There is no doubt that information and communication technology has revolutionized how we communicate with each other- whether in a family setup or with society in general. While it has undoubtedly enabled faster and better communication among people, it has also negatively impacted family and society dynamics.
With its widespread impact, it is crucial for us to better understand and study how ICT affects our lives and connections. Here is what the experts say;
- Instant Communication
“For starters, IT has made communication instant, and instant communication has allowed people to communicate more frequently, faster, and more efficiently. For family members who don’t stay close to one another, the ability to keep in touch instantly is essential in maintaining the family bond. Moreover, with people exchanging information faster than ever, people are learning from one another, and some are even changing their lifestyles because of the different worldviews they are being exposed to.” (Eric McGee)
- Online Activism
“Instant communication has also played a huge role in promoting online activism throughout the world, with millions of people being able to voice their opinions on social issues within seconds.
Unfortunately, IT has also made most of us heavily dependent on it, leading to social isolation and loss of social skills.” (Eric McGee)
- Family Isolation
“In several instances, family members are becoming more isolated from one another because they tend to spend more time on their gadgets than with each other. People are having fewer physical conversations with one another, especially in family settings, because they prefer online interactions to physical ones.”
Eric McGee, Senior Network Engineer TRGDatacenters
- Destitute Face-to-Face Interplay
“Today, the mode of communication has drastically modified from direct face-to-face communication to hardly chatting. This seriously involves children as they will have poor face-to-face interaction skills when they grow up As they spend most of the time with screens, people will have only restricted experience of appropriate interaction with humans which can lead to a shrink in the level of confidence. This can critically affect the professional performance of a child who is brought up in such an automatic environment.”
Shiv Gupta, CEO of Incrementors SEO Services
- Family Gatherings Through Web Conferencing
“Technology has shaped the way families socialize amongst themselves since they are now able to hold family meetings through web conferencing in real-time. Technology has redefined and reshaped the way families communicate and socializes in their daily lives where you find a father chatting with her daughter on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and so on without boundaries since the Internet has no ‘respect’ pictures pop up on Instagram of people naked and the daughter and father can see them.
“Technology has impacted society greatly, as the members in the society can share ideas regardless where they are located with a lot of ease and at a fast turnaround time.
Technology has increased accessibility to education by the local community who otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn.”
Miranda Yan. Co-Founder of VinPit
- Written Communication Deteriorating
“Messengers and social networks lead to the fact that people use voice communication less and less often. Written messages speed up communication. We are getting fewer and fewer opportunities to understand a person’s mood by verbal and visual markers (voice tone, facial expressions, visual observation of body dynamics) and quickly adjust to improve communication. Everything rests only on the text, so it often incorrectly conveys what we mean.
“Therefore, it seems to me that text communication leads to a complication of communication, and, of course, communication occurs endlessly and this is stress from the feeling of the incompleteness of the conversation. Text communication has made it possible to communicate with a wider range of people, but this communication is more superficial. I would call this a degradation of communication. In the future that awaits us, the most valuable and deep communication will be in an offline format. It will be more private.
“I read that the European Union is considering the possibility of legalizing mandatory monitoring of text messages in messengers, which completely deprives us of privacy.”
Pavel Targashin, Sensemakers Expert
- Created Novel Ways to Socialize Through Social Media
“Modern technology has drastically altered the way that families and societies interact with one another. While there are some negative aspects of these changes, there are far more positive ones. For example, families are now able to communicate and be a part of their lives in completely novel and different ways. How many family members are you friends with on Facebook or another form of social media? That allows your family to see you in ways they hadn’t before, the same sides of you that your friends see you. This allows more openness, honesty, and freedom to be yourself. That’s all thanks to technology.”
Eric Florence, Cybersecurity Analyst Securitytech.org
