Through a Computer Display and What People See There Communication Technologies and the Quality of Social Interactions

Introduction: Communication Technologies Come to the Rescue It is hard to deny that communication technologies play a great role in the lives of billions of people all over the world. With the rise of technology and the surge of innovations that have opened new possibilities for communication between the people in different parts of the world, ordinary live conversation seems to have faded into the background, making more room for new means of communication.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Through a Computer Display and What People See There: Communication Technologies and the Quality of Social Interactions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Because of the current fascination with technological advances and the active use of the latter, people are rapidly losing the skills of live communication, which is likely to lead to a number of difficulties in socializing, both concerning people’s personal life and bus iness affairs. Reaching for the Most Remote Corners of the World: The Positive Aspects One of the most obvious advantages of communication technologies is the fact that with the help of the latter, one can keep in touch with the people who live miles away, which would be completely impossible without the recent innovations. Therefore, it can be concluded that with the help of the current developments, the distance between the subjects of communication is no longer a problem, not to mention the fact that new forms of media have offered the methods for distanced learning (Atkin 71). However, there are still a lot of issues about communication technologies that need to be revisited. Getting Lost in the Virtual Reality: Where Technologies Fail Losing touch with the real world is the hazard that everyone has talked about; ironically enough, even the new forms of media that the given problem concerns have been used to discuss it. Indeed, with the growing impact of social network, people s eem to be losing the skills of live communication, which is likely to lead to considerable problems in future. Moreover, frequent use of technology as a communication tool can lead to negative social effects, such as the need to stay anonymous (Levi 262). Hence, the threat of deindividualization becomes much more tangible: â€Å"The members of virtual groups are more anonymous. This leads to what psychologists call deindividualization, which is the loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension caused by feeling anonymous† (Levi 262). It is worth mentioning, though, that the latter concerns rather online chatting than the use of mobile phone or social networking. Humans vs. Machines: Concerning the Probable Prospects Hence, it seems that technologies will definitely be of great help in providing high-quality means of keeping in touch. However, it still must be admitted that technologies will never be able to replace personal contact, while they should not.Advertising Looking for essay on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Partee, live communication is essential for people: â€Å"We humans need personal contact to communicate values† (Partee ix). It is clear that once the current communication technology takes over the world, the tradition of personal conversation will disintegrate into a mess, since people will most likely lose the necessary skills required for a live conversation. Another Means to Raise the Stakes: Technologies Have a Chance One must give credit to the developers of the modern communication technologies, though; it is clear that, when used reasonably, these technological advances can help greatly. Therefore, it can be assumed that, when used with due care, communication technology will not make people less sociable, but will help them keep in touch despite the distances between them (Shih and Hung, 67). About Use and Abuse: A Reasonable Solution to the Pr oblem To balance out the use of live and virtual communication, it is necessary to realize what the current technological advances offer (Konijn, Utz, Tanis and Barnes 19). Therefore, it is necessary to consider such innovations as mobile phones, smartphones, computers, etc. not a substitute for live communication, but an additional opportunity to get in touch with the one who is currently not available in person. With such an approach, it can be expected that technological advances will be used as a complementary communicational tool, and not as the only possible one. Conclusion: Looking for a Compromise It is hard to ignore the fact that communication technology in many aspects is very helpful, since it provides chances for people to arrange something concerning not only their personal life, but also their business issues, which means that communication technology development boosts business processes. With all due respect for the engineers who have provided the humankind with the existing technologies for even more efficient communication, one still has to admit that in many ways, the given technologies kill the tradition of live conversation slowly, but steadily. Since technologies have become so fully integrated into people’s lives that rejecting thee technologies means losing a huge chunk of their lives, at the given stage, a compromise between virtual and live communication must be provided. Therefore, technologies must be used only when the alternative method of communication is not available.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Through a Computer Display and What People See There: Communication Technologies and the Quality of Social Interactions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Works Cited Atkin, David J. â€Å"Communication Technology and Social Change: Theory And Implications†. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print. Konijn, Elly, Sonya Utz, Martin Tanis and Susan Barnes . â€Å"Mediated Interpersonal Communication†. New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print. Levi, Daniel. â€Å"Group Dynamics for Teams†. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2011. Print. Partee, Morris H. â€Å"Cyberteaching: Instructional Technology on the Modern Campus†. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Print. Shih, Timothy K and Jason C. Hung. â€Å"Future Directions in Distance Learning and Communications Technologies†. Hershey, PA: Idea Group. 2007. Print. 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