Technology Is Making It Easier To Communicate In The Blink Of An Eye While Replacing The Need For Talking To An Actual Person

Communication is a basic act that implies taking ideas, thoughts, information, or stories and transmitting them to others for the purposes of sharing, educating, or coexisting. While it has evolved over the past 40 years, communication is still just as important today as it ever was. Every day, it seems, that there is something new to learn. Whether it is about the foreign struggle in Afghanistan, the possibility that there are hostages or the protests by the Afghan people against the new regime, we learn it all through media.

Through communication, we learn what our leaders are doing. In Washington D.C. there are things occurring that are historic. Whether you are for or against the current presidential administration, there's no arguing that with the current pandemic, the slow-growing economy, the Afghan pull-out, or the growing political unrest here in America, we live in historic times. Perhaps, without communication, we wouldn't know of the fires that raged out of control this year. At least not until we saw the smoke that stretched over the northern and central parts of the country. Through media, we were kept aware of what was going on in the western states. It was through media that we were all aware of the catastrophic storms that struck the gulf coast, hitting Louisianna and now Texas just today.

Does anyone remember the days before the advancements in communications? It seems to some of us like it was just yesterday that we were treated to a brand new tool to communicate. The internet was something that was born in the cold war and available to the public in the early 1990s era. Changes in technology have made communications all the more simple and convenient. With the stroke of a key, a document can be sent around the world. At the press of a button, now an icon on a touch screen, pictures of joyous occasions can be sent around the world and shared with family and friends.

The smartphone that you have, either in your hand or your pocket, has more power and capabilities than the computers at the Pentagon in 1963. At the end of the day, the phone is no longer just a phone. People use it to communicate differently than the phone that I grew up using.

Now, that's more like it. When I think about a phone I think about the device above. We used to have to sit in a room and talk if we wanted to speak with our friends. As teenagers, we'd sit with the phone glued to our ears, talking for hours on end until our parents or elders made us get off. Eventually, we had them in multiple rooms in the homes. Lucky teens were given one in their bedrooms, mostly because parents were tired of hearing them in the living room or kitchen, constantly tying up the line.

Other forms of communication then arose, after the dawn of the internet. Many of these have found their place in the world, especially since the pandemic. Video conferencing has become the new Monday staff meeting. Zoom, Facebook, Teams, and a long list of applications allow us to face to face with our peers. Hangouts App allows us to video chat through our cellphones.

The new languages that have come from our advancements in communication are what get some confused. The fact that we spend less time conversing with our actual friends, hearing the voice of our nearest and dearest, will continue to drive change in how we communicate, and the older generation that hasn't grown up with the tech won't always know what they're seeing in messages.

For instance, if you're sending a message to someone that you're intimate friends with, you might not want to say the wrong things. What you might think is an offer of a fabulous treat could mean something entirely different. Say, for instance, that you're making eggplant parmesan for dinner. Would you send a message to your best friend that says getting ready to eat, 🍆👅😉? If you did that message may be interpreted rather flirtatiously with an idea you're getting ready to enjoy some oral sex. Much like answering what do you want to eat with 🍑👅. Imagine having the worst messaging session of your life because you're a little busy.

Communication is an amazing thing. It can literally save lives, save businesses' bottom line, save relationships and keep people sane. While sometimes I think the quickest communication we have found through new tech and applications may be dehumanizing us, there are some fun ways to use things like text messaging and emojis. Flirting with someone you miss, when you can't actually see them or speak to them. Letting a loved one know you're thinking about them, or appreciate something. Sharing your feelings quickly, until you can speak freely. People express themselves, promote interaction, and establish emotional tones through the use of something as simple and foolish sounding as the emoji. Used wrong, they can lead to an embarrassing moment much like the wrong use of words.

Communication is still as important as it ever was, and more and more we may be communicating differently. While there will be times that face-to-face communication will be the better choice, with all of these other choices, we just have to remember not to lose the ability to interact without our tech toys. While we feel naked without our communicators, it's the ones we are calling that will be there when we need help. One day, we'll see holograms coming out of our cell phones, and perhaps will even use a communicator to call for transport, or to be beamed from place to place.