In the the past few years, direct communication has been substituted with online interaction among individuals around the world by the emergence of social media platforms. Despite its major drawback on the time-consumed response, the arrival online interaction provide the equality to interact with each other. Thus, I think the benefit far outweighs the drawback.
Even though it is already equipped with several features that can connect people in different areas, it is inevitable that the online communication process will take a lot of time, and the major cause of this issue is the time-zone difference. For instance, during my application process to Columbia University, I was required to send a confirmation email regarding the application fee. Given the circumstances that Indonesia and Columbia have more than a twelve-hour time difference, I have to wake up at midnight Indonesian time and wait for their response on the following two days. However, I think the issue is not a big deal anymore because the problem has been addressed with the emergence of quick-automatic response systems, or artificial intelligence (AI).
Despite the advantages offered by hybrid communication, the most prominent one is equality in communication. Using social media platforms as a medium to interact costs less since people only need to buy cheap internet data and a mobile phone, compared to the direct interaction that can compel people to buy an expensive flight ticket. As a result, people from every background are now able to communicate, regardless of their social status or economic conditions. People in Papua, for example, rarely meet their other relatives on different islands since their monthly wages cannot possibly afford them a travel or flight ticket. After online platforms are introduced, they can easily call or message their relatives with zero spending. I think that benefit has a greater significance, as it makes communication not restrained by socio-economic conditions.
To conclude, the substitution in face-to-face interaction may cause a great concern in the length of time to deliver the response or feedback, while adversely provide equal opportunity for all individuals to interact. Nonetheless, I believe the advantage from that phenomenon still outweighs the given disadvantages.