Nowadays, people are becoming so reliant on online communication platforms that it is believed to be the cause of a decline in face-to-face interaction. Some people argue that this can affect social skills and relationships in negative ways, while others believe that it encourages both global connectivity and new forms of community. In this essay, both perspectives of the argument will be articulated with details alongside my opinion on this engaging matter.
Before tackling the main argument, it is indubitable that online communication platforms are becoming more widespread than ever before, which leads to a noticeable decline in face-to-face interaction among people. However, despite how ironic it may sound, online communication platforms also encourage individuals to connect with others around the globe.
Online communication platforms empower people worldwide to share and connect with each other regardless of the difference of time zone and geographical distance. Facebook, for instance, is a well-known app designed to allow anyone to share their stories, struggles, happy moments, news, or many other types of content for online users all over the world, forming online communities where individuals are welcome to express themselves.
On the other hand, it is also understandable that said online communication platforms also contribute into making people, especially the younger generations, less active in maintaining relationships due to the fact that some individuals many be heavily glued to their phones, damaging their relationship with their close ones, which slowly making the need of direct communication and face-to-face communication fade from time to time. Moreover, individuals can be less active in normal and casual conversation; as a result, social skills such as manners, body language, etc, have the susceptibility to fade or worsen over time.
All things considered, the increasing usage of online communication platforms can be a great method to empower global connectivity, allowing people all over the world to connect and affiliate with each other regardless of geographical limitations or time zones. However, it can have the ability to slowly worsen a person’s social skills or may be able to negatively damage relationships due to people’s over-reliance on it. Everything has its pros and cons, so it is best that any individual should balance the time spent online and offline, as well as learn how to benefit from online communication platforms.