Technology Affected Interpersonal Communication

How Technology has Affected Interpersonal Communication

In today’s modern society, it appears that technology has taken over our communication skills. The increased use of social media, the Internet, and smartphones has allowed us to remain in constant communication with one another. This study will explore how the advances in technology have affected interpersonal communication.

Throughout junior high and high school, I transferred to over nine different schools. From Colorado to Illinois, I’ve been everywhere and seen it all. Constantly being on the move was tough, I never knew when my father would come in and tell my mother and I that we had to pack up our stuff. Saying goodbye to my friends was always hard. However, I knew that getting

Technology such as text messages and email allows us to communicate, in short, carefully-edited sentences that lack immediacy and completely remove the contextual information provided by their tone and body language. As a result, people who connect with others primarily through technology might find it difficult to engage in normal conversation, since they may have issues understanding non-verbal cues due to lack of practice with face-to-face interaction that can't be paused, edited or filtered. Technology allows us to always be reachable if we want to be, no matter where we are or what we're doing. Although this can be beneficial, it may also lead to a vicious cycle of stress and anxiety in which people feel pressured to immediately check and answer any incoming messages, emails or phone calls regardless of whether it is appropriate, for fear of being seen as inadequate or inattentive. In turn, this can potentially cause the breakdown of the very same relationships the person is trying to maintain. Social media has also changed the way that we interact, mainly the way we have lost some of our social skills. Some people are completely incapable of carrying on a normal conversation or interacting with people in person because of the dependency of social media. Social networks are becoming one of the dominant ways we communicate. Snapchat or Instagram, anyone?? People are more obsessed with checking their smartphone every 2 minutes than engaging in meaningful conversation with their child or spouse. Social media and technology are double-edged swords. It’s awesome to have and can really help us, but it also distracts us to the point of being blind and deaf to everything else going on. Next time you are out, count how many people you see walking and staring down at their