Bailey Smith
English 10 Honors
2/14/13
Mrs. Martin
Techno Club
Resolution
Technology has a negative effect on real life communication skills
Negative Opening
“Their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They're learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a homepage." (Common Sense Media, 2012). Many people suggest that with all the technology being used today, good real life communication skills have pretty much become non-existent. Really, technology has great benefits towards the real life communication skills of everyone who uses it.
Reason One
Online social networks can actually have a beneficial effect on real life communication skills. Fifty four percent of all teens have said that social media has helped them feel more connected to friends and family. Also, fifty-seven percent say it helped them connect with people who share a common interest (New York Times, 2008). With being able to communicate with others that you normally wouldn’t be able to, many doors of communication are opened. With technology, a lonely, depressed teenager could meet someone that shares the same interests in him and help him to express his feelings.
Reason Two
Using technology to communicate isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Eighty-eight percent of students from the ages of thirteen to seventeen said that social media has helped them keep in touch with their friends that they can’t see regularly (New York Times, 2008). If it wasn’t for technology, all of the people who have friends in other counties, states, or even countries wouldn’t be able to keep in contact. Only being able to communicate with the people you see every day isn’t nearly as beneficial as being able to talk to a variety of different people from many different places.
Reason three
Using online communication can also benefit communication between people. According to a study done by researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of California–Berkeley, social networking sites can actually improve real-life friendships (Common Sense Media, 2012). With being able to talk to someone without actually seeing them, you can have those awkward conversations that you really wouldn’t be able to have face-to-face. You can avoid the awkward silences that follow some questions and not feel compelled to answer right away if you don’t want to.
Rebuttal
Even though many people say that technology is a bad thing and that it negatively affects real life communication skills, there have been many