As today’s youth becomes more and more technologically savvy, communication skills are diminishing. This seems quite paradoxical in the fact that we teens are always in full communication: cell phone attached to the ear, fingers typing furiously on the blackberry keyboard, and eyes glued to the iPod Touch Facebook screen. Our generation may interact more, but we’ve lost sight of what it means to have face-to-face interactions. We have the tendency to not spend as much time physically with people, and instead just type our conversations via text or through some social networking site on the internet. We embody what it means to be the “Myspace Generation.”
Though I know all this to be true, I’m one of those lost souls stuck in the rut of technology. For one thing, I never leave home without my blackberry. This device knocks down all walls, connecting me to the rest of the world. It allows access to my friends via text message and calling, my work contacts through email, and any internet website I may need. All my emails and notifications are sent directly to my phone, so anyone that needs to is able to contact me. It acts as my voice, while I’m not actually speaking. Most of the time I have the ability to ignore any incoming messages and enjoy the company I’m with, but I have this compulsion to check my phone and always be in constant contact with somebody. Even during family dinners, I have felt the need to check for messages, even when I know it can’t be important. My parents argue that I don’t know how to sit in a room anymore without some sort of gadget near me, and sadly, that’s probably true. I usually lay on the couch, my fingers typing hurriedly to one of my friends. My mom always asks why I don’t call my friends or go see them, and I reply, “Well…this is easier.”
And that’s what it all comes down to- being easier. Our lack of communication skills has come to fruition because we are looking for the easy way out. Rather than take the time to find or even call the person we want to talk to, it’s just “easier” (and also faster) to shoot them a text or an email and go from there. We are officially part of the “I want it now” phenomenon. We want everything as soon as possible, and it’s starting to ruin the anticipation and the fascination in the good things waiting brings.
Our new way of speaking to each other has also created a feeling of anonymity, permitting us to have heartfelt conversations or say things we may not ordinarily say. The textual messages we send are like shields each person can hide behind, blocking anything that would normally embarrass or hurt us in our daily interactions. Text messages and casual online chats make talking to someone unfamiliar less stressful or awkward, especially when “hanging out” in person. Though this helps, I tend to get the wrong impression of the person. Reading a conversation through text allows for a large degree of miscommunication. Usually it’s hard to tell how an individual meant to say something unless you know them personally. This is why we cannot rely solely on our devices for communication.
Our generation is not going to stop how we communicate- in fact, face-to-face contact will probably only get worse, causing future generations to be socially inhibited. My only hope is that people realize our way of speaking silently to each other is not the true workings of the world. As long as people start to realize there’s more to life than the feeling of our fingertips on the keys, the spoken word will still prosper.
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