Negative Effects of Technology on Interpersonal Communication, Essay Sample

Spirited discussions at the dinner table are becoming less prevalent thanks to technology. The rapid development of technology, specifically social media, continue to change how people socialize, work, and interrelate. For instance, parents take their families out to restaurants armed with tablets, smartphones, and laptops and external batteries instead of exciting stories. Electronic devices such as tablets can offer many diversions. One such diversion is specifically troublesome, social media. The consequences of attachment to social media comprise reduced social skills, emotional intelligence, self-motivation, increased disagreement with other people, and depression among the teenagers (Scott, Valley, & Simecka, 2017). Evidently, the pace of social media brings mixed blessings to both the adults and adolescents.

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Mapped Thesis Statement: Technology has given rise to social media platforms that negatively affect interpersonal communication by contributing to a reduction in the pursuit of offline activities, underdeveloped social skills, and self-harm normalization.

Reduction in the pursuit of offline activities - In addition to creating a distraction, social media use contributes to a reduction in offline social activities. The unprecedented rise of social media outlets counting Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, among others negatively affect our ability to live, laugh and love one another. Social networking sites (SNSs) today have become the centre of symbiotic relationships where people are offered the chance for social interaction (Li, Chang, & Chiou, 2017). This trend has seen many people perceive social media as a source of connection, thus reducing the desire to pursue offline social activities. This detrimental effect has given birth to poor relationships and communications both at home and in office.

Research reveals that extroverted people show increased levels of social media addictive tendencies (Li, Chang, & Chiou, 2017). This tendency is also linked to a reduced pursuit of offline activities. Does reduced pursuit of offline activities pose danger to people? Engaging in offline activities can be helpful to one's health and social life and it contributes to living a meaningful life. In most cases, social networking may fulfill the desire for connectedness but demoralize the probability of obtaining pleasure from offline social life.

There is the need to develop the pursuit of offline activities among the young people who are most affected. This research is of great help to the audience because it sheds light on the negative effects of social media and provides alternative ways to help people live happily. Future study should seek to identify other psychosocial traits that clarify young people's inclination for addictive behaviors for social media.

Underdeveloped social skills - Apart from creating a distraction, there is an increased probability of losing social skills because of the overreliance on technology. Social skills help people to function in a morally accepted manner (Li, Chang, & Chiou, 2017). Social skills have considerably reduced over the last few years among young people. Different research and studies reveal that technology is the cause of ruining teen's socialization and communication skills. Communication between children and parents is now gradually reducing to a point where even starting a face-to-face conversation is a problem.

Recent studies reveal that social media does not promote the development of social skills (Li, Chang, & Chiou, 2017). Lack of social skills has seen many children developing incapability to read social cues. Being reliant on technology, for instance, tablets and smartphones, at a young age is an implication that one will lose useful skills as they grow. To ensure that our adolescents grow up with developed social skills, being capable to have compassion, and in a position to hold a conversation, we must prevent them from becoming technology reliant at a young age. The lack of social skills also makes many Internet users vulnerable to cyber bullies.

The study seeks to educate the audience on the importance of developing social skills among the young people. The overreliance of social media as a communication tool does not develop social skills; therefore, there is the need to focus on issues that bring positive changes accordingly.

Self-harm normalization- Self-inflicted injury is a major cause of death among teenagers and studies justify that majority of young people who self-harm have access to the internet. Increased activities on social networking can normalize risk manners like suicidal and self-harm (Dyson, et al, 2016). Social media usage and developing online relations specifically attracts teenagers who experience feelings of loneliness, a feeling regular among people who self-injure. The adolescents may be unenthusiastic to chat about self-injury with their siblings, parents, and close friends. As a result, most of the young people who self-injure fall back on the Internet with the hope that unidentified social media connections will assist them to develop significant relationships with strangers who are connected to their experience.

A few years ago, parents could defend their children from unwanted materials. However, the new digital age has broken the boundaries. Things have changed and media critics have it clear that protecting children is much harder today. This is true as teenagers go online and surf the Internet, watch YouTube videos and play online games. Studies have also described self-injury as part of the severe mental illness. Users can be helped to avoid self-harm by engaging in practical activities such as playing games (Dyson, et al, 2016). Despite the fact that the normalization of self-injury in social media assists the adolescents who slot in the conduct feel less separated, it may as well multiply interest in attempting the habit as a means of dealing with anxiety.

The study has great benefits for the audience because it justifies the reason why most teens engage in self-inflicted harm. Self-harm can be avoided by reducing addiction to online activities and interacting with others through games and daily activities.

Conclusion

Technology has given rise to social media platforms that negatively affect interpersonal communication by contributing to a reduction in the pursuit of offline activities, underdeveloped social skills, and self-harm normalization. New technologies are, with no doubt, a significant factor influencing interpersonal communication. They trigger changes on how people relate with one another and share ideas. The increased connectivity and accessibility to information can result in mental health challenges and self-injury to the young people. Several issues linked to the dependency of social media will continue to rise in the digital age. Therefore, there is need to bring up our children less reliant on technology to avoid the lack of social skills among them. Several conclusions can be drawn from examining the subject that, people should make the right use of social media to develop themselves. Building on this context, people should avoid the negative impacts of new media through focusing on the benefits of the technology.

References

Dyson, M. P., Hartling, L., Shulhan, J., Chisholm, A., Milne, A., Sundar, P., & ... Newton, A. S. (2016). A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts. Plos ONE, 11(5), 1-15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155813

Fleck, J. & Johnson-Migalski, L. (2015). The Impact of Social Media on Personal and Professional Lives: An Adlerian Perspective. The Journal of Individual Psychology 71(2).

Li, S., Chang, Y. Y., & Chiou, W. (2017). Things online social networking can take away: Reminders of social networking sites undermine the desirability of offline socializing and pleasures. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 58(2), 179-184. doi:10.1111/sjop.12348

Scott, D., Valley, B., & Simecka, B. (2017). Mental Health Concerns in the Digital Age. International Journal Of Mental Health & Addiction, 15(3), 604-613. doi:10.1007/s11469-016-9684-0