Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication?

Blake Johnson

CAS 283

 

It is no question that the emergence of the internet and people being online has changed the entire world of how people socialize with each other. The biggest question that rises from this emergence is whether or not being online has negatively affected socialization. People use media to achieve certain Gratifications that they believe a specific media will make possible for them. The process is defined as a person seeking gratifications, then using media to achieve those gratifications, and then finally perceiving that they obtained those gratifications. Some of the gratifications people look for when using social media sites, specifically Facebook as represented by a study done in 2007, are socializing, self-seeking, entertainment, and finally information. These gratifications are sought by almost everyone at some point in time and Facebook helps people achieve them at a much easier convenience. Regardless of convenience, Susan Tardanico suggests in her article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/04/30/is-social-media-sabotaging-real-communication/ ) that social media is killing real communication. She believes that the gratifications people receive from using the internet are getting lost and not received by those who use it. She states “With all the powerful social technologies at our fingertips, we are more connected – and potentially more disconnected – than ever before” to suggest that communication online lacks credibility without the cues received from face to face communication. She believes that social network sites may actually be doing the converse of what they attempt to do for people, which is make people more social. She believes that social networking sites, such as Facebook may be making less social as the means of communication is a surrogate of the real things and brings out fake personalities of people.

 One of her biggest concerns deals with anonymity. Without definite identity of a person people lack ethos causing interactions online to be less genuine than conversations dealt with face to face. “Anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, the Facebook post or the tweet, projecting any image they want and creating an illusion of their choosing. They can be whoever they want to be. And without the ability to receive nonverbal cues, their audiences are none the wiser.” The author believes that people can project non-genuine images of themselves online which causes communication online to be less meaningful. I agree with this as I don’t always embody the personality that I put forth in online communications, mostly over social media. For example, I may suggest that I am lol’ing, while I actually sit behind the screen of my phone or computer stone-faced at what my counterpart assumed was hilarious. In a face-to-face conversation it is much easier for my conversing partner to realize I don’t find what they may have found hilarious, funny at all. Susan suggests that the emergence of social media has called for people to be more genuine and accurate to produce a truly effective communication vehicle.

We talked about in class how computer mediated communication could affect the workplace negotiations. Susan spends a great deal of the latter part of the article suggesting that the emergence of technology is depleting the work environments as well as relationships. She believes that they don’t develop as well behind technology against if it were primarily face to face. It has been shown through studies suggested in lecture that CMC in workplace causes less trust between individuals versus face to face. She is worried that people can’t develop meaningful relationships online as well as they would interacting constantly in face to face situations. She then illustrates six steps she feels are necessary to “keep E-communication real”. She ends her blog by suggesting that people should take advantage of all of the benefits that come from technology but must ensure they don’t lose touch with their most significant relationships, personal and professional. I agree that with technology comes a lot of benefits but also a lot of problems. Social networks may actually make us less social by eliminating all of the other cues that shape a conversation and reducing it to only words and possibly some emoticons.