Fittipaldi 1

Gabby Fittipaldi
Professor Rivers
Research Paper
3 December 2014
Cause & Effect: The Lack of Face-to-Face Communication
150 is the number of people with whom we are able to maintain
significant relationships; however, according to our Facebook friends, or the
amount of numbers we have in our phonebooks, 150 may seem a little low.
Despite the fact that some may think it is low, how can one really manage
healthy relationships with more than 150 people, let alone just those 150
themselves? In order to maintain healthy relationships, people need to know
how to communicate. In this generation, mediated messages are more
prominent than older forms of communication. Nowadays, Facebook, Twitter,
emailing and texting are the most popular methods for interpersonal
communication; however, they are also a means of distraction. This is
especially true with college students and the younger generation in general.
Mediated interacting does not always build and sustain relationships; in order
to do that one needs to actively communicate in person. As a result of social
media and electronic conversations, there is a lack in face-to-face
communication between individuals. This absence of interpersonal
communication can affect relationships in many ways. It has an effect on
both platonic and romantic relationships; people may believe they have more
friends than they can actually handle; it can lead to personal health

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problems, such as depression; some individuals may interpret conversations,
via social media and texting, differently, and there are even generational
differences to mention. All of these effects are due to the main cause, which
is the decrease in face-to-face interactions.
Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between
two or more people. While it is possible to exchange information via social
media and text messages, it does not help build relationships. Our
interactions on social media tend to be weak ties that is, we dont feel as
personally connected to the people at the other end of our communication as
we do when were face-to-face (Keller). Because of this, relationships that
individuals maintain online are not as secure as they are in person.
Therefore, if there is a lack of face-to-face interpersonal communication, then
the existing mediated relationships would be weaker in comparison. Even
though individuals are communicating more via technology, they are not
necessarily developing a stronger relationship with the other participant. Our
connections are not as strong through social media in comparison to face-toface communication (Keller). In order to build secure relationships, speakers
must convey their feelings and emotions to other participants; however, one
cannot do that through mediated messages. As social media continues to
evolve, face-to-face interactions continue to lessen.
Emailing, texting, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few examples of the
types ways people talk with one another. Each one of these mediums has
grown over the years, changing the ways people communicate with others.

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To start, emailing is the most popular form of communication to date and its
usage continues to increase. According to author, Hayley Eastman from The
Digital Universe, billions of emails are sent per day, and, out of those who
have smart phones, about 79% of them will check their emails on their
phones. Texting, another form of mediated communication, is more
frequently used in comparison to making phone calls. It is more convenient
for someone to send a message to another rather than to call them, which
explains why over four billion-text messages are sent per day. Social media
websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, also diminish face-to-face
communication because people are constantly checking their pages.
Individuals like to broadcast and update their friends with every detail of
their lives (Eastman). As a result of this all, people will continue to find that
face-to-face interactions will lessen as other forms of mediated
communication continue to grow.
Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social media sites in this
generation. The average teenager will have about 300 Facebook friends and
seventy-nine Twitter followers; however, some kids will have much more
(Dakin). As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, 150 are the maximum
number of friends we are able to maintain relationships with, and even that
seems like a large number. If this is true, then why do people feel the need to
befriend everyone on these websites? A CBC News reporter states that,
young people feel socially supported by having large networks of on-line
friends; friends that they will never see face-to-face (Dakin). College

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students are more prone to becoming roped into this network in order to feel
supported by a larger audience. Older teenagers, and young adults, feel a
sense of support by getting Facebook likes or retweets from their socalled friends. From experience, people on Facebook undergo a sense of
happiness when they have a certain amount of likes on one of their posts;
this is the support they feel. Because of this sense of online support, and the
need to obtain it, there has been a lack of face-to-face communication, which
thus affects intimate relationships.
Intimacy with another person, whether platonic or romantic, requires
the act of disclosing information about ones self. It is the information we
choose to tell someone else. This disclosure is usually done via face-to-face,
although, Facebook and Twitter enable users to share posts and images
about their lives to a mass audience, and many people enjoy doing so. Again,
these users enjoy this sense of support they receive from likes and
comments. Therefore, as a result of the growth of social media websites,
self-disclosure is more noticeable online (Dakin). Digital communication is
not a negative thing; however, it allows individuals to believe their
connections are stronger with people that may or may not genuinely be their
friend. Were finding ourselves more apt to share on social media the sort of
information we might have previously shared privately face-to-face (Keller).
Researchers have seen that this new sense of self-disclosure is because this
current generation has lost the desire to communicate face-to-face and
would rather communicate via the Internet. It is much more easier for this

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generation to communicate online. This way of interacting does not only hurt
current relationships, but it also can affect ones personal health.
As mentioned previously, face-to-face interactions are very important
in ones social life in order to build relationships; however, the Internet has
been displacing this interaction for quite sometime. Not only does it affect
relationships with family and friends, but it also affects ones own personal
health. Studies have shown that the more an individual uses Facebook, or
other similar websites, the worse they end up feeling. The use of these
websites leads to declines in happiness (Hu). Without normal everyday oneon-one interaction, people tend to feel more lonely and anxious. This is
because when an individual goes on sites like Facebook, they see what other
people are posting and what is going on in their lives. Consequently, these
individuals will compare their personal lives to those of their Facebook
friends. These comparisons could lead to negative images about ones self.
Another study, performed by scholars, also showed that the more people use
the Internet, and interact with their friends via mediated websites, the
lonelier they felt. For this reason, these people are not truly connecting with
others and receiving a proper human interaction; thus, losing relationships
(Shim).
In addition to former relationships failing, because of electronics, new
connections sometimes never emerge due to this problem. Romantic
relationships form when two individuals see each other, and go out with one
another, in hopes to see if they can take their relationship to the next level.

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This is what is known as dating; however, if we were to look around a
restaurant, we would notice many individuals, on a date, with their faces in
their phones. Even when one person is trying to get to know another, both
parties, more likely than not, will be on social media websites, texting,
emailing, etc. This generation does not live in the moment; young people
would rather update the world on their individual lives than enjoy a sit-down
meal with a potential significant other. There has been a shift in the way we
communicate; rather than-face-to-face interaction, were tending to prefer
mediated communication wed rather email than meet; wed rather text
than talk on the phone (Keller). Social media, and the lack of one-on-one, in
person communication, has had many more effects throughout peoples lives
on their romantic and platonic relationships.
Another issue to mention, due to mediated messages, is peoples
interpretation of text messages. Messages are misconstrued all the time, and
these misinterpretations can also lead to negative effects on relationships.
When people communicate, via cellphones or computers, recipients are not
able to pick up on nonverbal cues. Professor Albert Mehrabian, author of
Silent Messages, states that 93% of all communication is made up of
nonverbal messages (Mehrabian). Nonverbal behaviors include common acts
such as smiling, or other facial expressions. When people communicate
through Facebook, emails, text messages and other forms of digital
mediums, how is one truly able to notice these nonverbal gestures?
Common cues in face-to-face communication that are not found in mobile

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messaging may be the missing link in having an effective, meaningful
conversation (Texting). Lack of acronyms, such as LOL (laugh out loud), or
smiley faces can cause the receiver to believe something is wrong with the
sender. Whether the sender is upset or happy, a receiver will interpret
messages differently if a text is not written in a standard or normal way for
this generation. A normal way meaning adding smiley faces to messages;
although, even emoticons can lead a receiver to misunderstand the
message.
People often interpret certain text messages to mean one thing, when
in fact they have a completely different meaning. Emoticons are usually used
throughout messages to portray how that particular sender feels at the
moment; however, they are frequently misinterpreted. A winking face, for
example, can indicate the use of an inside joke; although, it can also indicate
a flirtatious act. These are examples of miscommunication via electronic
devices that would have otherwise been avoided if individuals participated in
more face-to-face interactions. Overall, the lack of this type of
communication causes participants to translate text wrongly. Sometimes,
though, messages are misinterpreted, not because of the way one person
writes a text, but because of generational differences.
Older generations spend more time talking on the phone because they
never had text messaging growing up. However, in this generation, young
individuals are more likely to send a text message or write a post instead of
calling another person. A generation of e-mailing, followed by an explosion

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in texting, has pushed the telephone conversation into a serious decline
(Shapira). From this point, one can make the conclusion that if there is in fact
a decline in phone conversations, then face-to-face interactions have also
lessened. Young people tend to avoid phone calls because they have a lack
of control when confronted right away (Shapira). One cannot avoid a
conversation once they pick up the phone, but with electronic mediated
messages, individuals have more time to contemplate what they want to
respond back with. Nowadays, phone calls are becoming shorter in length as
mediated messages increase. They have decreased from an average of 2.38
minutes, in 1993, to 1.81 minutes, in 2009 (Shapira). For young adults,
answering phone calls has become a tedious task. It requires a certain
amount of energy to talk on the phone, which is why this generation would
much rather send a message. This shows the beginnings of individuals
distancing themselves away from others.
Along with ignoring phone calls, teenagers also rely on their electronic
devices, such as their cell phones, to separate themselves from their
families. About 81% of individuals, ages five to twenty-four, own a cellphone.
Five year olds do not need to have a cell phone; it is unnecessary. Giving a
child a cell phone at that young of an age teaches them bad habits regarding
interpersonal communication. Messaging allows users to hide from one-onone interaction, with people like their parents, while opening up to a larger
audience that they may or may not be as close and familiar with. The
computer, along with the Internet, has given even very young children virtual

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lives distinctly separate from those of their parents and siblings (Holson).
Again, this reiterates to the overall main effect that electronic deceives,
online messaging, websites, and the overall lack of face-to-face interpersonal
communication weakens relationships rather than strengthen them.
This is a digital generation: where young individuals prefer to connect
with their friends and family through social media websites, text messages,
etc. It is a time where pop culture and young standards motivate men and
women to open themselves up to a mass audience; an audience they do not
fully know or have even met. This population is very dependent on their
smart phones and other electronics to keep them in touch with the outside
world. Because of websites like Facebook and Twitter, there has been a
decrease in face-to-face interpersonal communication. These websites are
considered distractions because they take away from one-on-one human
interaction that we, as a civilization, need in order to build and maintain
healthy, long lasting relationships. The lack of in-person, communication
leads to loss of platonic friendships and intimate relationships. These
websites and other mediums, including emailing and texting, allow a person
to believe that he or she is actually closer to the other individual they are
communicating with. It allows people to believe that they have more
friends and connections than they really do. An increase in digital
communication can also lead to health related issues, such as depression.
There are even generational differences that lead to the dwindling of
relationships. A lack of face-to-face communication, and in increase in

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mediated messages, can even cause people to misinterpret messages. These
mediated interactions, and the lack of interpersonal conversations, are the
problem. It continues to affect this generation in many ways that are not,
and will never be, beneficial.

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Works Cited
Dakin, Pauline. Social Media Affecting Teens Concepts of Friendship,
Intimacy. CBC News.
CBC. 2014. Web. 9 November 2014.
Eastman, Hayley. Communication Changes with Technology, Social Media.
The Digital
Universe. Brigham Young University. 7 July 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Holson, Laura. Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK). The New York Times.
The New York
Times Company. 9 March 2008. Web. 11 November 2014.
Hu, Elise. Facebook Makes Us Sadder And Less Satisfied, Study Finds. NPR.
NPR. 20
August 2013. Web. 12 November 2014.
Keller, Maura. Social Media and Interpersonal Communication. Social Work
Today. Great
Valley Publishing Co., Inc. 2013. Web. 7 November 2014.
Mehrabian, Albert. Silent Messages. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing
Company, Inc., 1971.
Print.
Shapira, Ian. Texting Generation Doesnt Share Boomers Taste For Talk.
Washington Post.
The Washington Post Company. 8 August 2010. Web. 11 November
2014.

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Shim, Young Soo. The Impact of the Internet on Teenagers Face-to-Face
Communication.
Global Media Journal. 6.10 (2007): N.a. Print.
Texting Can Be Treacherous! Longwood University Blogs. Longwood
University. 13 July
2012. Web. 11 November 2014.