How well can you communicate without your smart phone?

An Incline in Technology and Social Networking-May result in a Decline in Communication skills 

Recent advancements in technology have resolved issues and developed things that just a few years ago people would not have imagined was possible. However, has a negative impact also emerged from these continuous technical advancements?  Your smart phone is quick, easy, and efficient but has it negatively taken the quality of societies communication skills?  Consider yourself and how dependent you have become on your smart phone and other technical devices.  For example, think back to the last time you were in a room with a group of your friends.  How in depth did the conversation get amongst each of you?  Were you and your friends able to socialize for more than five minutes without checking your cell phones?  Unless you do not own a smart phone, the answer to this question is probably no.  Most likely you and your friends spent majority of the time you had together updating yourselves with the latest news on your facebook, twitter, Instagram, or some other social network.  Smart phones today are capable of amazing things but the availability of constantly being connected to the internet makes tapping on the twitter app every three minutes irresistible.  We have entered an era in which communication through modern technology has become more and more prominent.  So what does this mean for our future?

The video above displays how society rapidly participates in technology and social networking.  This video was posted in 2012 and as you watched it, I am sure you thought to yourself, "nobody uses facebook anymore."  Facebook, was easily the most popular social network just a year ago, however, for you and your peers facebook has become a foreign website.  If you even previously owned a facebook, I am sure you abandoned your page and quickly jumped on the latest networking sites such as instagram and twitter.  These websites are popular now but most likely they will become old news as more and more networks evolve.  Society is restless when it comes to social networking. Everywhere you go people are found attached to their phones constantly surfing the web.  What they are doing on their smart phones may be beneficial in one aspect, however, communication through technical devices is beginning to slowly take away from any face-to-face interaction held with others. With very little one-on-one communication we will only see a break in our closest relationships with families and friends.    

I do not think all technology is bad.  The goal of this blog was to bring your awareness to what essentially can come from an over usage of technology and social networking.  You, the young generation is the number one target in the world of technology and I am sure you can admit that it takes very little for you to get persuaded by each new social network.  Before you give in, however, put some consideration in yourself.  How meaningful of a life do you hope to pursue?  If you are content with living through tweets than fortunately you were born at just the right time.  However, having your voice heard is most likely the more favorable choice in this situation.  Interpersonal communication is a bracket of communication in which your tone of voice, posture, and facial expressions are the three main components that make up this particular form of communication ( Cutler, A., Dahan, D., &Donselaar, W. 1997).  If you think about it, not one of these components can be expressed through a smart phone.  This fact should strike you as a wake up call.  Step away from group chats, twitter, instagram, or whatever social network you are connected to.  Instead take the first step to developing your interpersonal communication skills and I assure you your message will be conveyed in the way you planned.  Communication through smart phones and high speed technology is just a simple branch of communication but I want you to think of the benifits it has posed for you.  Are they all that possitive in the long run? 

Cutler, A., Dahan, D., &Donselaar, W. (1997). Prosodyin the comprehension of spoken language: A literature review. Language and Speech, 40, 141–201.