The Internet and Communication

Good afternoon, today we will discuss the changes that the new means of
communication have caused on nowadays interpersonal relationships. We will base our
analysis on the article Attached to Technology and Paying the Price by Matt Ritchel,
Connecting Community On and Offline by Barry Wellman and The Impact of the Internet
on Society: A Global Perspective by Manuel Castells.
Our purpose is to argue about how the internet and the new means of
communication help improve human communication, instead of damaging it.
During the past twenty years communication has been developed and the way in
which we relate to each other has changed. In today’s society, interpersonal relationships
are not limited by physical interaction. We can create bonds with people through
technology-mediated interactions, and the internet has been the means by which this is
possible. The discussion arises when it comes to consider the change in the way in which
we communicate as positive or negative. Even if at first sight the internet seems to isolate
people, leaving aside face-to-face relationships, the internet is improving human
communication by providing a new different way of relating with each other and helping
people to share and raise their voices.
There is general belief that the internet is damaging human communication.
People addicted to it are completely isolated by their technological devices and social
media that they cannot create bonds with people that surround them. This can be the
case of Mr. Campbell in the article Attached to Technology and Paying the Price. His
addiction to technology devices and social media makes him over read an important e-
mail from a prospect investor, which made him almost lose millions of dollars. However,
this is an extreme example of someone who misused this tool. For people who know
how to take advantage of it, the internet offers different ways of relating with each other
that far from isolating us, are improving human communication.
The first aspect in which the internet improves human communication is by
providing faster and more efficient ways to communicate for people who live far away.
Nowadays, thanks to technological advances we can create bonds with people from
different countries and different cultures whenever and wherever we are. Physical
distance is no longer an obstacle to relate with people. Back in the 20 century people
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used to communicate first through letters and then sending messages with the telegraph.
Both of this means of communication were really slow, it could take months for a letter
to arrive and it could even get lost its way, so it was really hard to keep in touch with
someone who lives on the other side of the world. But now, through the variety of
platforms the internet offers such as Skype, Facebook and e-mails, long distance
relationships are possible and people who live abroad can easily stay in touch with their
families and friends. Even though the internet is considered to be damaging our
interpersonal relationships, these new conveniences do not restrict us from face-to- face
relationships. According to Barry Wellman, sociologist and director of NetLab at the
University of Toronto in his article Connecting Community On and Offline, “Online
communication — email, instant messaging, chat rooms, etc. — does not replace more
traditional offline forms of contact — face-to-face and telephone. Instead, it adds on to
them, increasing the overall volume of contact.” That is to say that people who
experiment a good deal of online interaction is more likely to have the same amount of
interaction offline. Even if at first sight the internet seems to isolate people, it actually
increases the amount of communication through the different platforms it offers.
The second aspect in which the internet also improves human communication is
by helping scientists to share their findings and communities to raise their voices about
social issues. Thanks to the internet, scientists can share their findings and communities
can raise their voices about social issues. Nowadays, the knowledge available to
everyone is limitless. Everyone, from scientists to ordinary people, we all have access to
countless sources of information that allows us to conduct our own research. But most
importantly, the internet is allowing the communication between scientists from all over
the world, providing them a medium to share and improve their findings. According to
Olivier Dumon, managing director at Elsevier, in his article How the Internet Changed
Science Research and Academic Publishing, more than 30 percent of all research
papers published today in Global Sherpa, one of the biggest platforms in which scientists
share their findings, document active international collaboration, a 40 per cent increase
from 15 years ago and doubled it since 1990. Even though the internet is said to be
damaging our interpersonal relationships, it helps scientists to share their findings.
 The third aspect in which the internet is improving human communication

is by giving people access to important information and events happening around

the world and so, they have the opportunity to raise their voices to speak out

about those issues. Nowadays, there are many social, political, economic and

environmental issues going on in the world outside the mainstream, and social

media is helping all the people affected by these issues to speak out about

it. Manuel Castells, a Spanish sociologist, states in his article The Impact of the

Internet on Society: A Global Perspective, that since 2010 online and particularly

wireless communication has helped social movements pose more of a challenge

to state power. A good example of such situation would be the Arab Spring, a

protest that took place in 2011 when Egyptians and Tunisians used Facebook to

organize protests and spread awareness about the management of their financial

crisis. Social media gave them the power to speak out, making the rest of the

citizens become aware of the issue and to gather together to fight for their

common interests. Even though the internet is said to be damaging our

interpersonal relationships, it helps people to raise their voices about social

issues

Even though the internet may have negative effects on the interpersonal

relationships of those who misuse this tool, it is helping improve human

communication. The internet provides different ways to relate with each other

through social media , which allows people from different countries and cultures

to have long distance relationships and keep in touch with family and friends that

live abroad. It also helps scientists share and improve their discoveries with other
 scientists around the world; as well as people to raise their voices about

social issues that the mainstream doesn’t cover such as the case of the Arab

Spring. This three aspects show that far from isolating us, the internet is

improving human communication.