Online Communication - How it has affected us

Online Communication - How it has affected us

Communication via the internet isn't a new concept to our society as it is now. I believe it has now become the common medium for communication for nearly anyone with internet access. However, this hasn't always been the case as the internet is still a relatively young commodity. I believe that the internet has changed our means of communication with each other in mostly positive ways.

The internet is hardly over 20 years old and it has almost completely replaced many similar, but older fashioned types of communicating. Think of traditional postal service mail and how long it takes for the message to reach its destination. If you consider how long traditional mail has been around , it hasn't always been guaranteed to reach its destination either. Email can be nearly instant, plus or minus a few minutes depending on your internet connection. Other forms of online communication are unique and were not really present prior to the invention of the internet. One such form is being referred to as social networking. MySpace and Facebook are the largest social networking sites and you have no doubt heard of them. Social networking sites and can be compared to what social networking used to be prior to the popularization of the internet, when people would just get together and play games and socialize. Ultimately, online communication allows us to correspond quicker, more reliably and more efficiently. Not everyone in today's society can sacrifice an evening to sit down and catch up with their social network whether it be due to time restraints or distance, but the internet allows them to do so.

The drawbacks that from shifting to online communication are almost as apparent as the benefits, but not quite as dramatic. "Snail mail" as it has been dubbed, is still the only means of communicating in certain circumstances. For instance a recruit to military basic training can only receive correspondence from their families and friends via snail mail. Many people might not make it through that training without that correspondence from the friendlier outside world. Letters also can bear a sentimental value that I don't think any email will ever be able to possess. Social networking via the internet can be much less interpersonal than if it was conducted in a more classical matter by meeting face to face. This point has been argued time and time again, but I don't think there is anything that can replace a good meet-and-greet.

In closing, the internet definitely has contributed greatly to the way we communicate with one another. It can have its downsides as I have personally described, but the internet has not and will not ever wholly replace the more traditional ways of communicating.

References
Quan-Haase, A., & Wellman, B. (2002, November 12). How Does the Internet Affect Social Capital. Retrieved August 22, 2010, from Google Scholar.