In Singapore, people, especially teenagers can be so hooked on to computer mediated communication tools like facebook and msn so much so that they actually spend less time on face to face communications. is that a good phenomenon? does that mean teenagers are basically more technology savvy as compared to people of the past? I beg to differ. i see it as a degeneration of communication skills and the degradation of interpersonal relationships.
How much can you know about someone by just communicating with him online? The answer is, not much. It is hard to find out about one's character and personalities by communicating with his virtual self. The information presented to you is usually biased towards the individual and therefore highly unreliable. Human perception and opinion of someone are highly accurate when one is able to observe the person's behavior, emotions and expressions. Computer mediated communications are channels which have limitations over these aspects. It would not be surprising if the person you are communicating turns out to be someone who is completely different from what you thought he would be. This is highly possible because it is so easy to fabricate information about yourself which is not true. In fact, the only way to understand someone is to have personal experiences with him and also establish communication on a face to face basis.
Personally, i think that computer mediated communication tools are essential to expand our social networks. however, we should not be too reliant on such channels as these tools only serve to build the foundations of interpersonal relationships, and not anything beyond that level. so fellow people, are u one who is obsessed with msn or facebook? how different do u see yourself as a person compared to your virtual self?
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would a video camera close the gap of face to face communication with web communication?
ReplyDeleteCommunication is by nature effective only if its via two way channel. If online tools like Facebook or Skype have the ability to engender this effective communication, why not?
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the only limiting factor that comes into the picture is when there is over-reliance on these tools and to the extent of replacing face-to-face conversation. Burgeoning growth of technology has empowered individuals to keep in touch across the continents and to bridge the communication gap. So much so that the initial agenda has begun to slowly dissolve in today's information highway.
The concept of moderation has always been the unspoken rule. Not too sure if it strikes a chord in you when you begin to receive cold emails instead of the usual hand-made cards. Perhaps it is time we review whether the methods through which we express our thoughts ultimately equates to the actual message that is received by the other party.
The parallel shift towards CMCs has indeed obscured communication. Today, getting to know someone is becoming taxing and perplexing.
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