Internet kills communication

Introduction

A famous quote by Peter Drucker, “the most important thing in communication is hearing that which is not said”, remains a very relevant dictum in communication today. In the recent times, the internet has become a very important communication tool. However, internet kills communication since the young people are much involved in the social media where the language used is largely informal and destructive.

Discussion

Firstly, the internet hugely affects the young generation. Owing to the much exposure that the young people have to technology, most of the young people spend their time online in the social platforms that over virtual connections. As such, there is little of real connections that happen in face to face communication that may reveal an individual’s expressions or body language and even tone (Hammick, & Lee, 2014). The virtual communications deny individuals such fundamental aspects of communication. Consequently, communications deteriorate and people get used to the social media way where short languages, emojis which may never really communicate the actual feelings that one would achieve with real communication. The texts written on the internet messaging platforms lack inflection and are often susceptible to biased interpretation by the reader (Gust, 2016). In the end, the social skills of the young people are affected which may include both interpersonal and communication skills.

Secondly, owing to the virtual connections, people begin to lie when having communications on the internet platforms. Similarly, the communications that occur on the internet sites are susceptible to a lot of misinterpretations (Sweetser, 2014). A persons message may be taken out of context and thus leading to miscommunication. In other instances, when individuals are in conflict the internet platforms have offered avenues for pseudo accounts or anonymity that have been used to attack others leading to cyber bullying (TEng, 2014). Moreover, in many cases, words have lost their value in social media. They are mostly used to cause harm to individuals further creating more conflict (Wall, 2015).

Thirdly, with the advent of internet, individuals have created virtual worlds which makes their lives largely depended on the technological devices (Lipschultz, 2017). There is an increasing overreliance on the electronic communication devices that further lead to addiction. Such addictions just like other forms of addiction have adverse effects in individuals’ lives some of which include sleep deprivation, antisocial behaviors among others (Young, 2015). Today most individuals have their smartphones in their hands most of the time. According to Lipsman, (2017), a study carried out by Cross-Platform Future in Focus details that, on average, an individual American adult spends about 2 hours, 51 munities on their phones every single day. In fact, Cross-Platform Future in Focus estimates the average total time to about 86 hours every month spent on a smartphone. Such amounts of time spent in a virtual world of sort causes a significant reduction in personal communications that individuals would have.

Although the internet has negative effects on individual’s personal communication, it has also benefited personal communications through facilitating new connections and friendships (Zheng, Spears, Luptak, & Wilby, 2015). Nonetheless, communication at personal level has been lost since people no longer have the interactions they have always had before the advent of the internet.  The virtual connections offered by the internet can be largely falls and in some cases put individuals at risk of harm. Needful to point out, the internet was an invention that was aimed at enhancing communication, however, it has come with other communication challenges that humanity has to deal with.

Boost your grades with a new guide on A+ writing

Learn everything you need about academic writing for free!

Incorrect email. Please check it and try again.

Get it

By continuing, you agree to the Terms & conditions & Privacy policy

Time to excel in writing! The download will start within seconds.

Download

Conclusion

Owing to the above points, it is therefore prudent to understand that personal communication is the best way that one could appreciate the details that one seeks to convey in their message. Although there are other well documented research studies on skills for internet communication the overall communication is reduced when it happens on the internet platform.