How has Technology Affected Means of Effective Communication in Our Society?

Modern technology, as we know it, was intended for the betterment of the society and hence the promotion of living standards of its people. Bettering lives of the countrymen meant making living easier. Easier means of livelihood, easier and cheap means of entertainment and of course easier means of communication. Technology was intended to make communication so much simpler and cheap. One can reach across to one’s near and dear ones living far away through the touch of a few buttons. But standing in the present era dominated by tweets and texts can we really say that technology has bettered our communication skills?

How has it affected daily communication?

We must admit that without technological advancement we would be nowhere close to overall progress and development. In the past two decades, the most significant occurrence has been the impact of technological advancement in communication engineering. With gadgets such as mobile phones and notepads gaining prominence and the Internet being available to almost everyone at cheap rates communicating with your close ones became a piece of cake. All you had to do was open any chatting app or video calling app and reach out to the other person.

An email was an official alternative for effective communication and it is still very important. So, it must be admitted under all circumstances that technology has aided communication massively and has taken the present generation to a different era of communicating simplicity. What it has taken away from them are the nuances of daily face-to-face conversations which were a significant part of our lives in the earlier days. This, as a result, has taken away the softer edges and the humane aspects of communication where the importance of the other person reduces to nothing less than his WhatsApp DP.

Effect on the corporate world

Now has technology also affected the aspects of the corporate world and the business world? As a matter of fact, yes it has, to certain aspects. Now business executives vent their anger by firing off emails to their colleagues and sealing off corporate deals which later result in regret. This somehow occurred drastically less in older times when people used to meet with each other and talk comprehensively before signing off any deal. A face-to-face conversation gives a lot of vital information about the person which an email fails to deliver. These information are sometime very crucial in determining the efficiency of the negotiations and if it must be done at all or not.

Modern technology has made everything move at a faster rate and at this increased speed people fail to consider many aspects that more often than not lead to ineffective communication and hence the unfulfillment of its purpose. People tend to be ruder and consider the other person inferior while communicating over emails due to the physical absence of the other person intended.

Are emails to be blamed for this?

Many experts have intended that the main reason for such misjudged behavior at the workplace is due to the harmful effects of emails. Emails are the easy way of communication but it is also the lazy way and being lazy in business ventures often lead to the failure of the venture. Which is why Atos, a technology firm has decided to remove email as a tool for internal communications. But it is not that modern means of communication must be rejected but it must be acknowledged that the present generation already regards emails as an old tool and now social media and messaging apps have taken over the communication scenario. In fact, they are far more rapid and effective to today’s men. It mtechnologyust also be acknowledged that people cannot always be alert to their email notifications and sending emails at any hour of the day should not be encouraged. This reduces the importance of the email on the whole and the workers will just resort to an angrier reply to the email if things do not work out for his favor.

But hasn’t technology made us smarter?

Yes, technology has definitely made us smarter on the larger picture. Information processing and computers have essentially made everything faster and simpler as well as cheap therefore producing a group of more literate executives in the office. Technology has advanced operations inside the office to quite a large extent. But it is the manner in which we handle the advancements of technology that actually affect our daily communications. If we could curtail our inner responsive attitude and use the newer technology for the wholesome betterment of the society as well as individuals then technology will be able to serve optimally.