Is Technology Making us intimate Strangers? Essay

In a world of modern sophistication and changing technology it is indeed easy to get lost in a stream of gadgets like i-pods, cellular phones, laptops and etcetera. Everything is presented at your finger tips. Having a cellular phone with Wireless Fidelity (wi-fi) access will enable you to hold the world in your palm, figuratively speaking though. The amount of information and possibility of connecting to people across the globe is endless. However, as Coleman would put it, technology only gives us the illusion of intimacy. I would have to agree with that to some extent. Though technology has made countries borderless through the internet and the other devices, it also has made human connection less personal. Take for example the electronic mail (email); this innovation is now frequently used by people instead of making calls or actual face to face conversation simply because writing an email allows you to multitask. It’s easy and can be done along with your office works. But this innovation has reduced human connection into a â€Å"you’ve got mail! † status. The personal touch of a phone call or actual face to face conversation like gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language are hidden from the person viewing the mail. This personal touch is viewed by communication scientists as important factors of effective human communication. If we cross them out in communicating to the people who matters to us, then how can we be truly effective in knowing what they really feel? Smileys and other graphics that we use to substitute for subtle emotions do not really reflect how we truly feel, thus we become ineffective in communicating. This then weakens the very foundation of interpersonal communication (Seirra, 2007). Everyday I see people milling around as though they are so engrossed by the gadget they have in their palm that they fail to notice a neighbor of an officemate who passed by. What more would it be at home? It could get worst. Parents can get glued to the internet and children can shut their senses from the world with their i-pods and mp3s. Through these innovations a home can house people from different worlds. However technology has its pros and cons. Just like everything that man invented, the outcome of an innovation still depends on how it is used. Technology can bridge the communication gap of lovers, families and friends who has been separated by distance and space. It can offer information at the fastest and cheapest way possible. For those who have no means of communicating face to face, a call or an email would suffice. Any innovation can be a boon or bane to society depending on how we use it. Though technology can weaken the interpersonal communication of individuals, it can also be used to strengthen it. A call or an email between friends who haven’t seen each other for quite some time can be reunited with the use of technology. A simple text to a loved one in a busy day can show them your care. However this means of communication should be just a supplement to face to face communication. At the very core of every human being is the need for attention (Seirra, 2007). It is human nature to crave for love and compassion from others, if not everyone, but from someone. I believe that technology was created for the greater good of mankind, thus, we must use technology to sustain what really matters to us. Works Cited Coleman, Jonathan. Is technology making us intimate strangers?. Newsweek. 2000 Sierra, Kathy. Why face-to-face still matters! April 13, 2006. Date retrieved October 31, 2007. http://headrush. typepad. com/creating_passionate_users/2006/04/why_facetoface_. html.