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Social Media and the Internet: Does it Help or Hinder?

Human beings demonstrate a desire to interact and share their experiences with others. With the development of social media and the Internet, such interactions are rapidly shifting. Evidently, it is rare to meet a person who does not use this form of media to communicate with others. It follows that social media and the Internet have become an integral component of the life of an ordinary human being (Tardanico). For instance, Facebook alone has more than 500 million users globally. For the other sites, such Twitter and Myspace, the cumulative number of interactions per minutes is millions. However, the only legitimate means of connection between people is through the authentic communication. Studies reveal that only 7% of communication is reliant on the verbal and written word. The other portion of it is dependent on nonverbal body language (Werbach). This paper evaluates various sources to determine how developments in social media and the Internet have increased the level of human interaction at the expense of effective face-to-face communication.

One Saturday evening, Annalise exchanged instant messages with her son who is a college student. They ‘chatted’ quite a lot, Annalise asking about his well-being and her son replying with positive statements followed by emoticons: hearts and smiles. That same evening, her son was arrested for DUI. A few hours later, it was discovered that he had been driving a car full of drunk students. What is more, he was chatting with his mother at the same time. In other words, whatever was going on with Annalise’s son was entirely different from what he implied in his texts. This is where social media gets faulty. Indeed, it is only when one hears the tone of voice or looks into another person’s eyes that they are able to perceive when ‘I am alright’ does not mean they are truly okay. With social media, anyone can pretend in the text, post, or tweet demonstrating any image they deem fitting (Tardanico). Thus, interaction takes place at top speed with little and inaccurate communication.

A Fresh Set of Barriers to Communication

Social media and the Internet have been successful overcoming the barriers of time and space, allowing people to interact, at any given moment with more people than they would previously. Nonetheless, such technology has introduced a new set of communication barriers. Thus, social media tends to promote quantity rather than the quality of communication (Tardanico). Moreover, communication via social media is more superficial than the authentic one. Even though social media and the Internet have the potential to make people more social, they only present a substitute for the real thing. Hence, Tardanico holds it that for there to be an authentic and effective communication, all parties should strive to be “accurate and genuine.”

The Workplace

The work environment alsohas been influenced by social media and the Internet given that there is an increase in the use of electronic communication and less application of face-to-face communication. In this case, the geographic dispersion of business and the tendency of the Generation Y and Millennials to abandon conventional interpersonal communication are considered to be the driving forces. Generation Y and Millennials are expected to constitute more than half of the labour force in the United States by 2020 and prefer using instant messaging services alongside other forms of social media to voice-to-voice or face-to-face conversations (Tardanico). Such a system only serves to derail communication within an organization because Boomers face an uphill task in trying to meet current expectations in their younger counterparts. Following these two trends, leaders should address their influence on business relationships and active collaboration.

Further, since communication in organizations is conducted via texts, e-mails, intranets and blogs, there is a danger of misunderstanding. Whenever people are stressed or in a hurry, they are likely to ignore the tones of their writing (Tardanico). Therefore, conflicts often arise over nuances used in an e-mail or a text message. For instance, some people consider uppercase letters in e-mails to be ‘yelling.' The others’ perception of a one- or two-word response is that the sender is reluctant to engage in the conversation. Moreover, it is hard to determine whether a smiley face means one is aboard concerning a proposition. On the whole, inferences are made out of traces of information.

Hiding in Plain E-Sight

In her article, Rosman evaluates the instance when a person ignores another person’s text message or fails to call back but, at the same time, is seen interacting on social media. She begins by giving the example of her sister, Lizzie, who despises Twitter because Rosman would rather spend time and energy tweeting and retweeting than return her calls. It is surprising how people opt to interact with thousands of strangers via Twitter or Instagram ignoring the people that matter more. Then, “If someone is not communication-device compatible, it will bring problems in your relationship” (Rosman).

Benefit of Social Media

Despite the argument that social media is an obstacle to human connection, there are certain aspects of this phenomenon that favour human connection. Facebook, in particular, has ‘transformed the manner in which more than 500 million people connect to the world’ (Werbach). Furthermore, it allows people to express their views regarding various issues and show the world who they are. Through social media, communities have become bigger both in terms of geography and the number of people forming friendship circles (Klinenberg).

Conclusions

To understand the impact of social media and the Internet on human connection, it is necessary to study various contexts of human life that require communication. In the workplace, for example, social media have caused a barrier to communication because different generations interacting within an organization seem to have different preferences. It is established that Millennials and Generation Y prefer using as instant messaging and e-mails while the Boomers prefer face-to-face and voice-to-voice communication. Such differences only serve to delay and hinder communication flow in the organization. In the workplace, it is also possible to distort a colleague’s response when using social media as a tool for communication. Thus, it has been found that people tend to have differing opinions regarding certain elements of written communication such as the use of uppercase and smileys.

The other issue concerning social media and the Internet is that they often lack quality and authenticity. In addition, social media tend to be high-speed but facilitate petite communication between the sender and the receiver. Unless parties decide to become genuine and accurate, social media will always be a substitute for the real thing. Yet, social media allow people to express their views on various matters that affect the society; it provides a platform to share emotions and achievements with the world.

Annotated Bibliography

Klinenberg, Eric. “Facebook Isn’t Making Us Lonely.” Slate. 19 April 2012. Web. 28 March 2016

Klinenberg’s article is aimed at disapproving Stephen Marche’s article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely”. In his article, Marche claims that the more connected human beings become, the lonelier they get. Klinenberg goes over Marche’s article and quotes certain statements from it and explaining why they are not valid; mostly pointing out the absence of reasonable evidence.

Rosman, Katherine. “On Twitter and Facebook, Hiding in Plain E-Sight.” The New York Times. 7 November 2014. Web. 28 March 2016

Rosman evaluates people’s tendency to ignore the texts and calls from the people who matter then indulge in chatting with strangers on social media. She quotes several individuals including her sister; most of who abhor such behaviour. Towards the end of the article, however, Rosman seems to suggest that social media is not to blame; rather, it is the users.

Tardanico, Susan. “Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication?” Forbes. 30 April 2012. Web. 28 March 2016

Tardanico’s article discusses the difference between interaction and communication as they relate to social media. He argues that while social media speeds up interaction, it creates a barrier to communication. According to Tardanico, communication is majorly made through nonverbal body language, social media barely supports.

Werbach, Adam. “In Defense of Facebook.” The Atlantic. 1 October 2010. Web. 28 March 2016

As the title suggests, this article holds that people should appreciate the success that Facebook has had over the years. Werbach mentions that Facebook has shown success in overcoming atomization. He claims that Facebook has brought people together to solve both simple and complicated problems in the society. For instance, millions of people participate in Facebook’s Causes application. Moreover, Zuckerberg’s gift of a hundred million dollars to Newark’s public schools most probably comes from his earnings from Facebook.