During the rapid development of digital technology, some express their concern about social media as it may negatively influence human interaction while the advocates claim it to have revolutionized communication by linking people closer than ever. In my opinion, though social media has indeed served as a medium to connect people, the connection is both superficial and fragile. Ultimately, it may even have detrimental effects on our interpersonal skills and reduce real-life socialization.
Social media has a bad influence on teenagers’ communication skills, as more people rely on texting instead of face-to-face communication to express themselves and receive messages. According to experts, words are only one of the elements of communication. Body language, tone, facial expressions and pace all affect how we perceive a message. For example, the same sentence, “I am sure you have tried your best,” can be encouraging or sarcastic depending on the delivery, not the content alone. The determining factor is whether the speaker expresses it with a concerned and compassionate expression and a gentle voice, or with a despising smirk and a mocking tone. This example illustrates the importance of tone and facial expressions in interpersonal skills. In the long run, the lack of ability to analyse body language and tone may result in insufficient social skills.
Apart from the techniques to perceive messages, social media reduces our desire to meet our friends and relatives in reality. In the demanding era of technology, almost everyone is overwhelmed with workload and virtual social interaction which results in avoidance of unnecessary gatherings. Compared to the past, when sharing personal experiences was constrained by words, such as writing email, or talking through phones, social media provides us with a full scope of presentations to share our daily lives. As a result, spending time to meet up and just chit-chat seems a waste of time. Paradoxically, the original intention to create social media is to bridge the gap between individuals; it has eventually created an obstacle to connect by devaluing the necessity of in-person interaction.
To recapitulate, it is no doubt that social media is fraught with opportunities for us to contact individuals without geographical and temporal restrictions; however, communication via digital means is incomplete. Jeopardizing our precious face-to-face meeting time, social media must not supplant real life communication.