Lack of Face-to-Face Communication

Continuing from my last blog, "Stanger Danger", I am now moving onto the issue of lack of  face-to-face communication between individuals.

Social media is a massive influence in relation to impacting the way which people interact. This can be seen to reduce the amount of face-to-face communication which people have.

One of the reasons which I feel a lack of physical interaction occurs, is due to the ease of speaking to friends from the comfort of our own homes, via social media. I feel that people have been gradually slipping into a social media coma which they can sit, aimlessly on their phone for hours on end, without even noticing the time go by. This time on our phones is often spent without direction or real interest, it is just something which we humans have developed out of bad habit. To sit and refresh apps on our phones.

This time on our phones is spent talking with friends and generally updating our application profiles, to make ourselves and our lives appear to be more appealing than what they are. Therefore, people are finding this a much easier and simple way to live, by staying inside, on their own, not having to get ready and leave the house and make an effort with someone. So much time is dedicated towards this, whereas it could be spent much better off with quality, face-to-face, communication with people we actually care about. This time would also most likely bring much more enjoyment to us, and avoid these social media comas which many people find themselves slipping into every day. Therefore, social media is influencing us by consuming large portions of our time, and by drawing us away from other people, due to its ease of time consumption.

Another reason which social media affects the amount of face-to-face communication which people have, is that it reduces the requirement for people to have to see each other. Many people do not bother with making plans with their friends, as they do not have to. People nowadays feel that there is no point in going out to the park, to get a real social life, as they can simply instantly message their friends from the comfort of their own home, via sites such as twitter and Facebook. Perhaps logging online to chat rooms, twitter, and Facebook, is like a new form of playground for us? Is this really a suitable way for us to socialise with one another?

We must also consider how this lack of physical communication can affect our confidence in meeting new people and making friends. Many people now lack the understanding, and find it inappropriate to walk up to someone and start a conversation or even ask for help with directions, and resort to relying on technology for assistance instead.

Therefore, as we can see, social media is altering the way we interact with each other, by altering our desire to spend physical time with other people.

Type again soon, Anna