Communication is a very different thing in today’s society than it was just a few years ago. We have a multitude of ways to make connections and send quick information to the people around us, whether it is as old school as using a cell phone to make a call or as groundbreaking as video phone calls on computers. There are even instances such as Kerry Sipe, in which relaying up to the minute updates from inside a courtroom was an intense and suspenseful method of distributing information (Carroll).
I got my first cell phone in middle school as a way to contact my parents to pick me up when I would stay after school for drama club or after hanging out with friends. Texting was never really an option since it was more expensive than my parents thought it ought to be, and you would need to pay for each incoming and outgoing text message, which was a pain. As time passed, the technology increased and calling plans became more affordable, a lot of my phone habits have drastically changed. These days my phone is like my communication hub. Whether it is an e-mail, a text, a phone call or an instant message, it will be sent to my phone. E-mail is particularly handy for school related issues because I have all e-mails sent to my UMBC account forwarded to my phone account, which is a really worthwhile option in today’s world of separating “business,” “school,” and “personal” accounts. Having them separated for the sake of appearing professional is a lot more tolerable now that they all get sent to the same place, and can all be looked at and dealt with as soon is a find it necessary. Texting has become one of my most common ways of getting in touch with people; it is quick, it is easy and it is efficient. Most of the time when I want to get in touch with someone I just need to ask where people are, when we’re meeting up and what we plan on doing, which does not take much more than a sentence or two. For more in depth conversations there is always instant messaging, which has a few advantages of texting in that it’s generally faster to get a response, and you don’t need to try to be efficient with words because not every single message going in and out is being charged. And the original purpose of the phone? Making calls to other people? Yeah, that’s reserved for when I’m driving on the highway and I have too much to type if I were to use a text message or instant message instead. Occasionally I use the phone to get in touch with friends that I don’t see often and catch up with their lives, or to talk to my parents who really can’t figure out how to use much more than the calling feature. Perhaps one reason why I don’t make phone calls as often as I use the other forms of communication that my phone offers is because I have unlimited texting, instant messaging and web browsing, but I only get as many minutes as my family plan allows for.
While some may say that all these ways of getting in touch with another person have become impersonal and removed the significance of connecting with another person, I feel like they are more of a convenient way to communicate with people, and not a replacement for making real connections. When it comes down to it, face to face communication is likely to be the most important way I will ever be able to really connect to another person, and that’s what should be the most important aspect of communication.
Carroll, Brian. "Culture clash: Journalism and the Communal Ethos of the Blogosphere." Into the Blogosphere (2004) 16 Feb 2009
