Social Media And Electronic Communication

Furthermore, the introduction talks about how technology used for communication has been found to be helpful and hurtful in the development of an adolescent’s development. Researchers discovered that adolescents around age 13-14 who were on social media and having healthy peer

The introduction and the spread of the Internet have revolutionized the way individuals communicate and interact with each other. According to Van and Thomas, propagation of this medium of interaction or communication makes it unimaginable to remember that only a few decades back when people had to wait for days, weeks or even months to receive letters from their friends, relatives, or various agencies (3). Today, the internet has made communication quick and cost-effective for most of the people. The latest innovation or by-product from the web is social media. There are various social media platforms, which individuals find new friends, keep

There are many risks that come with excessive social media use. One of which is its effects on important social skills children need in their futures. Texting, Social Media messaging, and even phone calls erode on a child's communication and can harm their relationships with their peers. One way they do this is by reducing the intimacy when communicating. Without a person's face and voice, conversations with them over various Social Media makes the conversation less important and may drive the two people apart. The quality of conversations also plummets as long, descriptive sentences are a taboo when instant messaging. The use of shorter, compact words and text slang may limit the child in how they are able to express themselves later in their life. Finally, Social Media prevents children from practicing empathy. Missing facial expressions, voices, and body language limit the use of this important skill and may keep a child from noticing when a peer or loved one is distressed. A study done by UCLA Scientists took two groups of sixth graders,

, Chandra Johnson claims more young people are connected than ever before through media, the value of the communication that they take part in is leading to an inability to communicate successfully. Johnson argues that youth need face-to-face social communications, and that technology cannot replace traditional public situations. She states that youths today are not creating the empathetic ties that they should be, damaging their relationships. Per this article, young people need to balance technology with essential face-to-face

“According to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day.2 Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.3 Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones.” (O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin)

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, and Patricia Greenfield. “Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships”.The Future of Children 18.1 (2008): 119–146.

The use of social media is ruining this generation’s real life social skills. According to Social Media Today, an online community for professionals, “The amount of time people spend on social media is constantly increasing. Teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction.” Texting or online communications does not allow people to truly express themselves for who they truly are. There is a loss of social and personal development communicating through social media. For instance, people online are unable to use body language, tone, voice and facial expressions through a text. An article on The Telegraph, pointed out that “One in four people spend more time socialising online, using sites such as Facebook, than they do in person, according to research.” The study also found that even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead. (USA Today). The problem with socialising online is that affects a person’s ability to communicate properly in face-to-face interactions. The person will feel a sense of social anxiety and not project their voice loud enough for their audience to hear them. For

According to the author this study is relevant because it broadens the research already done on online communications between adolescents and the effects this kind of communication has on their development.

The youth is the biggest user of communication technology and changing social interaction in ways not yet understood. Adolescents make friends and form bonds online. Media richness is a concept that is the foundation for understanding human behavior using online communication (e.g., Allen & Griffeth, 1997; Carlson & Zmud, 1999; Kahai & Cooper, 2003; Kock, 2004). The study focused on the development of online friendships among teenagers. It was found that media richness and communication control makes teens want to engage in communication for presentation and friendship development. Being up front with a person will eliminate any doubt and speed up friendship development. Webcams and other MSN features helped facilitate a relationship between two strangers. They helped create first impressions and attract all kinds of friends. Sharing information online makes it easier to get to know someone. The adolescents used believed that self- presentation in important when instant messaging someone new. The typical high school student spent an average of 3.10 hours a day using Instant Messaging. Text messaging helped the newly formed relationships progress. The American Academy of Pediatrics published an article in 2011 about the effects of social media on teens, families. Their goal is to inform parents about the potential dangers of social media sites because not all of them are safe. Today pediatricians are helping parents

This is a journal published online in Wiley online library. This journal is based on the survey of 300 adolescents by Barry A. Farber, Gavin Shafron, Jaleh Hamadani, Emily Wald, and George Nitzburg. This source provides information and background about the use of technology mediated communication by teenagers and negative consequence of these various forms of TMC on children’s and young adults.

Teens usually felt more comfortable to talk to someone when it is not face to face. In another article on technology it says, "This technology also provides opportunities to make rewarding social connections for those teens and those barely younger who have difficulty developing friendships in traditional social settings or because of limited contact with same-aged peers"(2). Accordingly this shows, that teens are more likely to communicate with a digital device than by any other

Another negative effect caused by cell phones is people’s declining interpersonal skills. In" Is Social Media Destroying Teen’s Interpersonal Skills? Experts Say It May", Sekinah Brodie pointed out that though the widespread of cell phones increases the quantity of interpersonal communication, the increase is at the sacrifice of quality. As it is widely acknowledged, interpersonal communication plays a vital role throughout one’s life, both in relationships and career, consisting of written, verbal, and non-verbal communication (9-12). In face-to-face communication, people focus more on verbal and non-verbal communication, during which different and even opposite meaning can be conveyed through the same words due to a mixed use of tone, eye contact, body language, gesture and even different dressing. However, when people base most communication on cell phones, they tend to merely apply written words and some simple emoticons, ignoring the effect of other important communication components like eye contact, body language and so on. Consequently, when needing to deal with others in real life, those appearing highly active online may turn out to be awkward, embarrassed, and even confused. In the meantime, it is found that the abuse of cell phone is hindering kids’ learning language and interpersonal skills. In Papa, Don’t Text, Deborh Fallows, the author believed that parents today spend more time on talking on the phone while pushing babies in strollers, leaving negative

The article presents the problem with communication with lots of research that has been done in past years. The research data presented was mostly accurate throughout the essay. Another article written by Angle, Moscaritolo state that, “teens sends and receive 60 texts message a day, up from 50 in 2009…” so as the years go by there has been an increase in the use of smartphones. We can be in a family meeting, but more often will find out that teens prefer to “talk” to you by text than having face-to-face

Among cell phone calls, texting and social media sites, teens today have no problem interacting with each other virtually rather than interacting with each other on a personal setting. One article states,“Given that our brains are

With the ever going dependency for social media and communication devices such as that of internet and cell phones the need for integration and regulation become paramount to how society will function in the future. Durkheim referred to integration as the need for an individual to feel needed in society. What better way to feel this individual need is to have regulations that govern where a person is to fit in? With that being said does anyone really govern the communication methods we use, and will there ever be? Durkheim suggested that without integration and regulation society would find itself in a sore spot. With the limited regulations that currently exist and the dependency on the communication society may have designed and orchestrated its’ own end. “The more weakened the groups to which he belongs, the less he depends on them, the more he consequently depends on himself and recognizes no other rules of conduct than what are founded on his private interests. If we agree to call this state egoism, in which the individual ego asserts itself to excess in the face of the social ego and at its expense, we may call egoistic the special type of suicide springing from excessive individualism” (Durkheim, Social Theory, 64).