We have more means of communication, but we communicate less effectively.

The world is online. Few people would deny that, in terms of communication,
social networks have made a major step forward, bringing comfort, instantaneity
and other helpful tools into our relationships… or have they not? Whilst this
massive source of knowledge, entertainment and global meetings can be used for
good, surely not many will know of its double-edged weapon: easiness.

A recent survey has proved that youngsters find increasingly difficult to

obtain relevant information by reading a text, partly due to a short attention
span –as a result of this mass media era. The lack of mental skills like short term
memory or precision in the use of language could lead to several drawbacks,
most times resulting in a worsening of human face-to-face relationships.

Natives of this new age might not always manage to get their message across
in a physical conversation, for they are not used to a real situation. What is more,
and perhaps because of that comfort in the net, they may not be able to even
draw out their own thoughts or opinions of their minds… because they are not
used to.

Taking everything into account –and leaving out the many possible fallouts of
a misunderstanding of the written language–, it can be stated that new means of
communication have made a great advance when it comes to keeping in touch
with far away relatives or old friends. However, the overflow of social functions
in technology is leading us further. The question is, to what degree is this actually
helping us to communicate? Human warmth is not on the net. The world is out
there.