Just Text Me: A Look at Communication in 2010

Technology has completely transformed communication over the last couple of decades. In the early 1990’s, it wasn’t often you would see people texting while driving or looking up movie times on their cell phones. Today, college roommates text each other because they are in different rooms.

In 2010, these occurrences are commonplace. Each day, either going to or coming from work, we all see that guy juggling his coffee, his cell phone, and his steering wheel at the same time. If we weren’t gliding over asphalt at 75 miles per hour in massive boxes made of metal and glass, it might not feel so dangerous.

This is just an example of how technological advancement in communication has changed not only our individual lives, but the entire world. With so many complex forms of communication suddenly accessible and easy to use, people on opposite ends of earth can interact with the click of a button.

But is this change a blessing or a curse?

While cell phones, computers, and the internet have all improved the way humans contact each other, they have also gone a long way in creating problems that couldn’t exist before. Kids are learning how to socialize through text messaging instead of speaking in person. People are losing their jobs because they have cyberaddictions. Many adults are losing their health and happiness when they rarely leave their homes and order all of their necessities online. Worst of all, close friends and families are not seeing each other as much because they consider speaking on the phone or exchanging emails “good enough.”

On the flip side of this coin, a teenage girl can always call to check in with her parents. A man who lives in California has the ability to meet, know, and fall in love with a woman who lives in London. A mother who rolls her car over on a deserted highway in the middle of the night can immediately call 911 for help. An expectant father can watch the birth of his first daughter in a hospital in Idaho while he is actually working in Paris. Improvements in communication have moved our society forward, but they have also caused damage to our personal lives that often goes overlooked.

Which is better: Less ways to communicate with more in-person interaction, or more ways to communicate with less in-person interaction?

We don’t need to harp on how everyone is unique, but it’s true that every person will utilize their communicative technology differently and, therefore, answer this posed question differently. Whichever answer you believe, however, should lead you to the same conclusion: We can have both!

Obviously, we should be able to utilize the advancing communication while also keeping our personal relationships intact. But here is that “human” issue again. As humans, we are always susceptible to temptation. Most personalities have at least a slightly addictive side, even if it’s just a love for ice cream. No matter who you are, you will want to repeat something you enjoyed in the past. If you liked answering Friend Q&A on Facebook, you will probably do it again.

Furthermore, our hectic lives full of work, school, children, and bills leave us less time for ourselves than people had in the past. These influences, along with the fact that you can hold a computer on your lap while web chatting on your television and texting on your cell phone, are what bring people to spend their entire work day staring at a computer screen only to go home and spend their entire night staring at a computer screen. We don’t even have a moment to think about how we don’t have a moment!

Yes, advancing technology and the marvels of communication that rose along with it has changed our world for the better, overall. On a Global scale, it has changed the way the world functions and the efficiency with which it can produce. On an individual scale, however, the communications technology has brought us general convenience with an overall sense of isolation.

The biggest reason that people do not curb their unhealthy behavior caused by ultra-accessible communication seems to be that that they don’t notice it. If they notice, they just don’t label it as a problem because it hasn’t caused negative effects yet. Although it feels like an advancement, the new forms of communication that exist have created a sense of isolation worldwide. People are choosing to chat online with friends instead of meeting them in person, renting movies right from home instead of going to the theatre, and ordering their meals to-go with many major restaurants offering online ordering services. Now, you don’t even need to get out of your car to eat restaurant-quality food. But beware: you still have to talk to the server that brings it to your car.

Let’s take a look at ourselves and start shaking hands again.

What do you think?  Has technology caused more problems than solutions? Please share your comments with us, we would love to hear your perspective!