The Effects of Technology on Human Interaction

Posted: November 27th, 2013

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The Effects of Technology on Human Interaction

Introduction

Technology advancement has made communication easier and it is widely used by people globally. Besides, face-to-face communication, which is a traditional method of communication, telephones, faxes and e-mails, have been extensively used as a way of passing information from one person to another. Technology has influenced people in every day life and it is mostly used in different areas including institutions, households, community centers, business and government organizations. The exchange of information through a computer has drawn much interest from professions and philosophers on the dangers that they pose on the society. Therefore, extensive dependence on computer screens rather than face-to-face contact has led to a decline in social skills, lack of trust and cases of health issues in the society.

Discussions

Social skills have declined because many individuals depend on the computer as a means of communication instead of direct human contact. This has led to a reduction in the ability to express body language in the society since most individuals interact with others through a computer screen. In addition, it has led to different kinds of misunderstandings and many problems have risen because ethnic language has declined. Moreover, there is misinterpretation of the information hence problems may arise; thus, “there is danger to the original speaker” (Leanne and Hale 242). Many individuals can no longer be able to express their views in front of others hence prefer sending information through the use of computers. The society is losing social skills in communication because people have now hidden behind computers. The society is heading to a direction whereby face-to-face communication is losing meaning, something that is a great threat due to decline of ethical value.

There are cases of health issues such as vitamin deficiencies due to lack of enough sunlight and obesity due to too much sitting in front of a computer and too much depression. The use of computers has led to a negative effect on the health of people in the society because many people sit indoors, surfing using computers (Leanne and Hale 242). Some individuals tend to forget their domestic work because of too much time spent surfing on the computer hence individuals have now developed complications of diseases such as obesity. Individuals who tend to use computers for communicating tend to be more depressed and isolated from other members within the society because of making contacts through the computer. Unlike face-to face where people can meet and socialize together, computer users socialize with people but they rarely meet.

There is lack of trust because individuals in the society are becoming less friendly with others. Many individuals have now become less friendly and people in the society can no longer trust each other and hence creating selfishness. This is because individuals nowadays use computers to make false statements and friendship is losing meaning because most people sit at their homes in front of the computer screen most of the time. Inadequate face-to-face contact and too much use of computer contacts creates lack of trust between friends “but can true friendship truly exist if most friendship assumes face-to-face encounters” (Stafford, 2011). The use of computers especially from homes has made people not to trust each other because individuals use this kind of technology to give false information.

Conclusion

Technology has made communication easier in the current world but it has led to problems such as a decline in social skills. This is because many individuals who use personal contact through the computer technology tend to lack body language expression and communication skills when it comes to face-to face contact. Consequently, lack of trust among friends is rampart because individuals do not get reliable information. People have lost trust because they send information without being sure the person who will receive it and sometimes the message is full of biasness. Lastly, cases of health issues have increased especially to individuals who spent most of their time surfing on the computers. Diseases such as obesity have resulted because many individuals spend most of their times indoors thus end up being sick because of too much time spent on the computers.

Works Cited

Hinton, Leanne and Kenneth Hale. The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice.

San Diego: Academic Press, 2001. Print.

Stafford, Cherly. Interpersonal Communication and the Internet: the Cyberspace World

of Net. Relationships. 2011. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://wrtintertext.syr.edu/iii1/stafford.html>.