Thanks to the revolution of technology, "cruising down mainstreet" and hoping to catch a glimpse of a cute boy in a car is no longer the only way to meet people. Social media, texting, dating sites and various apps open new gateways to meet new people. With more screens and ways of communication, one would think that it would make relationships and communication even stronger. In a world dominated by screens, relationships of society can be affected in a negative way, as well as a positive.
Technology has made it much easier for families to keep in touch with each other. Communication is also made easier for college students. As my parent's reminisce, they remember only calling home once a week because calling collect was so expensive. Now, sending a quick text to mom or a sister at home is not only quick and painless, but a part of daily life for most college students. This line of communication is exceedingly valuable for kids who go out of state or far from home because they are not disconnected from their family. The expansion of technology has allowed families to become closer and to increase communication in many family situations.
Walk through any given high school during a passing period and you will most likely be met with a barrage of students who have their noses buried in the screen of their phones. Even I can attest to spending more time on my phone texting than physically talking to my friends. With busy lives, messaging is a great way to stay in touch with friends. In saying this, intimate relationships take a different sort of tact to navigate. Most relationships are now taking place and originating over social media. Through screens, it is harder to get a real sense of people and who they really are. Real dates are being replaced with excitement over getting a "DM" on Twitter or called "bae" over snapchat. Relationships are becoming depersonalized and people, not just teens, are having deeper relationships with their technology than they are with the people they talk to through the technology. Conversations are being reduced to surface topics instead of getting to know one another on a deeper level. As a consequence, 1.2 million marriages a year are resulting in divorce. When communication, means of connection between people, should be getting stronger and better, communication between couples is failing due to lack of emotional ties and deep, meaningful conversations.
"Catfishing", when people create false social media accounts to communicate with other people, is becoming a new social problem due to the increase in screen usage among young people. Catfishing occurs when teens have difficulties building relationships in real life, and so create their ideal self in false account to feel confidence in talking to another person. Teens now are so stuck behind their isolating screens that they are looking for any sort of relationship, false or otherwise. Because this feeling is so overwhelming, the receiver of the catfishing chooses not to look into the odd relationship further. They only look at the physical characteristics or the formation of an emotional bond, and call it good. The fact that they need no physical contact or confirmation of identity falls into the same odd behavior as the one who is running the con. Regardless of the role in the relationship, both are examples of the negative effects of the screens.
Technology is a growing influence in our society today. Technology encourages communication, especially over distances, the connecting of family and the uniting of friends; this leads to a difficult question. Is all the use of technology really becoming a misuse of technology, leading to miscommunication, lack of investment of emotion in others, and misrepresentation? The effects of technology on communication have both negative and positive effects. Both are having a large impact on the roles of society and have affected the way people interact with each other and with their environment, like many of the young people today.
