Take the Face Over the Book
NEIRAD enilno edition
Facebook, AIM, and texting. This is what our social contact has come to in 2009. In the hallways, there may be a few awkward moments together, but the conversations really start at home in front of a computer monitor.
Sadly, we have grown up in a generation, where technology is our safety net when it comes to communication. People are fired via email; break up over Facebook, and forcefully invited to big events while instant messaging.
Yet, not all see the shortcoming of this faceless communication. “Technology helps make the communication between people faster. It can connect them no matter how far away they are,” freshman, Maeve Tierney said.
However, DHS freshman Miguel Corte-Real had to disagree, “Technology enables kids to socialize from the comfort of their homes with whoever they want; so some kids will have a tendency to use technology to communicate, instead of communicating in person. Therefore, impairing their social skills.”
In a recent study, it has shown that people who primarily restrict their social interaction to the Internet are normally lonely, and lack the social skills needed in life. Although technology can help one talk about uncomfortable subjects without it becoming too awkward, is it worth it to lose the face-to-face social skills?
“Even though technology helps us communicate faster, it can ruin moments you have with friends in person because you get so used to talking behind a screen, that you some times don’t know how to carry on a conversation in person. On the Internet, you have the chance to hesitate before you speak, if you hesitate in person, then it becomes an awkward silence,” freshmen Andy Mogenson said.
Some students are treating online friends with a different level of interaction when it comes to seeing them in the flesh in school. A student meets someone on Facebook, but then never talks to that person in the hall. Has that ever happened to you? You talk every night for hours upon hours; you will text, IM, but never video chat. Every time you see each other in school, you look down and awkwardly walking hesitantly around each other.
This is where the Internet has ruined face-to-face communication. You meet on Facebook yet can only talk on the Internet; you lack the skills to talk face-to-face, because you don’t talk to that “friend” in person. Somehow, you doubt your friendship, and assume it will be awkward to talk in person. What happened to the numerous conversations? Are both of you really that scary that you can’t possibly talk in person, and feel only comfortable talking behind the screens of computers?
Another study however, shows that technology can also increase social networks because it brings people together. Keith Hampton of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication said, "People's social worlds are enhanced by new communication technologies. It is a mistake to believe that Internet use and mobile phones plunge people into a spiral of isolation."
I believe that technology does increase your amount of social interaction, but I also feel as if it ruins it too. Everyone has become so secure in telling people their secrets behind the screen of a cell phone or computer. So secure that we forget the dangers. Whatever happened to messages getting forwarded? We have put too much trust in people. This trust though, has elapsed from our cyberspace relationships.
Haven’t you witnessed this though? Seeing awkward relationships in the hallways, or conversations, where you really wonder if they should be friends. Sometimes though, I ask myself why we allow ourselves to be awkward. Or why do we allow ourselves to only communicate at home. Why don’t we try harder to make face-to-face communication work?
When asked about this, a DHS freshman Eleanor Smith had a strong opinion. "Behind your keyboard you can say anything you want to say, things you wouldn't normally say to someone’s face. It gives you a sense of bravery, and that’s not usually a good thing.”
This proves it, Internet can be great for opening your social life, but it can also ruin it if that’s all you use to communicate. Facebook is fine as a new tool in the social realm, but don’t forget to say hello to a human face – a face in a book will never replace a face in the flesh.
