The Impact Of The Internet On Face-To-Face Communication

"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiots." Albert Einstein. Unfortunately, we are living now the days in Einstein's saying. The internet has broken the borders of space and time, enabling us to interact with more strangers than ever before. And weaken the ties which hold us with our relatives and friends together. Our smartphones paved the way for us to prefer the easiest way to communicate through social media rather than in person. Though the Internet has a huge benefit in our lives it also has disadvantages which in most cases affect people physically, socially, and healthily.

So, in our research, we will examine the impact of the internet on face-to-face communication. According to social media supporter, "connecting through the internet make us less lonely". In fact, the internet has isolated a lot of people. The statistics have shown that people became lonely and depressed because of the use of social media. As in a study published in a journal, "surveyed 7,000 people aged between19- to 32-year-olds and found that those who spend the most time on the internet were more isolated."

Spending more time using the internet could displace face-to-face interaction, and can also make people feel lonely. We made a questionnaire with our university students who aged between 23-25 years old. The total was 25 students, 8 of them were married and the others are singles. The statistics showed that 95% of them began in using the internet at the age of 14-15 years old which is great in comparing with the children in our days who started at the age of 5 years old! Then the question of "How often do you use social media?" has shown that over 80% are using it daily. However, 20% who are married have been using it day by day or sometimes weekly due to their circumstances. 65% of them are using social media for entertainment while 45% are using it to keep in contact with others.

Finally, over 90% are agreed that social media has impacted their communication skills negatively. Even though a lot of them are aware of its negative impact, they continue in using it most of their times. To conclude, social media communication is a great cultural achievement despite its disadvantages. However, we need to increase the face to face communication and reduce our using of social media to protect our health, to be sociable, and to enhance trust and credibility.