New Limbs

In class, we discussed the notion of technology, phones in particular, becoming so central to our lives that we feel attached to them the way we do limbs. I never leave home without my phone, and I never attend class without my laptop. Recently, I put my computer on the floor next to my bed. My friend commented on how putting a computer on the floor is risky as you may step on it. His comment actually surprised me. How could I step on my computer? Even when I’m not looking at it or using it, I know exactly where it is. My phone is so important to me that I can barely put it away for a full hour without feeling like I may have missed an important call or text.

This relationship with technology can be viewed negatively, as discussed in Strand 1, Unit 4 of the text. Perhaps people are missing out on face-to-face interaction because we are so consumed by technology. However, what is communication technology if not a cultural adaptation to help us stay connected in an ever-growing world? As a college student, I find myself at least a long drive away from my family and closest friends. As my mom explained to me, she did not continue her friendships from high school simply because it was so difficult. She didn’t have the time to travel to see them, and talking on the phone was costly and time consuming. At this point, I can literally send videos of what’s happening in my life to my community or videoconference with my friends who are studying abroad, across the country, or just at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Syntopia Project demonstrates the connectedness I've become aware of through my experiences. Computer Mediated Communication allows for an expansion of my social world, in both existing and new relationships. I am able to share images from my life on Instagram, snippets of my life on Snapchat, thoughts about my day on Twitter, and things I find interesting on Facebook. One of the great aspects of CMC is the “Birds of a feather” phenomenon. When I post an article on Facebook about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the only people who will engage in conversation with me are those who care about the issue. In this way, we can reduce the amount of failed attempts at communication in face-to-face communication by attracting those with similar interests to us, instead of having to seek them out. Strong communities can be built in this manner.

The Sociology of Social Conflict (SOC 425) is structured around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a case study. Each week, we video chat on Skype with students living in both Israel and Gaza to learn about their experiences and views. This allows us to explore the emotional and personal aspects of the conflict and to learn what the daily experience is of citizens rather than the broad, military-based coverage that we receive from most media. CMC, in this situation, allows us to connect on a personal level with people far away, and with the exception of a few Internet connection glitches, there are few technological barriers working against open discussion. Without CMC, this communication would absolutely not be possible. In my opinion, the possibilities of CMC far outweigh the potential negative uses. Sure people can lie and manipulate and bully, but will those things not happen in face-to-face communication regardless? We have only just begun to see what opportunities we will find in the unfolding technology of our time.

Do We Really Need Our Technology As Much As We Think We Do?

The era of flip phones has long passed us. Or has it? Believe it or not, my dad still has the same exact flip phone that he's had for 6 years. I know a few people that would actually scoff at the idea of having the same exact phone for 6 years, yet alone 2 years. More and more phones come out every month and as we've seen with the new iPhones, they just keep getting better. Now you can do more, work more, browse more, and still have enough batter power left for the road.

Flip phones are not smart phones. They creak when they're opened, they can take a fall or two, they still have an antenna on them, for Pete's sake. We've talked to my dad about upgrading, but he's resilient. He'll use that phone until it dies of old age. He takes it work, answers a few phone calls and texts, and then comes home and checks his email and such on the laptop. He doesn't need to have internet access 24/7, He doesn't feel the urge to check Instagram while waiting for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. He doesn't mindlessly scroll through Facebook while waiting at the doctor's office. 

So this makes me think - do we need our smart phones as much as we think we do? Yeah, it's great to be connected and you can send and reply to emails in a jiffy and it's nice to chat with someone on Facebook while in bed at night. 

But with all the capabilities, we bury our noses in our phones, constantly. We use it because it's there. Do you know how many times I've checked Instagram today? 5. Do you know how well I would have survived if I hadn't checked Instagram 5 times? I would have survived very well. 

We listen to our music on our phones to the way to class, we go through Snapchat stories just because. We play Kim K on our phones to kill time. (and to also get on the A-List) 

I feel like we've become so attached to our phones, that it's not just an emotional attachment. It's practically always glued to my hand. I think that over time, our dependence on the abstract concept of the internet and always being connected is going to only get worse. I don't know of any solutions, and hopefully we'll talk more about this dependence in class. Until then, I think I'm just going to start living more like my dad. 

Hype Vs. Hysteria

The Pros and Cons of Technological Advancement

People often say, “Change is good”.  I often wonder if those are the same people who declare new technology the bane of of humanity.

In class we learned about the myths, hype and hysteria. I really connected to the concept; will we see a utopian future due to technology, or will we see a dystopian one. I believe this issue isn’t black and white. I can see as a whole how both sides will frame their arguments. But I want the past to be examined before the future is predicted.

Just from pre-industrial revolution day up to present day I think technology has done the world a lot of good and a lot of harm. Overall it would be good to list all the good things technology has done and all the bad, and which which side will come out on top. But, I don't have the wealth of historical data to based my stance on hard numbers. Without even talking about the Internet much more primitive technology ushered in periods of fear and adulation for humanity. Things like electricity, modern medicine, cars, planes, rocketships and, on the other hand tanks, submarines, advanced weaponry, let alone atomic weapons. The manufacturing industry aided by new technology quickly changed the way people lived, fought, and entertained themselves.  The technology that mind that world smaller, telegraph, telephone, radio and television can be overlooked for all  the benefit they did to spreading information and quickly making the world a smaller place. Not as small as we know  it to be today but smaller still.

When I hear the argument that technology is bad it this makes me think how would we be living without it. I think it has done much more good than bad in the last 100 years or so. Would people who denounce technology want to live in a world without it-or even the pre-industrial world. If they do I would digress be does not even make this argument but I don't believe that to be the case. An added element to this is the idea of invisible technology, or the idea that as technology matures, it ceases to be remarkable or people don’t realize just how dependent they are on it. Once old technology becomes invisible it’s solely the newest thing that is viewed as technology. So, people talk about the detriment of cell phones and then that go home and use a land line.

I am in general excited as to what the future holds in terms of technological advancement. From relatively simple thing like oculus rift and gaming to nanotech and whatever that stuff will be able to do. I don't remember where I read this but I remember reading something about aging populations and how the hysteria around robots taking all the jobs is misplaced because these very same robots could be the key to  supplementing health care for elders. Simple things like helping elders get around their homes, creating an environment where they feel like someone is there and listening, providing with a sense of security if they live alone. I think this'll be a big issue with the baby boomers getting increasingly older, we might have the technology when they are at that age to need care that the technology might be available to them to help assist with their self-care or those caring for them. It will be interesting to see how that plays out whether older people keep this stance as a whole that technology is deprivating to the world as it cares for them. Or, will they become more receptive to what is really inevitable because even with the people on the hysteria side of things technology won't stop, progress won't stop. Even it is not in fact progress because we are progressing towards dystopia I don't see the train of technological advancement slowing down or stopping anytime soon

Our smartphones: the bridge between us and the modern world

            Doesn’t it seem convenient? Checking your smartphone and being able to instantly become connected with the world through facebook, facebook messenger, texting etc. Nowadays, we are able to discover new things in ways which we’ve never imagined. As we’ve covered in class, some huge benefits handed to us by Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) include: making us available at practically any point in the day to people across the globe, revolutionizing collaboration and rendering distance and time obsolete. Very little actual movement is required for us to reach out and make friends who we may not actually meet that often in person.

            While I was made aware of multimedia before, I began being exposed to it on a regular basis when my parents got me a laptop and iPhone. As time went on, I felt as though I could identify with almost anything that people were talking about with their friends. It was also during this time when I came to the realization that multimedia communication is actually unavoidable, especially with the way professors (such as we do during class) now like to deliver their lectures. It felt like an instant dose of adrenaline. Whenever my days seem too long and gloomy, I can sit down anywhere, pull my iPhone out, and google a bundle of stuff which will almost certainly get my mind off of what is actually going on. This can be very useful in trying to cope during tough times.

            Our smartphones are only continuing to become more advanced each year, with new added features which render other devices effectively obsolete. I use my phone to coordinate pretty much every single meeting that I have now, whether it is important or not. Multimedia communication is inevitable. Pretty much wherever we go, it will follow us. It is rapidly becoming almost like a necessity and will likely remain that way for future generations.

The True Love/Hate Relationship

Although I may have been one of the two students who claimed I could live without my phone, is that truly the case? Unfortunately, I am lying to myself to a certain degree when I make this statement. I catch myself waiting for a text from that certain someone in a common cycle -- checking my phone, making sure the volume is on (even though I already checked a 100 times), making sure it is angled properly right next to me so I can see my screen go off when I receive that message, checking the volume again, etc. This cycle is also very common among a majority of people no matter how much we try to fight it or deny it.

But is having a phone or any sort of technology necessarily a bad thing? Truthfully, technology is one of man’s greatest and most destructive creations. The benefits of technology and social media range from gaining instant access in the palm of your hands, being able to communicate quicker and more efficiently and even searching just about anything you can think of. Smartphones are taking over the world of technology -- one can have his or her alarm clock, music, camera, emails, internet access, telephone, texting, apps, books, and newspaper articles (just to name a few things) all on one device.

While having all of these assets at your fingertips may seem amazing, there are a few downfalls to this seemingly perfect privilege. The most unfortunate thing about using technology is how dependent we become on it. When you go out in public, you will notice almost everyone is on their phone, in their own world and minding their own business. If you take away someone’s phone for about an hour, they will instantly become socially awkward and most likely not know what to do with themselves, grasping at their pocket hoping their phone will magically appear in the palm of their hand.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when you enter an elevator and attempt to make conversation with the person next to you, but instead of engaging in a friendly hello, they bury their head into their phone and ignore you entirely. So, overall do you think technology and social media are a good or bad thing for us? It is certain that it will not die out anytime soon -- even old technological devices are still popular to collectors and old-school style people like myself. For now, since I cannot fight the ever-growing technological advancements of the world, I am forced to have to embrace it.

He Tweeted but Can't Text Me Back?

In five or ten years, when most people in our generation are getting married, answering "we met on Tinder" when asked how one met their husband or wife will honestly probably be a common answer. I never really thought about it before, because CMC is so integrated into our lives that it feels natural; but after our lectures on CMC in class I started thinking about how many of the people I'm now friends with or dated in the past only came into my life because I met them on the Internet. I found one of my best friends on twitter because she hashtagged something that only people in our bio class were hashtagging. I wouldn't have two of the ex boyfriends that I have if it wasn't for having mutual friends on Facebook. So many of friends from high school moved away for college, and though I can't see them every day, I love being able to see what they're up to every day and just know about the little things that go on in their lives via social media. Computers and cellphones give us the ability to be in immediate contact with anyone-people we don't even know, or stay in touch with people we can't see physically without having to make a long distance call. Finding out that there are so many people out there that do the same weird things that you do, or having your crush like your "selfie" on Instagram, are tiny little things CMC brings that can always put a smile on your face.When I mentioned something about this to my parents, they laughed at me and said "Yeah, imagine how hard it was for us to actually have to meet people in real life." That really struck me, and I realized how grateful I am for CMC, because without it, I wouldn't have all the people in life that I do have. It may sound pathetic, like no one in this generation can make a friend in real life, and our parents and grandparents may find it sad. I, however, think that anything to make the world a smaller place and connect us all is such a cool and heartwarming thing.
Though we can all agree that there are so many advantages to be able to stay in touch with far away friends or have new people to talk at your fingertips, there are underlying consequences of every person you know being on social media. While CMC is great for creating new relationships and keeping up old ones, I also think it puts an unnecessary strain on relationships as well. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten mad at a boyfriend for liking another girl's "selfies" on Instagram, or one of my friends getting mad at me for tweeting before texting them back. When our parents were our age, none of this was an issue. All they had to base their relationships off of was face to face contact-no getting mad at someone for one silly little action on social media. Obviously, the smart thing for us to do would be to just stay off social media-it really would cut down a lot of problems. But let's face it-we're all nosey little brats who just need to know everyone's business, and there is no stopping the internet creeping. I recently saw a picture (on Twitter, of course) that said "I'm sorry I tweeted before texting you back. I'm sorry I opened your Snapchat but didn't respond. I'm sorry that these are things we worry about now." That is the most relevant thing to my life that I've heard in a long time. Honestly, if we take a look at all the strains CMC causes, I really think there would be just as many as good things. Is it really fun for us to be mad at a significant other because they retweeted something we didn't like? Or to feel like someone doesn't like us because they ignored a Snapchat? Sadly, these are things I find myself getting upset about on a daily basis. Listening to my friends, roommates, even people sitting behind me in class, I've heard numerous complaints about something that was said or done on social media. Some people say "It's just Facebook, calm down." But we're so used to and addicted to CMC that letting it consume our lives and feelings is the norm, and it's really not "just Facebook" anymore. It's mind blowing to me how many fights and hard feelings could be avoided if we all avoided social media, but we all know that will never happen. CMC is one of those things that we're all in a love-hate relationship with, and it's not going away.

Importance of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

There are 2 main types of face to face communication; verbal and non-verbal.  Although we have been moving further and further away from face to face communication, it is still the only possible way to really understand and process the feelings, emotions, sarcasm, etc. when it comes to communicating.  Our society has gone from only being able to use face to face communication to basically not even knowing how to communicate with someone faec to face.  The only way to actually communicate with someone in a face to face manner is by using verbal and non-verbal cues. First, we have to understand the differences of these, how to pick up on them, and what is good communication skills.

The definition of verbal communication is the actual substance of the words we say or write.  These are the actual physical words themselves.  Communication starts with what we say and that is what grabs people in attention.  When we start a conversation with someone we need to say something that interests them so that they can also engage in the conversation.  I know from personal experience that if someone starts to say something that I have no interest in or do not want to talk about I lose interest right away and the conversation is lost.  This can be a problem since the ultimate goal of face to face communication is effectively transferring information from person to the next. Then two processes in communication are encoding and decoding the message.  Encoding deals with delivering a message in a way that is easy to receive and understand.  This encoding process is done with the words we say, the order we say them, and when to say them.  The next part is decoding which deals with receiving the message and actually understanding it.  Without a successful encoding process, decoding can become very difficult.  If these processes are not in unison the conversation can be lost, things might have to repeated, things can be taken out of context, and ultimately delivering information successfully is almost impossible.  Personally, I have found that a lot of times if the encoding process of a person I am talking to is not adequate, the information is either not received correctly or not received at all. Through experience I know that this can lead to arguments or any other range of emotions that might not be necessary if the encoding process is done correctly.  On the other hand, decoding a message the wrong way without asking questions or correctly receiving the information can also lead to the same types of problems.

The other side of face to face communication is the non-verbal end of it.  The definition of non-verbal communication comes from the implicit messages we send through body language, emotions, gestures, eye contact, tone of voice, accent, etc. Even though we may have the attention of the other person with our words, the non-verbals are going to be what keeps them engaged in the conversation. The way we say our words and what hand gestures or body gestures we use can greatly influence the way a message is received and perceived.  A lot of times we introduce non-verbals into our conversation without even realizing it.  These happen based off of our feelings and emotions about the conversation and how much or little we care.  From experience, I know that when people are passionate about what they are saying, they're voice levels are raised and you can just feel the confidence in their voice.  This makes what they're saying more interesting and easier to believe.  On the other hand, when peoples voices are soft and timid; it is hard to receive what they are saying in a serious manner and want to stay engaged in the conversation.  There are many non-verbal cues that people use, and many times they vary from person to person.  Each individual person varies in the way they choose to use non-verbals, but the universal standard is that effective communication cannot be achieved without some use of non-verbals.

When we combine the verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication, we get an effective and efficient way of transferring information. We can use each aspect individually but it just ends up being a bunch of misinterpreted words or gestures.  I have learned that communication must start with words (verbal) but met continue with emotions, gestures, eye contact, etc. (non-verbals).  Effective and efficient communication can be a very positive and prosperous process when it is completed.  The main aspect of communication that cannot be argued is that we need both of these methods to ensure messages are sent and received.  Neither method is more important then the other because communication is a process.  If one step fails, the entire process fails.  The good thing is, we have control over all of it.

Talking with Words

Several of my courses this semester are focusing on communication. As someone who was raised by two therapists, I tend to feel that I am very successful in communicating and rarely struggle to get my points across or to pick up on what others are saying. In class, we discussed a few ways to improve verbal communication. These included using "I" language, respecting what others say about their thoughts and feelings, striving for accuracy and clarity, and qualifying language. For Soc 300 (Preceptorship in Sociology), I read the book "The Four Agreements," which in my opinion is just several suggestions to make life a bit easier. One of the agreements is to be "impeccable with your word," which I believe is essentially the same as striving for accuracy and clarity and incorporates respecting others.
To be impeccable with one's word, one must speak the truth while being mindful of the truth of others, and use language that will not be regrettable or misconstrued. In trying to implement this agreement into my life, I noticed myself becoming considerably quieter. It's interesting that on occasion the best way to improve communication is to communicate less through words, but rather through a lack of them. This returns to another concept that we learned in class; we communicate much more through unconscious gestures and tone of voice than through words. If we can be aware of and harness our nonverbal communication, imagine the improved accuracy and clarity that could be achieved.
With advances in technology, we are presented with essentially hundreds of new ways to misconstrue our messages. I, and most of my friends, am constantly using social media such Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Yik Yak, Tinder, etc. While these forms of communication provide many more ways for us to transmit our messages, it simultaneously allows us to send many more messages to many more people than we used to have the power to do. Lots of times, what we try to say is not received with clarity on the other end. For example, on Monday night after the "riots" on campus I posted an article written by a Penn State graduate. The article was essentially a reminder from the outside world that Penn State still has an incredibly tainted reputation and that though we have regained what were perhaps oversteps in punishment, we have not somehow made up for the embarrassing events that happened here. We should be grateful that the students are no longer being punished, but the school still has a long way to go (as does football culture) before we can come close to this issue being over. People commented on my post assuming that I was anti-Penn State or anti-football, which is absolutely not the case. I didn't even write anything along with the link, I just shared it. This demonstrates the way in which our messages may not be received the way we would like them to. Had I explained the article in person, I'm not quite sure people would have reacted the same way. It's difficult to deny that we still have a long way to go.
Presenting the correct message will always be a challenge, but it is one that becomes easier as we become more aware of the ways in which people receive our language, actions and nonverbal movements. It's important to keep in mind that what we say on Snapchat will be understood very differently from what we say in an e-mail or in person.

What did you do to us Steve Jobs?

Whenever Apple first introduced the IPhone, it was seen as the next step in technology but simply due to its overpriced price tag and the similar function to preexisting phones I didn’t think it would really catch on. Obviously, everyone was talking about it because it was the new big thing but you rarely saw someone with one. I personally had no desire to spend such a large sum of money for something that did what my phone could do too. However, I didn’t realize how much better the IPhone did those things compared to my current phone and that’s what everyone realized as well.

            Not too much longer after the original launch, the next generation of IPhones were introduced and these were supposed to be even better than the last and for a more affordable price. This was the beginning of the IPhone take over. At this point, there were still other smartphones out there in use such as Blackberry, but it wasn’t long before even the infamous Blackberry was ran out of town by the IPhone. The Blackberry wasn’t a bad phone, I actually had one for a few years before giving in to the IPhone craze. It was simply a matter of the IPhone being faster and more user friendly than the competing smartphones.

            Apple was determined to stay on top of the smartphone world and began releasing a newer version of the IPhone every year. Each year the newer generation of IPhones is supposedly better than the last with a new look for both the exterior and the general layout of the phones interface. Every year one of the big topics is the new IPhone and how much better it is. However, no matter what version of the IPhone that you have, everyone is using it for the same thing, the internet.

            Whenever I use my IPhone I’m either listening to music, talking to someone via text or call, or I’m simply surfing the internet. Whenever I’m out in public, like on campus for example, all that’s visible is a sea of people walking to their desired destination but completely oblivious to that which is around them. Every single person can be seen looking toward the ground at their phones and completely entranced by whatever it is on their screen at the time. I’ve even personally witnessed this being carried out by young children at the restaurant I work at. They just mindlessly stare at the screen running into anything and everything in their way. This isn’t just the case for children either, even the college students mentioned earlier have been seen walking into tree, light posts and other people due to the unbreakable commitment they have to whatever is on their screen. I’ve even watched a guy walk through a construction site, ignoring the big orange cones and signs, and walk straight through a patch of wet cement.

            This state of oblivion is what will ultimately lead to the downfall of our society. Maybe that was a bit drastic, but you get the point. I’d like to think that I’m very conscious of the world around me but unfortunately I do find myself falling into this trance at times and that’s what scares me. Due to this trend, people are not only less aware, but face-to-face communication is decreasing drastically due to the implications of IPhones and the internet. This annoyance will only grow as newer and better smartphones are released and it’s truly too late to change the course in which our world is taking in regards communications. I may not like the latent functions that the IPhone is having on our society but I can never truly say that the IPhone as a whole is the devil because I love it and probably couldn’t live without it and maybe that’s the key. Maybe Steve Jobs had some ulterior motive like taking over the world via IPhone? The world will never know.

Smart Phones, Stupid People

Each morning, before I walk out my door, I have a small (sometimes unconscious) routine of patting my pockets. 

o   Wallet? *Pats my right butt cheek* Check. 

o   Keys? *Pats my left front pocket* Check. 

o   Cigarettes and lighter? *Pats my outermost backpack pocket* Check.

o   Phone? *Pats my right pocket* 

Wait! Where is my phone?! Crap, I have to leave in 2 minutes. Cue the destruction of my entire bedroom. I had to leave that somewhere. Maybe I could call it? Oh, wait… I don’t have a phone. Should I just go to class without it? No, I have too much going on today I’m not gonna be back at my apartment until later tonight. I can’t go that long without my phone. What if there is a natural disaster? What if a close friend dies? Or worse! What if my mom tries to call me? That shit will not fly!

Okay, so maybe I have a problem with being attached to my phone. But so does everyone else my age. Right? In fact, I’m gonna google that right now. (And no, I didn’t google it on my phone.) Okay, so the facts show in an article by USA Today that teens are becoming more and more dependent on their phones. So much so, that their heart rate can lower when they are away from their phone. These teens feel under stimulated when they don’t have something to constantly avert their attention from certain tasks like chores, homework, or you know… making eye contact with someone else.

So I guess the question is, is that a bad thing? I mean, technology is a big part of our lives. And quite frankly, technology is probably not going anywhere. If there were a time in the future that humans didn’t use technology, I would guess there was some kind of apocalypse. So why is a dependence on technology necessarily bad?

In my opinion, it’s not the dependence on smart phones that is necessarily bad, but the affects can be overwhelming. Studies have shown that people with smartphones’ memory are not nearly as proficient as those who do not depend on a smartphone. Studies have also seen patterns of children not developing proper social skills if too dependent on smart phones or other technologies. So what can we do in order to make sure we can have smart phones and smart people?

I’m not gonna sit here and act like I’m able to provide an answer to that question. But sometimes when someone has too much of something the answer can be simple: cut back. Why do you need your phone to tell you how to find the building two blocks away? Why browse Facebook when you might actually make a friend at that party? Sometimes, limiting your data use can be nice for your sanity (and your bank account). So next time you are feeling a little lost (even when you might actually be three doors down from where you’re supposed to be) just go ahead and ask that random stranger for directions. You might be surprised what can happen when you step outside of your comfort zone. After all, we’ve seen that computer mediated communication might not always be the best anyway.

RELEVANT VIDEOS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTjAfG2F-pE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2ORA4VVwDQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h3SS4XWxWg

Is Screen to Screen the new Face to Face?

Our world of technology has become a nonstop moving train of updates, changes in screen size, colors of new phones, types of service we can have. Our communication has even jumped on this train, the faster the response the better we feel. We are in this world of need to know basis constantly. Is it healthy? Why is it so difficult for us to wait for a text message for five minutes, without having a melt down?  When we send a text message such as a question, and we feel the need know the response just as fast as we send it. We put our world on high demand information most of the day, which takes away from the present situation we are in. We are in this constant battle of information overload and real time situations.

                In class lecture we learned of two types of message exchanges. The first type of exchange is in real time, which is synchronous. This type is a face to face form of communication.  There is no delay in terms of waiting for a response. You can see the reaction the person has, and looking at their nonverbal you can read a lot from that person. Along with that phone conversations are synchronous because a person is connected directly to the sender of the message. This communication is fast and easy to have because it is available to us right away. When we have a type of communication through social media or emails it has a delay. The Asynchronous of it drives our generations crazy. We are always checking our phone frequently to see if there is a message available to us. We are in constant need to know about our friends, family and possibly people who we don’t really know like celebrities. Why is that? It is just because we can have that knowledge right away, so we want to know the latest and greatest of the world? Or has this addiction just hurt our people skills because we don’t have to talk to real person because we have the electronic version of them.

                If technology became any faster than it already is, would it become dangerous to us? The consistency of having data in our faces at all seconds of the day will eventually drive us mentally insane. Our face to face has really become screen to screen. This generation will go hang out with friends, than sit in a room together on our phones. We don’t ever put down our technology and enjoy the moments we are in.  We lost our power to remove ourselves from our technology because we have become so attached to it.

                Is there a way to stop this train and get off for a few hours? Being able to disconnect yourself from the social media world is a difficult task for some people. I found it difficult myself because I always am worried that I am missing something going on in my phone. I should be worried about what is going on around me. Another problem that arises when we can’t seem to disconnect is when we do finally power down our phones, can we handle the real world? Our human skills have turned into our phone skills. I hope this generation can take the time to disconnect from their media world and come back to the real world. We should bring back the face to face world and put down our screens.

The Importance of Nonverbal Communication

          During the initial two weeks of class meetings the communication model and its basic elements have been frequently discussed and mentioned in the readings. The communication model allows us to explain the bits that combine to form the communication process between a sender and receiver. One of the most notable things learned during these lessons was the topic of nonverbal communication and how use of this vital aspect of communication is important in any conversation that one might have in today’s world. Nonverbal communication gives us a sense of self through our appearance, body movements and expressions, gestures, and even our paralanguage (such as tone of voice or laughter). Before continuing, it should be made clear that not every culture’s nonverbal communication contains the same context. One such example would be how many people of Italian heritage greet friends and family with a kiss on each side of the cheek. In America it may be normal to do that to a family member but if I did that to my 6’4 230 pound roommate, the only thing I would be kissing may be the ground.

It is essential that nonverbal communication be used in daily communication because it allows us to self-express as well as express ourselves to peers and others with whom we come in contact. Many people do not fully understand nonverbal communication and therefore would think nonverbal communication is always used by the person who is speaking, however, it is as essential for the listener as it is for the speaker. One example of how a listener would use nonverbal communication is by actively listening. Active listening is defined as: one pays attention to the speaker, tries to understand what he or she has said, and responds by actions or gestures to make it known that listener understands what the speaker is saying.

Nonverbal communications has a wide range of signs that could be utilized in both listening and speaking. One sign I never really thought about prior to this class was how one’s appearance, how one dresses, their haircut or the way one presents themselves outside of their home, can leave a lasting impression both good or bad regarding how others form an opinion about you. During my first semester of college, I was the stereotypical college freshman male: shaggy hair both facial and on my head, sweatpants all the time, a t-shirt, sneakers or sandals. As I progressed through college I began to care more about how people thought of me and the impression I left on others. I realized wearing the same outfit every day must have given the impression to my classmates that I was a bit of a “scrub”. I realized by cleaning myself up a bit more, changing my attire habits and taking better care of myself actually better represented who I am as a person and would leave others with a much more appropriate impression. Some cultures place big emphasis on their appearance, and not strictly from a trying to look good perspective but from a religious one. Muslim women, for instance, must be covered from head to toe when out in public.

                Often people use nonverbal communication in conversations or in class even when they don’t realize it. A student who doses off in class while the teacher is speaking is sending off many different signals to the teacher. This nonverbal communication can be taken in many ways by the teacher. Did the student not sleep much last night, did he/she party too much, is he/she being rude, or can they not handle participation and hope to simply be ignored. Whatever the teacher may think, the overall view of this student sleeping in their class is likely negative. In reality, the student may have been sick the past week not gotten any sleep and simply can’t keep their eyes open.  

                Certain people also don’t realize nonverbal communication plays an extremely big part during arguments and/or formal or informal discussions. A person who may roll their eyes while another is talking immediately gives the impression that what the speaker is saying is either unimportant or unbelievable. Simple eye contact is another role nonverbal communication plays in cultures around the world. Most cultures believe that eye contact shows respect and maturity, believability and non-weakness. I believe nonverbal communication a vital skill set to understand and to use during all communications with other individuals. It is also a vital skill for professions such as teaching. If a teacher is speaking on a the subject matter in a monotone voice chances are their students won’t see the topic as interesting no matter how exciting or important it may be. On the other hand if this teacher is enthusiastic and lively about the topic, students will become more engaged, interested and probably get more from the discussion/topic. As the teacher’s enthusiasm rubs off on the students the class becomes more enjoyable and worthwhile for all involved.  Some teachers may use slide shows to teach a subject or topic. If there is little or no engagement with the class the interest level and amount of knowledge being transferred may be, in most cases, is limited. That may sound harsh at first but if you want the experience of learning to be engaging then you must engage. Nonverbal in conjunction with verbal communication is essential. When you choose to attend or teach at the college level your communication skills on both sides are vital, especially nonverbal.

                Overall, nonverbal communication is always going to be in our daily conversations whether we like it or not or unless one day robots take over the world for some odd reason. Anyways, it’s important that one expresses his or her own thoughts no matter what they may be, however, it is always important to respect what others say and feel. So always be respectful to others, as bad as you want to roll your eyes at the teacher, hold it back, as bad as you want to flip off that Temple student screaming “F Penn State!” just realize they look like the fool not you… but in reality we all know you will flip them off. The basic point of nonverbal communication I am trying to get across here is, if you whisper and not yell “We Are!”… Will people even think you are a Penn State Student?

A Little Less Conversation

The majority of my friends have smartphones. I never paid much attention to this but I've noticed, recently, that whenever we're all together eating dinner or hanging out, none of us are fully engaged in conversation. We're all just looking at our phones, using various apps, surfing the web, or texting other people. There isn't much conversation going on between us whenever we're on our phones. It wasn't until my one friend (who doesn't have a smartphone) told us that we needed to put our phones down, that I realized the problem.

I can't say that the concept of not being on your phone at dinner is weird because I grew up in the mid to late 90s; a time when smartphones didn't even exist but I think this generation, in particular, is slowly pushing face-to-face interaction to the curb in exchange for our cellular devices. In class we talked about how we get gratification out of the media that we use. Gratification, simply put, is the satisfaction you gain from something and we talked about this sense of receiving gratifications from different kinds of media.

We all want to get something out of using social networks and the internet, otherwise, we wouldn't use them. That said, the internet and various applications gratifies us because they do for us what we want them to do. They are convenient, help create diversions in awkward situations, gives us entertainment, and are great for getting information of all kinds. Before the age of smartphones, we had computers to do all of this stuff. Yet, now that our phones are becoming computers, I think the same could be said about them; our phones give us gratification. Thinking about the percentage of people who actually prefer face to face interaction (over 80%), it's interesting that people spend so much time on their phones.

When I'm not using my phone, I notice that other people are using theirs. I see people in class on their phones all the time and even people walking up and down the street are completely engaged with whatever they're doing on their phones, even if they're walking with a friend or two. I'm not sure why this generation is 'obsessed' with smartphones but I do know this. One, though we prefer face to face interaction, there is less and less conversation behind had. I don't mean to exaggerate because, people in this generation DO interact with their friends face to face, but when you take into account how often the time they spend talking to each other is wasted on the phone, it really does seem like the amount of conversation that is being had is less than what it used to be in the 90s. Also, people don't really call each other on the phone anymore. For example, I have friends that go to a different campus and instead of calling each other, we just spend time texting. I'm not sure why but it seems like a lot of people my age don't converse with each other as much as they could especially since we have technology that allows us to speak to other people that aren't necessarily nearby.

Another thing that I know from observation and from experience, is that this generation's 'obsession' with smartphones comes with a lot of pressure. This pressure is coming from people with smartphones and it's being unloaded on people without them. Before I got my iPhone two summers ago, I had a basic phone. I was able to receive/make calls and text messages so I was satisfied with it. My friends, however, didn't see it that way and, of course, people judged me for the kind of phone that I had because everyone else around me had a smartphone and I had this old, seemingly prehistoric device. So, while I didn't see anything wrong with my phone, I still felt the pressure of not having a smartphone. I think this is where the idea of obsolete technology (or technology that a vast majority of people no longer use or is out of date) has something to do with this. Technology is always advancing and trends are always changing. With that said, I wonder if this idea of advancing technology and new trends is contributing to the lessening of the amount of verbal interaction we have with each other and if we are only truly connecting through the one thing most of the college students in this country have in common: smartphones.

CMC problems

When people today get into some troubles in their daily life, the first one they turn to help might be their smartphone. During the lab class I took last week, most people regard smartphone as the most important technology product which they cannot live without, a girl even defined smartphone as her best friend, that really impressed me.  Compared to the older generation, people already living in a more convenient life by the help of media technology. Not only have the smartphone, what we called CMC-computer mediated communication definitely changed everyone’s life today.

Via the computer media, the communication is not restricted in the traditional ways, people are no longer limited in the face-to-face communication or using written letter to pass the information. I can sending email, texting, making my parents a phone call or even use the face time to chat directly. All these methods are efficient, it takes less than a second to let them receive my message in another hemisphere in the earth, and this is unbelievable in the old times. However, except the great convenience the computer mediated technology has bring to us, tons of problems also showed up. Take the disadvantages we discussed in class as an example, there are too much information through CMC, and it is difficult for us to shift them. When I browse some website, the advertisements are everywhere. They may hide in the corner of the website, appear in two sides of the webpage, or even popups while I am reading. In addition, the information is not edited or censored, everyone can say anything online, although the government had set some laws to standard the opinion or information people release online, the rumors still annoyed our life. In China, many people “share” their experience about how offender using special knockout drugs to hurt them, the fact is this kind of drug doesn’t exist at all. These kinds of information spread quickly with the help of CMC, not only on the social media, even my grandmother who doesn’t use CMC tool heard about it and worried all day. This greatly disturbs the social order and causes panic.

The CMC also, somehow drifts apart people’s relationship. People looking at their cellphone all day time, even walking on the street. I still remember the day when I was in middle school, nobody has a smartphone at that time, and we kept talking when sitting in front of table and ready to have dinner. However, now even close friends will watch at their phone or taking photos upload to instagram during the dinner time. People prefer talk less through face-to-face but be active in the social media. This makes more and more people have communication problem, they cannot freely talk with others offline, when they face the strangers, they just like a machine which had been turned off. When consider the importance of language in class, we discussed that the language can shifts people’s thoughts, even their culture. However, our language are also shifted by the CMC today. People enjoy using the special language which been used during CMC process, even in daily life now. They may gain much gratification, satisfied because these language can be a symbol of fashion. I’m not sure about the English environment, Chinese language now facing the damage from the CMC language. The younger generation even don’t know about the poetry of the ancient dynasty while they can already fluently repeat the “kuso” edition of the poetry which spread greatly on the internet. I think this will harm our traditional culture anyway. 

It is undeniable that CMC brings huge convenience and fun to our normal life, the accompanied problems also shouldn’t be ignored.