Opinion: Disconnection Through Connection
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| Photo Credit: Jem Torrecampo |
Technology plays a substantial part in the daily lives of teenagers. To keep them updated, teenagers check their phones and other gadgets for text messages, phone calls, social media updates, tweets, and other information that they would like to know on a regular basis. Meetings, contacts, and news are just one click and swipe away. To allow us these technological conveniences, gadgets are made for us to easily communicate with others, especially with those who are far from us.
We bring our gadgets everywhere for we always want to be connected to everyone every time. We can’t miss the message of a friend or the tweet of an important person. We are free to use our gadgets, but in doing so, we build walls around ourselves, separating us from the people right in front of us. For instance, checking texts or chat messages during a meal with friends or family hinders you from enjoying their company and bonding with them. This may look like an innocent obsession but it can escalate into an unregulated addiction that may affect a person’s interpersonal relationships.
Interpersonal relationships are built through interacting with people and such relationships are made stronger through communication. One factor that makes communication effective between two people is the art of listening. Listening is not simply hearing the sounds produced by people but also comprehending the information that they are sharing with you. Listening means understanding and processing the message thoroughly given by the person you are talking to. The usage of electronic devices while engaged in a face-to-face conversation divides a person’s attention thus affecting the ability to listen. It also lessens the time spent talking to people face-to-face, because now, one’s time is mostly spent on using gadgets. It creates distance between families, friends, and other people.
According to Shanon (2012), people still prefer to have face-to-face conversations with the people that they have a relationship with. Also, as stated in a theory called “Media Richness”, face-to face communication is the most effective medium and makes difficult information easier to understand. This means that personal stories and serious issues are better discussed personally so that feedback is instantaneous and is genuinely felt by the one who needs it.
Gadgets are meant to make communication easier for people especially those who are far from each other, but if we aren’t careful and get so engrossed in using these devices as a tool for communication, we might end up losing contact with the people near us. //by LM Gacad and Rachel Siringan
Sources:
https://www.wired.com/2014/02/gadgets-ruin-relationships-connection-illusion-one/
http://www.bryankramer.com/how-technology-affects-human-relationships/
http://web02.gonzaga.edu/comltheses/proquestftp/Shannon_gonzaga_0736M_10241.pdf
