Long Distance Call, Short Distance Silence

By: Devon Cormier
Posted In: Opinion

According to the Facebook Press Room (2011) there are approximately 500 active users on Facebook who spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site, and these numbers continue to grow. The number of people using Skype is ever-growing just as rapidly. Given this criteria, it is no wonder that social networks and software applications have essentially become the norm as a means of communication for not only young adults these days, but all generations. One can only wonder what all of this technology is doing to our social skills.

It is 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening at a local coffee shop in downtown Newport. The place is bustling with locals and regulars, all collected together under one roof sipping coffee and making casual conversation.well, at least half of them are. I cannot help but notice those select few with earphones plugged into their laptops, typing away, pausing every few seconds and smirking- clearly having some kind of online chat with someone not physically present in the room.

The young woman sitting next to me is on Facebook. I can see the screen, and in the corner, the chat box is pulled up. Every few minutes she smiles, silently laughing and then proceeds to type something. I look over her shoulder slightly to observe the couple sitting behind her; a young man and woman, who appear to be in their early twenties. I cannot help but notice their laughter is much more boisterous and filling up the entire room with sound. Their body language is animated and fully expressing the words they share with one another.

The difference in the social interactions between the young woman with the laptop and the young couple is uncanny, and I suddenly begin to wonder if social networks will virtually mute our communication skills. There is a major difference between trying to interpret the emotion on someone’s face, versus trying to interpret the emotion behind the words someone writes or types.

Days later, I find myself in the library struggling to read through an article that should have been completed days ago. Determined to do anything but work at this point, I resort to eavesdropping.

“[He] hasn’t responded to my post yet. It’s been like two days,” were the words I overheard a young woman say, clearly perplexed by the matter. The young woman she was with shrugged, gave an awkward frown and then responded, “Well, don’t you have class with him tomorrow?”

“No. That was today.”

“And did you talk to him?”

“No,” replied the young woman, still clearly perplexed.

The conversation continued and offered further insight into how Facebook provides a platform for people to interact without actually seeing one another, which can have its benefits; however in this scenario, confrontation probably would have yielded better results.

Though many generations now use Facebook, the majority of users are young adults and of college age. Given this, one of the many concerns about this social networking site involves the transition of students from high school into college. Facebook and Skype have been two tools that have eased this process for many young adults. Those transitioning are able to keep in touch with their high school friends and maintain relationships more easily, especially long distance ones. There is no more need for “snail mail” when Facebook, Skype, and texting provide instant communication.

There are of course pros and cons to these new communicative technologies. The pros would clearly be that keeping in touch with someone these days can be relatively easy provided one has the means. Long distance relationships can now prosper, especially with Skype where one can actually see the person they are talking to. It brings communication to a more personal level, unlike texting and Facebook.

I talked with a couple of Salve students who had studied abroad for a semester, one of whom was Michelle Kuhl, a senior. She had studied in Florence last fall, and stated that Facebook and especially Skype had helped her stay in touch with family and friends back home. Being able to communicate with them so easily helped her adjust to her new foreign surroundings.

While communicating with people should be easier these days given all of these social platforms, they could also make for problems. The expectations for people may be higher. Those in long distance relationships might be fretting about why their boyfriend or girlfriend had not responded to their Facebook message or missed a Skype date. A young adult may over scrutinize about such things, over-analyze something someone texted her or –heaven forbid– dread “the mystery girl” who wrote on her boyfriend’s Facebook wall.

Overall, in my opinion, social platforms are what you make of them. If they’re used for their purpose of keeping in touch with someone and not obsessed about too much, they will benefit communication between people. I still prefer chatting with friends at the local coffee shop, but when I am alone I will admit that a cafe with Wifi is always a plus.