In the article, “That Parent-Child Conversation Is Becoming Instant, and Online” John Swartz discusses the topic of families communicating through instant messaging. Many times the comment is made that it is easier for parents to talk to their teenagers because the teens are more open to listen because there is no face to face communication. They say that it is less intense because the two are not looking eye to eye and it causes teens to open up more. I do agree that it probably is easier to talk to teens this way but I think that this also causes people to have slower social skills when talking to people face to face.
If instant messaging is used every time a child needs to talk about something serious to his/her parent, they will probably have problems trying to have any serious conversation directly with people as they grow up. For example, a person has never had to talk to someone directly about a serious issue; something comes up at work where their boss confronts them about something serious or needs to talk and they have never been pushed out of that comfort zone so they do not know what to do. They can’t just pull out their computer or phone and say “well let me text you what I want t say.” People need to be pushed out of their comfort zones to where they can take on any situation face to face. It seems as if the instant messaging has been used as a way out for a person’s cowardly attitude. If someone has something to say they should be able to say it to a persons face.
There is one part in the article where a parent says it is just easier to get more out of her kids through instant messaging. Although this might be true, I think she should still make an effort to push her kids to talk face to face. I am not saying instant messaging is bad but in some ways it takes away from the intensity and reality of a relationship. Talking face to face with a person grows a relationship more than talking over instant messaging whether a person says more through IM or not. I have a personal experience with this issue. I had a friend that I actually met by texting. We would text for hours every day. Once I saw him in person it was really awkward and I felt like I did not know the person at all. Instant messaging, although it can be convenient, takes away from the strength of relationships.
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I agree with everything you just said! That is exactly how I feel when it comes to this issue. It saddens me to think that people are able to completely find ways around being social and communicating face-to-face. When you gave the example of a conflit coming up in work, I was actually thinking about mariage relationships. It is no wonder that the divorce rate is so high, we don't even know how to communicate to one another. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteAmen, sister! I feel the same way when it comes to this issue and I believe it is an important one. I've even noticed how texting and instant messaging has made communicating more difficult for me...eye contact and good listening skills are key! :)
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I have to say I agree. There are people that I talk to more through text than anything, but it's mainly because I my friends and I just don't have time to hang out much. To be honest, I actually text my manager at work sometimes to let him now my schedule for the next month and tell him when I have schedule conflict. That sort of goes against the point you were making in the blog, however, I am still capable of speaking publicly and face-to-face with my manager as well as my parents.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is much better organized and argued than the previous piece. Do you see the difference?
ReplyDeleteCan you think of times that text or IM might be better than face to face? I've had some very good conversations using technology, and sometimes it is easier to say hard things that way. I have lots of face to face conversations too, of course, but I have used text and IM even with people in the same room.
This is an interesting topic; it's possible that in a generation, the concept of "conversation" will have changed more than we can guess.
Thank you for being brave enough to comment on this! Though texting and instant messaging can be convenient its sad to think that people's communication skills are often hurt by these methods. You can't have a ture genuine relationship with someone if you only communicate through a phone or computer. As much as I enjoy texting I'd still rather talk face-to-face with one of my friend any day.
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