they may be a whole other person.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the stress of feeling like you have to respond to every e-mail, text, and phone call immediately because the technology is right at your fingertips?
DeleteHow do you set priorities when you are bombarded by others?
It depends on how you use the communication and how long you use it
ReplyDeletethats not 3 sentences.....
DeleteAs long as we're being technical don't forget the apostrophe in your contraction: "that's" the way you do it!
DeleteBut seriously, let's "hear" some more specifics from you Cameron.
In my opinion, individuals have become both better and worse at communicating. We have gotten better at communicating with people overseas or far away, because with the invention of email we can write just as much as we could in a letter and send it much faster. However, we are loosing the ability to talk to the people around us face to face, which is definetely not an improvement. Now, people would much rather text or email their friends than have an actual conversation.
ReplyDeleteI think you've hit on our biggest challenge as a world community - if we lose our interpersonal skills we become a very IMpersonal society.
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