Do Technological Means of Communication Have Damaging Effects

Text me!

BBM me!

Email me!

Facebook me!

These are a few ways that people these days choose to converse. Phone calls are becoming less common and interacting in person, who even needs to do that? With today’s technology face to face social interactions do not even need to exist. Is this a good thing? Is it socially damaging? Physically damaging?

This summer I was watching the news and the question of whether or not the use of Facebook, smart phones and other technology is making our society less social arose. I hadn’t put much thought into this but upon seeing it I realized that it is. I would much rather text someone or message them on Facebook to ask them something rather than calling them on the phone or having to talk to them in person. I find that I am a very awkward person and maybe it is because I can ‘socially interact’ without actually having to interact face to face with people. If there was no means of communication other than in person I think that I as well as many other people would be much less socially inept.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/will-facebook-places-make-us-more-human-or-just-marketing-pawns

This article tries to combat the idea that Facebook makes people less social by introducing a new feature called ‘Place’. This feature allows you to check into a given place such as a store and see what Facebook users are around you. I don’t think this feature makes people any more socially competent but just puts more of their information out on the line for others to see.

I feel that Facebook and other new technology can be socially damaging but are there other harms? Don’t get me wrong I’d be lost without my cell phone and Facebook to ‘catch up’ with what’s going on around me, but I wanted to see what I could find.

Could you possibly do physical damage by overusing your cell phone or computer?

This article lays out 10 ways that cell phones disconnect you from your health.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100252908

Doctor Daniel Polatsch says you can develop tendonitis from avid text messaging. Another physical ailment caused by cell phone use is something that is known as cell phone elbow. Dr. Evans explains in this article that damage is done to the ulnar nerve because of less blood flow due to the angle of the elbow while on the phone. Wrist tendons also take a beating if you overuse your phone. Carpal tunnel, which has been commonly associated with computers, as well as arthritis can be worsened with over use of cells phones.

People can become addicted to being connected. I know many people, and I’m sure you do too, who say that they are lost without their phone. These people don’t know what to do when they are without their technology. Their anxieties kick up because they have an addiction. The addiction can also cause other problems. This takes us back to the antisocial aspect of these “socializing” tools. People are at risk for adopting nonsocial behavior which I have mentioned before if they are so enveloped in their phones and Facebook. I believe that people who truly have cell phone and Facebook addictions are likely to be less social than people who do not rely on being connected.

The strong addictions that people may have also put them at risk for accidents. If you are so engrossed in a texting conversation you may fail to notice you are about to cross a street without looking, or heading straight for a stationary object. You may even be seconds away from a severe car accident. People’s attention is usurped by technology causing them to potentially lose their other senses. Even if this happens for 30 seconds it could be dangerous, even fatal.

Although technology is great and all these means of communication may be helpful at times, excessive use of one or many can result in damaging effects both physically and psychologically.