Facebook: Killing Verbal Communication

Facebook, like the popular Nokia ad, “Nokia: Connecting People”, helps you connect with your family and friends quickly and easily. However, does this kill our once very socializing face-to-face communication? Is this a start of a new era where non-verbal communication is “king”?

Facebook is known best for its most commonly used feature, the “wall” (where people can write to others that can be seen by others too), and the photo-sharing experience it creates. People could easily view photos, catch up with people by walling, and game, leading to a sudden outburst of users.

Some would say that “quick and easy” is the future, especially in communication. And that seems true, but this discourages face-to-face contact, or taking time to write letters or emails to loved ones. When more than 80% of the school population has a Facebook account, getting “sucked in” is very easy. A recent survey showed that over 60% of the students/teachers at International Gateway Academy were more likely to write on peoples’ walls rather than call them.

Information can “easily” be shared to everyone who is your “contact” on Facebook. However, it leads to a great security issue, and most people seem unaware of possible measures that can be taken against it.

There is also the problem of “e-personalities” (personalities that are online, on the computer, that differs from the actual personality), that allows people to say things that they could not say in person. A study online shows us that about every 9 of 10 people have such e-personalities, meaning that most of the people are more “talkative” in front of their computers than they are in real-life.

Facebook is just a peace of the picture that future communications will paint. It fixed flaws of previous generation social-networks (e.g. Xanga, Myspace), but it too has many flaws. It demeans the value of taking time to communicate with people, making “quick and easy” the new “social fling”. Although it may be true that Facebook does offer many advantages, and can be used internationally, it “strays us away” from verbal communication. It is important to remember that in the end, verbal communication is the thing that keeps relationships, whether it be with family or friends, continuing.