Communication Technology: for Better or Worse? Essay Example

virtual-online relationships. One of the many important contributions of technology is the rapid and efficient method of communication between people from any parts of the world.

The use of e-mail, various chat rooms, and mobile phones are a great way of bringing people virtually closer to each other. It results in large groups and communities to be more insightful about the world and results in decreasing loneliness in society. It also has the potential to decrease the work input as, for example, the invention of communicating machines or online Interactions to buy and sell as "It Is faster and more efficient" and one does not have to "wait in line with the other customers who are lined up alongside the conveyor belt" (Marcher, 8).

The research conducted on these grounds demonstrate how there is a "contradiction between an increased opportunity to connect and a lack of human contact, called the Internet Paradox" (Marcher, 5) which proves how the greater use of these technologies is closely associated with the decline in the communication between actual familial relations and thus increasing both depression as well as loneliness.

This demonstrates the true colors of virtual interactions using technology as it breaks down the well established social structure of our society. The great rise in virtual relationships has proved to be a major source of mental oppression. Social support plays a very vital role in maintaining proper mental health. Mobile phones and personal communication devices result in creating distances in relationship as people are getting farther away from reality and are jolted towards the virtual periphery.

In his article, See you think I'm not very interesting, the author mockingly points

this out as he describes his experience at a dinner table. He says, "It provides a convenient way to let people know they are not very interesting" (Fescue, 1) as he makes a very important point that people are losing their touch with reality. Actual friends and family members are being ignored and greater attention is given to virtual relationships. The fear that Faceable [and other social networking sites] are interfering with our real friendships, distancing us from each other, making us lonelier; and that social networking might be spreading the very isolation" (Marcher, 2) further strengthens the argument of Virtual versus Actual relationships as it demonstrates that the increase in efforts people put in maintaining virtual relationships is at the expense of sacrificing their time for actual bonds. This lack of efforts to maintain actual relationships further results in the reaction of gaps and ultimately leads to loneliness and depression.

Depression due to virtual relationships can be further explained by using the actress, Yvette Vickers' example as she suffered through similar experiences. The loss of actual relationships only to maintain virtual relationships can sometimes lead to tragic events due to the lack of a true bond between people. The fact that "Vickers had made calls not to friends or family but to distant fans who had found her through fan conventions and Internet sites" (Marcher, 1) demonstrates her act of cutting of actual relationships and he heights of her loneliness.

Vickers' experience proves that the more detached one is with reality, the greater are the chances of becoming lonelier. Therefore, emotional stressful life events linked to depression and social isolation which have been associated

with the risk of depression. The above points play a significant role in identifying the risks and side effects that are associated with the increase in the affiliation with communication technologies. The greater the use of these technologies, especially if not used properly, the greater is the chance of becoming only and suffering through depression.