21st Century Communication by Ariel Bishop Payne

Cell phones, social media websites and the internet have taken socializing with other humans to a whole new level, with some of us spending several hours every day in front of computers and on our phones texting, messaging and tweeting friends/family instead of talking to them in person or phoning them. Some people believe the absurd amount of communication over electronic devices is a great thing because shy people are more willing to communicate and it's believed to be much easier and quicker then socializing in person, but in reality it's making us lazier and preventing us from developing social skills. Communicating over electronics is ruining our social skills and ability to have meaningful relationships because talking online or over social media websites can potray false information on a person and people are much more brave with what they say vs. what they say in real life.

First of all, talking online or over cellphones is very different that talking in person. When you need to reach some one, the first option people generally choose is to contact them by messaging or texting them via cell phone or social media website. Messaging some one over FaceBook, Tweeting or texting is very different than a phone call or a conversation face-to-face. Looking at a screen while comminicating with some one is nothing compared to looking into someone's eyes while tlaking. Emotions can't be shown or portrayed well over text, and messages can be taken the wrong way and start fights and drama over a simple miscommunication. Also, people (especially teenagers) are becoming so addicted to technology that it has become their number one form of communication. Instead of telephoning or visiting the person they're trying to reach (just like they used to do before the internet and cell phone were invented), people simply go on facebook, text or tweet the person. Communicating over electronic devices has become much easier and quicker than communicating face-to-face or even over the phone. Thirdly, The more we communicate online or on cell phones, the worse our social skills will get. Starting conversations in person becomes much harder when you're used to using abbreviations amd texting in as little words as possible.Talking over electronic devices is very different and much less meaningful than looking into someone's eyes and speaking to one another. This is why talking online is extremely different than having a nice conversation in person, but this is not the only reason communicating so much over electronic devices is unhealthy.

It's horrifying how easy it is to say anything you want about yourself and other people on the internet, and it's becoming more and more apparent that social media websites can potray false information on a person. People can literally say anything they want about themselves over the internet, and don't seem to realize that immense consequences can come from this. Social media websites generally ask for a lot of the user's personal information, and the user can decide how much they want to share about themself (to a certain extent.) The reoccuring problem with this is anyone can say anything about themselves or other people, whether it be true or false information. Another issue with social media websites is that people can make fake profiles, and pretened to be some one they're not. Fake profiles are the very dangerous side to social media websites, and you can unknowingly be talking to some one who claims to be a friend of yours in class but really is a complete stranger. The internet has made it much easier for sexual  predators and kidnappers to find easy targets, and that's why parents/guardians are always telling kids to be very safe on the internet. Thirdly, online dating websites are becoming more and more popular every year. These websites (e.g- eHarmony) are designed for adults to view other people's profiles and set up dates with the people who had the best profile in their opinion. This is another example of how people can pretend to be some one they're not, and how people now rely on websites to find people to date. The more aware people are of fake profiles online, the safer it will be.

Cyber Bullying is becoming a much more serious issue as communicating online/over cell phones becomes more popular. This is occuring because people are much more brave with what they say and post online vs. in real life. When you're communicating over a social media website or cell phone, you feel much more comfortable saying things that you'd be too afraid to say to the person's face. Talking face-to-face results in immediate reactions to what you're saying from the other person, and generally keeps  you from saying anything before really thinking about it in fear of them reacting a certain way. When communicating online, not seeing people's immediate reaction and rebuttle makes it much easier to say hurtful things. Secondly, people can take messages you say send them in a different way then you meant; communicating oover electronic devices leaves a lot of mystery to what the person's trying  to say. There's more to communicating in person then just using your mouth and vocal cords. People watch your body language, facial expressions and listen to your tone of voice to understand what you're really saying. Even with all the emotions, it is very difficult to completely understand what the person you're talking to means (whether it be sarcastic, truthful etc.) over texting and online-messaging. Thirdly, people being much braver when talking online has resulted in a substantial amount of cyber bullying. In the past ten years, as more social media websites grew in popularity, so did cyber bullying. This has lead to serious depression and even suicide within teenagers and even adults. People aren't afraid to slander others online because they feel secure behind their cell phone or computer screen. They believe that since it's online, no one will know about it and there will be no consequences, and unfortunately in many cases people do get away with it. We need to bring more awareness to the horrible things people are saying online, and put a stop to cyber bullying once and for all.

Technology has really improved our quality of life and there are many positive attributes to cell phonesm social media websites and the internet. Unfortunately, humans are over using the internet and electronic devices to communicate. Human's social skills are slowly deteriorating, and all communication is becoming in front of a screen instead of in person. This is beginning to ruin human's ability to grow healthy, strong relationships with other people because talking online or over social media websites is very different than in person, social media websites can potray false information on a person and people are much more brave with what they say online vs. what they say in real life. Humans need to put down the cell phone, log off facebook, close the laptop screen and go out into the real world and talk to people in person.