book

The Dark Side of Human Communication: My Story

21 Pages 1938 Words 1557 Views

Social media is a virtual communication tool that makes individuals communicate faster, share information by means of text, photos or video and document their respective goals or interests for the public to see. Social media provides a faster way of communication, makes it easier to organize things, even though there are constraints in distance. People in this generation use social media for a majority of reasons; to socialize, meet new people, publicize personal businesses and document special moments by means of blogging and sharing photos. With the aid of social networking websites such as Facebook, study shows that 48% of teenager gets their news from Facebook.1 This can be seen as a positive aspect because social networking websites are enabling teenagers to keep up with current news. Another advantage of social media is resources. There are plenty of resources helpful not only for students, but for everyone. The wide variety of information that you could get online would be difficult to find anywhere else. The good thing about social media is that it is a source to express our viewpoints and doesn't require a lot of time. However, social media also has its disadvantages. A disadvantage social media has is poor real-life communication between people. Social media have raised the potential for misinterpretation. Studies have shown that only 7% of communication is based on written or verbal word, and a whopping 93% is based on a nonverbal body language.2 An article by Forbes reported on a mother and daughter who had been exchanging texts. Despite the use of many smiley emoticons, the mother did not know that her daughter was suffering from severe bullying at school. It was only when her daughter later committed suicide that the mother knew her daughter was being bullied. Thus, social media impairs our ability to pick up on body language, which allows for misinterpretation.   Another disadvantage social media has is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.3 Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles. With the increase of technology, teenagers are vulnerable to the practice of cyberbullying, in which there are plenty of anonymous posers victimizing young children in front of their peers. This can cause depression and mental health disabilities. Cyberbullying has spread widely among youth, with 42% reporting that they have been victims, according to a report by CBS.4  My personal experience with the darker side of communication has to do with my eldest daughter and her experience with both bullying and cyberbullying while she was in high school. Our daughter suffers from occasional seizures due to a generalized seizure disorder known as epilepsy. She doesn't have any control over when they will happen and how bad they will be when they do happen. Most of her close friends in high school knew about the possibility of a seizure happening and what to do if one did happen. My husband and I both sat down with

Read Full Essay