As we approach a world of digital dependency and academic excellence, the question of whether communicating through gadgets has negative impact on youth’s reading and writing skills has gained traction. While gadgets provide opportunity to maintain contact with friends, relatives at a distance and provides access to numerous information, I strongly believe that overusing mobile phone and computer to interact with people leads to lack of comprehension.
From an optimistic perspective, online communication serves as a powerful catalyst for expanding educational access to a wide range of reading materials such as e-books, articles, and online libraries, which encourages young generation to read more than they used to do. In addition, social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok can be used to interact with people around the globe which improves their communication skills and widens their overall knowledge. For example, there are huge number of youth who make friends from different countries socializing with each other through world wide web, thereby broadening their horizons and exchanging their cultural preferences.
However, in my view, excessive usage of digital devices can harm communication skills. Many youngsters spend a great deal of time chatting using informal language and short forms of words, which reduces their ability to write properly in formal language. For example, while writing an essay they are likely to forget the correct spelling and are willing to make grammar mistakes as gadgets have installed autocorrect. Moreover, online content is often visual and simplified, which leads to lack of understanding of complex structures. As an example, more and more students struggle to understand articles written by researchers.
In conclusion, while the growing use of digital devices can negatively affect literacy when misused, it also offers valuable opportunities to improve knowledge. Therefore, impact of technology largely depends on how it is used.