How Technology Has Affected Communication
How Technology Has Affected Communication
Table of Contents
Contents Page …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Introduction . . …. 3
Why communication is important … 3
Effects of technology on communication ………. . 4
Statistics ………. … 5
Conclusion ………. … . 6
Bibliography ………. .. . 7
INTRODUCTION
In this report I will be analysing the positive and negative impacts of computer technology on communication. The impacts of popular technological elements like emails, telephones, mobile phones on our means of communication will be outlined.
How many times a day do you think your mobile phone is ringing when it isnt? How many times a day do you look at your phone to see if you have a text or use your phone to access the Internet? Do you ever ask yourself the question What would I do without my mobile phone? Think of the days when there were no mobile phones, no Internet, and no modern means of technology.
WHY COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT
Communication is an essential part of life. The use of technology can be a great help to people in connecting, reducing the time and effort it takes.
But technology can have consequences of reducing person-to-person interaction without the device as an in-between. Teens and adults immersed in their technological devices, oblivious to the world around them, has become a familiar sight. In a digital world, communication is solely achieved through the use of a keyboard or touch screen, where children no longer understand the basics of simple conversation. As social media connects us within the digital world, it is creating a social skills deficit in our kids.
Many young people lack the skills that build up the art of conversation.
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Asking questions about others, actively listening, and being able to read other peoples physical social signals are all part of being a skilled conversationalist. When engaged in face-to-face communication, social information is conveyed by vocal and visual signals in the context of the situation. Non-verbal communication is an important part of communicating and it includes facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice as well as posture and space between individuals. However, nowadays people are becoming totally dependent on the internet as a way of communication in their daily life, business and work. The limitation of old communication tools has made the use of internet for communication wider all over the world. The internet is now the easier way for people to communicate with each other. It has made the world smaller by bringing people together at any place in the world and at any time. This invention has important tools for people to interact and it has changed the way people communicate with one another.
Communication technology is much more than a trend, it is a need. Mobile technology and the internet have altered the way in which we as a society communicate with each other. The impact of technology is overpowering. People have become increasingly dependent on technology, affecting the way society communicates, in various ways. The alteration in the way society communicates with each other has changed tremendously throughout the decades. In the past, there was only had a small number of ways to communicate and these were primarily face- to- face or by land line telephone. Communication nowadays is only ever seen through email, text messaging, networking sites and even television. First, Ray Tomlinson invented e-mail in 1972. Email is a fast and convenient way to send messages and keep in touch with others from all places of the world through the Internet. The creation of email has replaced traditional mail in the process. There is no longer a need for writing letters, sending birthday cards, or mailing invitations. Therefore, it becomes a faster way to communicate. Second, text messaging is a short message exchanged between two or more users on mobile phones. Most mobile users find text messaging a way to communicate, when answering the telephone is undesirable.
The images below capture this change between human interaction prior and since the technological revolution. The image on the left (figure 1), shows the face-to-face dynamics of discourse, whilst the image on the right (figure 2), shows the impersonal nature of electronic communication.
EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON COMMUNICATION
Technology has definitely changed the way we communicate, but how is it affecting personal communication? Technology has affected human communications in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. For example, the Internet has made it possible for people to communicate from all corners of the world quickly and easily. Family and friends are able to stay in touch by emails, sharing pictures, and even communicate face- to-face through web cam, however through this people are beginning to lose personal connections which is affecting socialization. We as a society may be weakening the bonds of communication. Communication between parents and their children is affected because of the lack of quality time spent as a family. For instance, in previous generations families sat down socializing and talking. In todays society, children are happily segregated in their bedrooms focused on their phone, computers, video games or watching the television.
With the growing increase of internet usage people are beginning to fall into an undiagnosed form of addiction, and the millennial generation is no exception. The table below shows the growth of internet users since its inception.
DATE NUMBER OF USERS % WORLD
POPULATION INFORMATION
SOURCE
Dec, 1995 16 millions 0.4 % IDC
Dec, 2000 361 millions 5.8 % Internet World Stats
Dec, 2005 1,018 millions 15.7 % Internet World Stats
Dec, 2010 2,267 millions 32.7 % Internet World Stats
Dec, 2015 3,366 millions 46.4 % Internet World Stats
Dec 2018 4,313 millions 55.6 % Internet World Stats
Table 1: History and Growth of the Internet from 1995 to 2018
The internet has also affected how couples interact with one another. Couples are now more commonly meeting online through dating web sites. At the same time, while online dating is becoming more common, there are still concerns about the dangers of posting personal information on dating sites. People need to be aware that others online can mislead you and possibly exploit you, and understand how online dating can affect their everyday life. Additionally, even though online dating has broadened the social circle of some, and it can be a new and unseen experience, it is replacing face- to- face meet ups.
Advances in technology have also enabled people to in the workplace to work successfully and resourcefully without always being at their desks. Employees are now able to communicate effectively at home, across the world, and even in the car or on an airplane. These workers are becoming more isolated and losing their face- to- face socialization and affecting relationships in the workplace.
STATISTICS
The average person checks their cell phone 110 times a day, according to 2017 data. How much extra time in the day would we have to engage with our surroundings and pursue connections if we were not constantly checking their phones?
A study of students and information technology is shown below where the following age groups were asked if they use technology on a daily basis. The resulting percentages show the proportions who said yes. Almost 96% of 18-19 year olds use technology in their day-to-day life indicating the fact that whats supposed to be revolutionizing our country is actually making it regress.
CONCLUSION
Communication technology has definitely made a remarkable impact on society, and it has certainly connected people more globally because of it, but in other ways they are being further cut off from family and friends because of the new technology. Technology has made peoples lives easier, but maybe so much easier that people are losing something very important. The simplicity of communication may have been improved in peoples lives, but their lives may have become much more impersonal because of it. Little by little, Internet and mobile technology seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to a sense of seclusion in todays society. Soon well be seeing less face to face connections and the more face to screen interactions, slowly ruining the quality of social interaction that we all need as human beings.
BIBLIOGRPAHY
Internet World Stats (2019), History and Growth of the Internet from 1995 till Today. Retrieved from
Vijay, Kumar (2018), How Technology has Affected Communication. Retrieved from
Kazmeyer, M (2019), Negative Effects of Technology on Communication. Retrieved from
Drago, E (2019), The Effect of Technology on Face-to-Face Communication. Retrieved from
Study Moose (2019), Impact of Computer Technology On Communication. Retrieved from
How Technology Has Affected Communication. (2019, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/how-technology-has-affected-communication-best-essay/
