Running head: Does Technology Affect Peoples Communication

Does Technology Affect Peoples Communication

Juan Mendez
University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract
Technology forms a major part of human lives; it is use as a method of communication, a tool of
education, entertainment, etc. People have been arguing that technology as affected the way we
communicate with each other and that is destroying out communication skills as well, but has it
really? The following questions were use to do research and determine if in fact it has affected
peoples communication, who are the ones that are mostly affected by technology? ,does
technology really affect peoples communication skills?, If it is really a problem how can it be
solved?, and why should people care about this?

Does Technology Affect Peoples Communication

Throughout time technology has advance and its growing day by day, each day
technology forms a part of our life; either by driving somewhere in our cars, doing
assignments in our computer, and as a form of communication. Technology has affected
the way we communicate, people now communicate with each other through text
messaging, video calling, voice calling, and through different social media pages. Society
has seen this as a problem where it has shown the loss of face-to-face communication and
is slowly becoming less common. This research is to show how communication has been
affected by technology and how now people communicate with each other. The following
questions helped this research become easier to understand and form a reliable source:
Who are the ones that are mostly affected by technology?
Does technology really affect peoples communication skills?
If it is really a problem how can it be solved?
Why should people care about this?
On a website called The Lance, Erin Steward wrote an article called Does cell
phone use really affect our communication skills? Steward starts the article by talking
about how when people go out all they would see is people in their cell phones or connect
to the internet to interact with other, but then says that the use of technology can be good
because it provides people with faster and more efficient way to communicate with
others, but this can harm the ability to communicate face to face with people.
Pewinternet.org said that social networks are deteriorating face-to-face communication,

also that phone calls arent used to keep in touch with each other now Facebook and
twitter are the main tools of communication. Mew studies have shown that technology
forms a barrier on children and teenagers from completing their homework, when they
get text messages, emails, and other notifications.
Good communication is important because when we are adults and applying for
interviews, we wont know how to have proper communication, which can result in not
getting the job. Another thing is kids are so focused on social networking on our phones
that we spend less time on schoolwork, which causes bad grades. In the future when
applying for college, they wont accept us because we have bad grades and that is due to
cell phone use,
Strahan is trying to say that the way we communicate is very important because
thats the way people get jobs through out their lives, and without this skill it can be
really difficult for a person to be well qualified for a job opportunity. There have been
studies developed on students that rely so much technology and they showed that they
have a difficult time having a face-to-face communication because they never developed
these skills. Pew Research Center found 72% of teenagers text regularly texting is a much
easier way of communications this helps people avoid long phone calls and it is quickly
moving towards adults that are using texting more frequently. At the teenage years is
when people start to develop their communication skills so it crucial that they develop
this types of skills because they are close on becoming adults, so it will be harder for
them to ask for help when they need it. Also when texting teenagers have begun to speak
with the acronyms, these acronyms have become substitutions for emotional responses in

a conversation. They are starting to become distracted in face-to-face interactions because

in texting it is so easy to change topic to topic when there is a new idea, but when talking
in a face-to-face conversation they become confused.

The graph above shows the percentages of ages that use the most technology and
social networks. The graph shows that 95.1% of 18-19 years olds are the ones that use the
most technology and not far behind 20-24 year olds come in second place. People can
also see from the graph that older people have a lower percentage this can be because
older generations did not grew up with technology as kids do today and because some
older people dont know how to use this new technology. Humankinetics.org did a
research on if technology can have positive and negative impact on social interactions,
and their result is that it has both a positive and negative consequences to humans.
Technology can be good for students an example if that computers con now be improved
in problem solving skills, job related skills, and it makes learning fun and easier. Not only

that but it forms a faster way of communication, people can say in touch through different
social media websites and you can talk to people from all over the world, if you have a
love one on vacation that you havent seen in a while and they are on the other side of the
world, now you can easily see them in a matter of seconds. But it also technology has its
down side the younger generations are becoming more and more dependent on
technology they are getting lazier, further more everyone can has access to technology so
there is more targets for people to get cyber bullied, 42% of people have been bullied
through the internet thats almost half. Surfing through the Internet can be dangerous and
there are people that are capable of hurting other by using technology. Like everything
technology has its good and its bad side.

But why are students using technology so much? A research done by found out that 85%

of students use technology. Many would think that they use technology to help them in
their studies but in fact thats not the case most of all students use technology to keep in
contact with their friends. This is a reason why technology affects students grades it
forms a distraction, which affects their education in the long run.
To a problem there is a solution, and according to college.usatoday.com has the
solution. In the article Viewpoint: Why social media is destroying our social skills
written by Jasmine Fowlkes claims that the solution to this problem is to simply put
technology away and enjoy what you are doing. Fowlkes says that when you are hanging
out with your friends and when someone pulls out a phone to check in to place and tags
their friends everyone is going to pull out their phone and everyone will get distracted
and take the fun away which will make everyone stop socializing with each other so they
could be on their phones. She also said that they that when going out with friends or
family you should play a game where everyone puts their phone in the middle and the
first one to use their phones pays the bill. Also when someone dose not use their phone it
prevents someone else to using their phone. Fowlkes ends her article by saying that
technology should not prevent you from making memories with others because those
moments and feelings cannot be tweeted, texted, or emailed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY
The YouTube video Look Up bay Gary Turk is a very interesting and
entertaining video were Gary Turk says a poem about how people are caught up in
technology, he explains how humans use it as a comfort blanket when they are around
other people because people dont know how to talk to other people so they use their cell

phones to avoid having contact with them.

Technology can impact society in a good way but it can also be tremendously bad
for society. It can help people on many ways like communication with others, solving
problems, or just simply by entreating your self. But it has been said that it affects
peoples communication skills which the research above proves that it does have an effect
on people, and that can greatly affect people in the future.

References
Digital Nations. A PBS documentary. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/show/pbsfrontlinedigitalnation
Fowlkes, J. (2012, October 11). Viewpoint: Why social media is destroying our social skills.
Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://college.usatoday.com/2012/10/11/opinion-why-socialmedia-is-destroying-our-social-skills/
Griffen, E., (2012) Communication: A first look at communication theory. McGraw Hill
Company, chap 10 (pp. 125-137). New York, N.Y.
Gitelman, L. (2008 (2006)). New Media Users. In Always Already New: Media, History and the
Data of Culture. (pp. 59-86, 167-171) Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Jackson, J. D., Nielsen, G., & Hsu, Y. (2011). In Mediated Society: a Critical Sociology of
Media. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stewart, E. (2015, November 25). Does cell phone use really affect our communication skills?
Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://lhslance.org/2013/features/cell-phone-use-reallyaffect-communication-skills/
Walker, B. (2014, September 19). The Positive and Negative Impacts Technology Has on Our
Daily Lives. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://www.uwplatt.edu/icet-news/positiveand-negative-impacts-technology-has-our-daily-lives