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Argument Essay

David Casto

ENC 1101

Professor McGriff

April 4, 2018
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David Casto

Professor McGriff

ENC 1101

18 March 2018

Is social media destroying communication skills?

The internet has altered the way people interact and work together. It has restructured the

way relationships are created, maintained, communicated and interact with one another. Millions

of people, including school age children and young adults, have access to some form of social

media. It has been argued that people are losing face-to-face communication skills. In this paper,

it will be discussed how social media has several negative effects on communication skills.

Social media can delay and even corrupt the development of social skills. Hussain and his

colleagues, state that social media “seems to have changed the entire scenario of communication

and interactions in human life” (Hussain et al. 146). The authors believe that text messaging and

social media has hindered the way individuals communicate and hampers the way one

interacts with others. Research has concluded that communication is a social skill that

traditionally has been learned through face-to-face communication and engagement. Due to this

reason it aides humans in comprehending body language, as well as, understanding the tone of

voice, observing facial expressions, postures and body movement (Hussain et al, 146). Social

media and cell phones have connected individual all over the world, which enables family and

friends to stay in touch, but he further claims” using mobile phones and other modern devices of

communication can disengage one from his/her immediate environment” (Hussain et al. 148).

Social media promotes sloppy and uncomprehensive dialogue. Researchers at Penn State

University argue that texting impedes a person’s ability to switch between tech-speak and follow
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normal rules of grammar (Williams). Social media is encouraging use of short hand grammar

and dialogue. Many times kids and adults today communicate on social media in none traditional

grammar by incorporating symbols and acronyms. One professor stated “so much of American

society has become sloppy or laissez-faire about the mechanics of writing” (Williams). Kids and

adults today are incorporating their own style of writing in their texts, which is making it harder

for people to understand them.

Social media affects the way we use language and grammar. Gerald Graff and Cathy

Birkenstein argue that social media is corrupting our ability to communicate and interact with

others (167). Some critics believe that technology and social media is making us “dumber” and

not smarter, especially in the capacity of writing (Graff and Birkenstein, 168). Social media

hinders the ability for 1today’s generation to be able to function in a way that is coherent to the

rules and standards of proper English and grammar in writing. Thus, making it difficult to

communicate at the same level of two different platforms of communication.

In conclusion, social media is limiting and possibly destroying communication skills. It

has been stated that social media hampers face-to-face communication, encourages mistrust, and

isolates family interaction. In a Penn State University study, it was concluded that social media

encourages lazy and sloppy writing. Critics argue that social media is making us “dumber” and

follows no rules for grammar and writing, which impede communication skills.
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Work Cited

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein, editors. ""IMHO" Is Digital Communication Good or Bad- or

Both?" They Say, I Say, 3rd ed.,W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2016, pp. 167-172.

Hussain, Irshad, et al. "Getting Closer Being Apart: Living in the Age of Information and

Communication Technologies." New Horizons (1992-4399), vol. 11, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 145-

160. EBSCOhost,

db23.linccweb.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=

122600014&site=ehost-live.

Williams, Ray. "FOCROFLOL: Is Texting Damaging Our Language Skills?" LinkIn, 24 Nov. 2014 ,

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141124143154-1011572-focroflol-is-texting-damaging-our-

language-skills. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.