social media and the loss of traditional means of communicating.
Let’s face it: People just do not know how to talk to each other anymore. We see people connect through texts and tweets, but how much emotion can one truly generate from words on a screen? The recipient often does not know the true connotation of those words, and this can lead to complications in any kind of relationship.
Let’s go over a few examples: First, there are those who give the “one-word answers” in text messages and posts, and this angers the person on the other end many a time. Maybe these people really don’t feel like talking, or maybe they are not ones to use extended vocabulary or even complete sentences. Second, there is also the “sarcasm machine,” one who constantly plays jokes and uses this sarcasm to try and make others laugh. Maybe this person really does take the true meaning of that message sent to you, or maybe they use meant-to-be-harmless insults against people to try and get them to lighten up a little.
However, the fact is this: The recipient of these messages would never know the difference unless they have actually interacted with this person through conversation and live social situations, and this is a huge deal considering the dramatic contrasts between both situations.
Like mentioned before, social media is very beneficial in many different ways. But for this very reason, it is important that we do not lose such a key factor as verbal communication in our day-to-day lives, because it is still a vital piece in shaping who we are and what we aspire to become.
in shaping who we are and what we aspire to become.
We need verbal communication skills for so many different aspects of our lives, even with the emergence of social media. When people graduate from college and seek a job, they need to possess interviewing skills. When seeking out long-term relationships, couples need to be able to communicate their feelings to one another. When raising children, parents need to obtain the skills necessary to veer their children in the right direction, which requires effective communication.
Half of the problem, however, is the fact that electives and humanities classes in education have been cut by nearly 50 percent, and this goes a long way into regressing our society. Obviously, the math and science fields are important for the technological advancement of the human race, but without humanities, America will fall even further behind culturally. Cultural and communicative knowledge is taught in nearly every other country in order for their respective peoples to excel internationally, yet the United States refuses to stress its importance. Therefore, this puts Americans in an inferior realm as far as job placement.
Social media is by no means horrible. But the issue that needs brought to light is that the harm it has caused in our generation has far outweighed the benefit to our society, especially since most people in our generation do not have the initial grounds for communicating as those before us have. For if we cannot communicate verbally and effectively now, who knows if we will even have the natural ability, as humans, to speak in the future.