This is just a ROUGH draft copy of my Artifact essay : / With so many thoughts and a lot to say, I hope I did my best to touch everything that needed to be said. Again, I stress, rough :)
“iPhorgot How to Communicate”
In society today, if you’re not up to date with the latest social propaganda, multi-ways of mass communication, or at least somewhat technology savvy, you’re probably living under a rock. This wouldn’t necessarily be seen as problem to some people except, “People more often than [ever] rely on texting, emailing, or “posting” to social sites, then actually meeting someone in person,” (Evans) or engaging in tasks that require face-to-face communication. This can be unknowingly detrimental for our future. Technology, as a vastly growing movement over the years isn’t negative in itself per se, however, “As technology grew over the years, it enhanced everyone’s awareness of different ways of communicating [other than in person interactions] and at some point, became everyone’s ideal choice to talk to someone.” (Evans) I believe with the incessant rise in technology, there could be an inevitable destruction of face-to-face communication all together.
It is very evident how much we value having instant access of all of our mass communication tools at the click of a button. This is shown through what our cell phones have been specifically designed to do. “Now the high tech phones aren’t even considered cool unless people can access their emails, update their facebook and twitter, and text (unlimited of course) with ease.” (Evans) This concept inspired me to choose an artifact and manipulate its originality with extreme exaggeration. I chose the iPhone and their very popular slogan, “there’s an app for that,” to influence my initiation on what I wanted to influence. I intended to show others that at the rate of how much value we place on having a multi ways to communicate with people, the basic way, traditional, old-fashioned, however one calls it, way of talking to someone face-to-face will ultimately fade away. I made an enlarged 3-D model of an iPhone, titled it “iPhorgot,” and put together several falsified apps. The title “iPhorgot” in lieu of iPhone, is representing those who will “forget” how to communicate without access to their phones and/or other forms of mass communication. Sadly, most of the reactions to the display of my artifact was mere hopefulness that one day some of my apps would be really obtainable. This lets me know that though I was stretching with my ideas, with the rise of the developments of technology anything is possible.
Technology did not just spring up over night, and obviously it has been evolving since the beginning of man, but what grabs my attention is how it has grown throughout the course of my generation, specifically, the last decade. “Cell phones went from being a fairly expensive tool used by affluent people to becoming universal and a teenage fashion statement.” (Trenholme) Even in the beginning of popular usage of cell phones, they were only made for the main purpose of making and receiving phone calls, but as we fast forward to present day, now phones can do that, and more. Besides the rise of cell phones attached to everyone’s palms, other sources of mass communication tools are also profoundly used, including emails.
Email is “Among the many technological advances that [threatens] to crowd out the more intimate forms of interpersonal communication.” (Winnett) In an article titled “Is face-to-face conversation dying?” by Garth Roberts, the author writes about the time he was furious when he received an email instead of a traditional phone call; he had received a notice that a business contract he had for several years was not being renewed via email. He cried, “I worked closely with these people….I felt I should have received a phone call,” (Roberts) and I concur with his feelings. With something has important as business, where people’s careers and financial assets are highly invested, one would think that verbal communication would be greatly favored over any other method. Even though Harvard Business Review released a statistic saying, “78% of companies are using more electronic means to communicate with their staff,” every study Roberts has ever seen say “Face-to-face communication is the most effective method.” (Roberts) It is sad that even knowing this, we still hide behind emails and other forms of non-verbal communication.
One of the biggest forms of non-verbal communication is the texting phenomenon that sparked greatly in the mid 2000s. Predominantly teenagers is where “Cell phones have become a vital social tool and texting the preferred mode of communication.” (Ludden) Texting allows for instant direct contact with someone via one’s cell phone, without actually having to hear the other person’s voice. This may be a great way to send a message to someone if you favor the convenience of having a quick conversation, like maybe just one question or so. One will be able to do without actually having to engage in the strenuous act of being involved in a verbal, nonchalant, and unnecessary conversation with someone. However, if people start using this quick, convenient way of communicating, where does the value of face-to-face communication stand?
In the article “Teen Texting Soars; Will Social Skills Suffer?” by Jennifer Ludden, teacher Nini Halkett is quoted saying,
“[Students] can get up the courage to ask you for [a deadline] extension on the computer …but they won’t come and speak to you face-to-face about it. And that worries me, in terms of their ability- particular once they out in the workplace- to interact with people.”
This could very well be taken as just an opinionated statement that may or may not hold any hold validity whatsoever in the future, but “Teens admit they use texting to avoid confrontation or uncomfortable situations,” (Ludden) I can speak from personal situations and experiences with friends, and agree with this idea that it is often easier to escape humiliation or conflict by depending on text messages to convey your feelings. With one escape mechanism, however, leads to another.
Who knew another escape mechanism from actually verbally communicating with people would come from a social website on the internet. The very popular site, facebook, began as place for students to share their daily life happenings and do exactly what they wrote in their high school year books, to “keep in touch.” The question today is, “Are social networking sites enabling interaction or reducing it to a escapist experience, displacing real interaction in [favor] of an alternative reality?” (Lecky) Nowadays people use facebook beyond it’s original purpose, which was to connect with people. It can be used to make one’s dating life easier; making relationships and ending them, your personal birthday reminder, enabling you to send your loved ones “Happy Birthday” messages, and sadly a great gateway to the world of cyber bullying, all of which were acts that were greatly better served in person or verbally. Essentially, facebook is upholding this idea that it is okay to deteriorate the fundamental beauty of personal, physical connectedness and relationships, by holding the progressiveness of technology on a higher pedestal.
With the incessant rise in technology, there could be an inevitable destruction of face-to-face communication all together. There are too many outlets, sources, and options that are enabling people to escape reality at will. Society has come to favor the idea of having access to mass communication at their finger tips, and thus avoiding face-to-face interaction. It is this reason why our social skills may continue to suffer since, “Having a real conversation has become an arduous endeavor [these days]” (Walsh) Technology advances are important to the betterment of society as a whole, because it enables us to move forward in our capabilities of national access, but when it tampers with having such a possible damaging effect on one’s social skills growth, there’s a problem. “It’s one thing to say that technology has simply progressed over the time, but another to believe it could replace something that once upheld such value in relationships, hearing someone’s voice and spending time with friends and loved ones. I can’t say for a fact that our future depends on whether someone chooses to talk to someone in person or not, but when I find the answer, I’ll text you.
Works Cited
Evans, Jasmine. “My Artifact” Blogger. 27 August 2010. 17 September 2010.
<http://jasmine-please.blogspot.com/>
Lecky-Thompson. “FaceBook: Good or Bad for Communication. Looking at Effect of FaceBook on Face to Face Communication Skills.” Suite 101. 30 May 2009.
18 September 2010.
<http://www.suite101.com/content/facebook-good-or-bad-for-communication-a121387>
Ludden, Jennifer. “Teen Texting Soars; Will Social Skills Suffer?” NPR Social Media.
20 April 2010. 18 September 2010.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126117811>
Roberts, Garth. “Is face-to-face conversation dying?” Instigating Change-One Mind at a Tine. 13 January 2010. 18 September 2010.
<http://inspiredleaders.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/is-face-to-face conversation-dying/>
Trenholme, Sam. “Technology Changes in the 2000s.” MaraDNS. 10 January 2010.
18 September 2010.
<http://maradns.blogspot.com/2010/01/technology-changes-in-2000s.html>
Walsh, Joan, ed. “The Lost Art of Listening: Communication is dying.” Joyonboard Blog. Open Salon. 12 July 2010. 18 September 2010.
<http://open.salon.com/blog/joyonboard/2010/07/12/the_lost_art_of_listening_communi cation_is_dying>
Winnett, Azriel. “Face-to-Face Encounters: A Dying Art?” Effective Communication.
16 September 2005. 18 September 2010.
<http://www.hodu.com/blog/2005/09/face-to-face-encounters-dying-art.html>
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