Technology Transforms Communication: Trump's Tweets Lead the Way - Essay Sample

Introduction

The upward trajectory in the advancement of technology has revolutionized how people communicate all over the world. One of the main positive influence technology has had on communication is that one can share his feelings or ideas with ease. A good example is the United States President Mr. Donald Trump. The president is an avid user of the tweeter as a means of communicating and letting Americans know what his sentiments are about certain policies. Decades ago one had to wait to read from the newspaper to know what the president stand is on certain issues. As much as technology is pivotal in communication it has its negative aspect in the passing of information. It has led to the loose of the human touch in interaction which is significant. When communicating with an individual, primarily, you read the mood of that person. You might want to deliver bad news and he or she is depressed or hospital and such a message can worsen her situation.

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As human beings, we always care about how friends, family and even workmates perceive us. That is the reason some people will do anything to show their classmates they are living a good life. Self-perception affects the self-esteem of an individual. When one does not value himself he can have difficulties in communication. Consequently, a technological application such as social media has transformed how we perceive ourselves and others. When one posts' picture of himself on a tropical island on holiday, and another individual who believes they have the same assumed similarity will also post a picture on holiday somewhere. Thus social media has intensified people's perception of others and also themselves. Furthermore, social media harms communication in a relationship. One can decide to spend more time on social media thus not paying attention when being communicated (Valkenburg 478). Lack of attention means the message might be distorted. It is also not courteous for one to be engaged in social media while the communication process has commenced. When one uses social media as a means of communication most of the time he will not sharpen his social skills necessary to survive in the real world (Valkenburg 488). A good example is how to interact with a person from a different race or religion in a work environment. These skills can only be learned if one does venture in real life.

Face to face communication entails the interaction between individuals without the use of technology while mediated communication entails the use of technology. People these days prefer mediated interaction to face to face communication firstly because with the increased globalization it is easier for an individual in one continent to communicate with another person on a different continent. Thus it is convenient as it cuts down on time and cost involved if it were a face to face communication. One can also interact with multiple users from different countries in real-time and get feedback by teleconferencing which is difficult with face to face communication. It also makes work easier when one wants to send one message to a large group of people. A lecturer with a click of a button can send his students a message that he has postponed his classes. Furthermore, one can easily save the messages for future reference if the need arises. This ensures the person sending the message does not keep on repeating the same message every time. Mediated communication also helps in doing away with any physical barrier of communication (Chan 9). Another barrier can be about shyness and appearance which mediated integration helps solve.

With different technology sprouting every day the future of communication is even brighter. Many companies around the world are rolling out 5G connectivity which will bring out first internet connectivity. Voice recognition software is also being used and they will revolutionize communication. It involves the use of artificial intelligence and such software is dragon natural speaking. Companies such as Amazon are using technology to carry out their businesses and have to turn out to be very profitable. Consequently, we cannot say technology in communication does not play an integral role in our society. As much as technology is paramount one has to found a balance on which method to use and at what occasion (Knight 269). Most of this medium of communication is made by man and can breakdown at any given time. They also use electricity and at the time of disasters, there might know electricity. Moreover, it is unrealistic for the head of states to talk trade deals via the use of technology. One can imagine the United States president talking to the Iranian president about nuclear program sanctions via social media. Another example is when a parent wants to discuss with his son about the grades he does it via skype. Some communication just needs that personal touch so that one can read the body language of the respondent and ensure the message has its desired effect. Therefore we should evaluate the situation at hand before deciding on which media of communication to employ.

Works Cited

Chan, Michael. "Shyness, Sociability, and the Role of media synchronicity in the use of computer-mediated communication for interpersonal communication." Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2010, p 9. Wiley, Doi:10.1111/j.1467-839x.2010.01335.x.

Knight, Melinda. "The importance of conversation." Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol 79, no. 3, 2016, pp. 267-269. SAGE Publications, Doi: 10.1177/2329490616665823.

Valkenburg, Patti M. "Understanding self-effects in social media." Human Communication Research, vol 43, no. 4, 2017, pp. 477-490. Oxford University Press (OUP), Doi:10.1111/hcre.12113.