How Social Media Disrupts Communication?

Okay, so this is where social media gets dodgy.

Social media with its increased interconnectivity and immeasurable spread of information, its biggest impact be the change it has made to the language. Covered in technology, anyone can create an illusion and hide behind the text, Facebook post or tweet, and projecting the only image they want. They can be whoever they want without nonverbal cues; their audiences are none the sagacious.

Hence, this presents an unprecedented conflict. With all the power of social technologies at one’s fingertips, we are more convincingly connected but more disconnected than ever a foretime. With our stripped away context of communication, we strive to forge more relationships and decisions based on expressions. But like any wide-ranging concept, social media have broken the barriers of both time and space, by 24/7 interact with more people than before. In a sarcastic twist, focusing on communication quality versus quantity, it is likely to make us less social.

We live in a generation where social media took power over people and is now controlling everything in any possibleway. Unfortunately, while connecting through social media most people neglect how to connect properly without arguing, having a rude attitude, listening to only fast reply and instead of in person looking for the phone. Why is that?

I’m sure this varies from person to person. It is undeniable that social media has changed the way of communication and from any perspective not always for the better. Because social media is always making it easier and better for all, we find everything we want without little try and so people are so used to having easy access to everything we explore and communicate.

Social Media and News Outlets

oSomeone feeling grumpy and responds rudely to someone in public, and next thing you know is it’s splashed all over social media. News, which are more like national headlines, in reality, it's hardly a newsworthy story.

oFrom what I am hearing from teenagers, life lives and dies on social media. How all the petty and immature girls spread at the speed of the Internet? Nasty comments, cliquish behaviour and many gossips on social media replaced an emotional wildfire spread in dry grass.

oHave you ever found a bundle of love letters? I firmly believe the art of writing is dying, being chocked by the tiny text of tweets. Even worse, how social media is gradually undermining the ability to communicate and the expectation of engaging face-to-face.

I believe there is some value in social media communication. It has its place for sharing family photos and small updates that may not warrant a phone call. However,it is a slope when a brief text message update replaces the well-written letter.

Definitions Changed

Social media not only invented new wordsbutalso changed a large part of our language.With technology constantly evolving, communication changes. To some, change in language is a backward step. I suppose languagestobe changed. It’s essential how our language changes with us, providing new words and definitions that social media has done with ‘selfie’.

Apart from dozens of coined words and phrases, ‘Selfie’ word originated as word of the year in Oxford English Dictionary (2013). And later after two years their ‘tears of joy emoji’ followed by word of the year. There are more making it into the dictionary. Considering this a fitting example, how vocabulary got its new start.

• The word ‘friend’, used for adding someone on Facebook. Facebook is the only one to introduce a new way of communicating.

• The word ‘add’,used to mean sending an invite for connecting on Facebook accounts.

• ‘Likes’, a measurement of popularity. We definitely speak in terms of the ‘Likes’ and‘Comments’ we have got on our posts.

• Emoticons :-) and acronyms (like LOL), the most useful element to our non-verbal communication.

• Twitter with a limit of140 characters, the platform may not have lasted. Yet, it is a powerful marketing tool today.

Keeping E-Communications real

Address your issue: If you are drawing an expression of a bad mood, unwilling and unsupportive, pick up the phone or make in-person conversation to clear things up.

Don’t cop out: It’s easy to sit behind the closed door and do your work but it takes the pressure of many complexities. Don’t fall to this and connect to your people.

Beware of the gap: It’s easy to write and paint a dream world, but what if your reality and action are not consistent with your words?

Keeping current, some may feel left behind from all of this. And yes, some of us despair and believe that social media is great for word nerds. But the truth is it can be a great way to keep up with these changes. Pay attention, you may spot new emerging words and maybe you coin one for yourself. We must take advantage of all technologically enabled world and make sure we will not lose our touch with most of our relationships, personally and professionally.

THE LANGUAGE BARRIER HAS SURELY BENT BUT NOT BROKE.