Technological means of Communication: Threat or Evolution?

Technological means of Communication: Threat or Evolution?

The modern era is characterized by the fast pace of life, the lack of free time due to the many professional obligations and the materialistic spirit which discourages people from intellectual activities. Nevertheless, according to a recent survey of the Institute of Communication, people still talk to each other. But the existing communication does not rely so much on personal contact but on the use of digital media, particularly by young people.

Many aspects of everyday life can support the above view. First of all, as far as we can see everywhere, outdoors and indoors, young people use mobile phones incessantly. Many times they use them to talk, even if they are next to each other. Moreover, young people today use the technological means to communicate with their peers practically for everything, e.g. to exchange views on a subject, to arrange their meetings or just to chat about their news, when they have time.

This strong presence of technology in people’s communication affects many areas of their life. Initially, in social relations, the people get cut off from society, because of having little personal contact with other people. They become introverted and they do not establish relationships with other people. Their communication is confined to the service of simple daily needs. People do not exchange views with other people face to face, they do not communicate, in my opinion, and they do not learn to live with others. Especially young people, have problems forming their personality fully, if they stay limited in the standardized communication and not come in contact with other people with different characters. Because, by nature, people need direct contact with other people and, when this is replaced by a screen, they feel isolation and loneliness. At the same time, when people communicate through modern technological means, they use acronyms, abbreviations and coded expressions either from their own language or from foreign languages, especially English. This results in the restriction of their vocabulary and may impoverish people’s native language.

All these endanger our mother tongue, which we must preserve. To accomplish this, people and particularly young people should use their mother tongue to communicate with each other and use foreign words only when it is necessary. Furthermore, discussion with other people on issues of interest to them can help broaden their intellectual horizons and sharpen critical thinking. So, they will be able to communicate more easily and effectively. Finally, reading books is an important way in which young people can enrich their vocabulary and use Greek correctly. Only by knowing their own language perfectly, can they also use a foreign language to communicate.

In summary, everybody realizes how useful technological means are today, because everything is working in accordance with them. But it is necessary for people to use them wisely, only where they are needed. Because their communication must be based on personal contact, in order to guarantee real human relations and also the existence of society.

Christina Boulda, Greece