We discuss social media on the Tecmark blog frequently. We talk about the benefits for your business, how individuals interact with brands and how companies can leverage that. So here’s something a little different – a piece of commentary from Amy Murray on the potential detrimental effects social media could have on communication.
Coming to work for Tecmark as a technology and digital newb (please refer to urban dictionary for those not down with the lingo) has allowed me to form my own opinions and thoughts on the influence of technology on our world and interactions with it. I love technology and am truly amazed by how we have invented such fascinating gadgets and gizmos. However, aside from my appreciation of all things techno freaky, I am a traditionalist girl at heart, and can only wonder what these inventions that are replacing traditional concepts are doing for our society.
As human beings our interaction through time has been based upon traditional communication, whether through letter, telephone or popping round for a cuppa. Yet with the relatively recent invention of various social media platforms, it presents the question:
Are the generations to come at risk of losing the ability to effectively interact and engage on a natural human level due to technology taking its place?
Now don’t get me wrong, I am the first to admit that I am a Facebook freak! I love the way it enables people to contact friends from the past or share their lives with others who may not live close by. However, what effect could this be having on the younger generation whose development will undoubtedly be influenced by this change in the way we communicate? We could potentially be nurturing a generation that lacks the very thing we, as humans, are best at doing – communicating with the emotion and feeling that, in my eyes, computers and technology will never be able to replicate. The intricacy of our minds and personalities is exactly why we are unique and it’s safe to say technology diminishes an element of this.
People can feel safe hiding behind a profile, especially those who struggle to communicate (for example individuals suffering from autism). Yet this can prove a dangerous place to hide, as all I believe it does is nurture the introvert in us. Let’s also consider the part social media played in the riots, and how the Salford nurse accused of poisoning patients was harassed and abused on Facebook before she had even been convicted. Through the invention of social media, our online reputation has become increasingly at risk, as fellow colleague Joel Stein talks about in his recent blog post for Search Engine People on online reputation management.
So as harmless and innocent social media may appear to the majority of people, it is hard to see how the brains of generations to come will not be different to generations previous. I’m all for social media, yet I believe emphasis should still be on engaging in real relationships with real people, not a computer (they can’t talk back!).
