Is it not strange that a piece of technology that was supposed to help humans communicate keeps them distracted at friendly hangouts, family dinners, and even romantic dates? Smart devices allow users to bridge thousand-mile distances in one-click and stay close to their dearest and nearest even when they are not around. Simultaneously, recent data suggest that there is a dark side to technological advancement as it may as well be poisoning personal relationships and inhibiting true intimacy. This essay argues that technology makes humans unlearn the art of natural communication, reduces empathy, and creates unrealistic expectations of what a healthy relationship should look like.
The lack of face-to-face interactions can prevent people from being authentically present with others. Indeed, an act of communication goes well beyond verbality: humans are extremely sensitive to tone, intonation, body language, and the overall context of a given situation. The majority of these elements are absent from texting or phone talk. A survey conducted by Drago (2015) showed that “the [perceived] quality of conversation degraded due to the presence of technology (p. 2).” Respondents shared that nowadays, they and their peers use digital media as an aid to carry a conversation at best and become completely distracted at worst. It is safe to assume that people grow less attuned to each other and less capable of engaging in lively, mutually fulfilling interactions.
The use of smart devices decreases empathy, which is a necessary prerequisite for healthy human communication. Being compassionate and taking another person’s perspective takes time. Briggs (2016) refers to today’s world dominated by technology as “a culture of constant distraction and interruption.” According to the author, the Internet has already shortened the average attention span, manipulating dopamine levels in humans. These days, people crave instant gratification and entertainment with a minimum amount of effort. In contrast, human relationships require a lot of patience and deliberation that may now appear too challenging and demanding. As a result, people feel more at ease looking at online content carefully produced by a team of professional writers and marketing professionals than listening to another human being and relating to their experience.
Lastly, digital media distort people’s ideas of ideal relationships. Humans are social animals: they read signals from their environment and constantly benchmark their lifestyle and achievements against those of others. With the rise of social media, this natural mechanism turned into what Arnold (2018) refers to as “ unfavorable social comparison.” On the Internet, users only see the perfect side of someone’s life: a dreamy marriage proposal, a luxury getaway, and a beautiful house. However, what is not shown is personal issues, fights, and conflicts. Because all the unsightly parts of relationships are rarely discussed, people may feel inadequate and even act out their frustration with their friends and loved ones.
There is no doubt that technology has improved the quality of life for many people. Yet, its negative impact on human relationships and one-on-one interactions cannot be dismissed. Texting is replacing live chats, which makes people less conscientious and intentional about their conversations – they see them not as art but as a liability. What further inhibits healthy communication is the lack of empathy, which is a result of constant distraction and desire for instant gratification. Last but not least is the contribution of social media to constructing unrealistic ideas of relationships, which makes a lot of people depressed and dissatisfied with what they have.
References
Arnold, A. (2018). Why millennials need to reduce social media’s impact on their relationship. Forbes. Web.
Briggs, S. (2016). 6 ways digital media impacts the brain. informEd. Web.
Drago, E. (2015). The effect of technology on face-to-face communication. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 6(1), 1-2.