Technology has transformed people’s lives to a considerable extent in all spheres, including communication. Two hundred years ago, people had to write letters or meet personally to communicate. One hundred years ago, people could communicate with little attention to distance as they had telephones. Nowadays, people are constantly in contact with each other due to smartphones, the Internet, and wearable devices (Rogers, 2019). As with any other advancement, new trends in communication have both positive and negative effects.
The biggest positive outcome of the use of technology in communication is numerous opportunities to stay in touch and reach almost any person within almost no time. People share information, which is important for their professional and personal lives. Comfort is another positive change as individuals can communicate with the help of user-friendly devices, making their lives more pleasant. A person can reach more people irrespective of time and distance. However, technology use is also associated with some negative effects. An increasing level of digital-based communication makes people less comfortable with face-to-face communication. Some individuals prefer communicating online and feel uneasy or even anxious when they need to interact with others in the real world. The abundance of information coming from different sources distracts people from important tasks, which may lead to negative consequences in their professional or personal lives. For instance, an employee working in an office has to react to corporate email messages, phone calls, and instant messages.
In conclusion, technology has made communication more effective as people may share information in no time and pay no attention to distance. However, the current proportion of face-to-face communication is decreasing in many people’s lives, which may have a negative impact on them in personal and social domains. Therefore, it is important to be a responsible user of technology and make sure that social ties are properly maintained, and face-to-face communication prevails.
Reference
Rogers, S. (2019). The role of technology in the evolution of communication. Forbes. Web.