Based on my opinion, face to face communication is communication that happens in real

time with faces being visible. Social means relating to leisure activities that involve meeting
other people. Social media taking over essentially destroying the need for conversation. Today
our thumbs get more exercise than our vocal chords. Our generation has almost forgotten how
to speak because we’re too busy typing. We’re guilty of texting instead of talking over coffee
and Facebook chatting instead of conversing on the phone. It’s as if we’ve sacrificed the art
of conversation for the art of convenience. We opt for three-hour text conversations over face-
to-face ones. Texting and Facebook chatting allow us to step away and take time to think and
respond, while talking in person allows us to cultivate our skill of asking, listening, and
responding in the moment.
According author Branson (2015), The mobile technology has made it so easy for us to
communicate effortlessly across great distances through one form communication is
threatening another, as phone calls become more rare. For example, one can become moody
for a day because his girlfriend wasn’t instantly replying to text messages. This may cause
misunderstanding to other and creating a gap in relationship. It is much better face to face
conversation than chatting in social media or messages because it will avoid
misunderstanding. One likes to use communicating via the internet to avoid when confronting
issues that are uncomfortable them by not responding to questions or accusations.
Maybe it's time to practice good verbal skills by requiring a class specifically addressing
conversation skills. The main requirement would be to put away the cell phones and learn
about eye contact, how to listen and how to gather your thoughts into complete
sentences(McMahon 2015). Social media recently has replace human contact. A lot of what
used to be done face to face is now done via computer mediated communication and we’ve
lost is the humanness of contact and conversation.When we lose our ability to relate to people
and empathize with people, we will care less about our conversational partner.
Friendships have become less intimate that they have ever been. When we meet face to
face we can see body language and facial expressions. We can feel the way someone feels
by the tone of their voice yet when we communicate only through social media outlets, those
important characteristics of a conversation are non-existent(Caito, 2015). Social media only
teach us that physical social lives are mundane and pointless. There is no activities like
sharing stories or chatting with friends anymore because everyone are busy with their social
media even though their friends in front of them.
Social media has a way of breaking down our personal communication skills. When faced
with a conversation in public with someone, how many of you have said to someone "Look me
up on Facebook" or "You can text me anytime!" In other words, how many of you have escaped
a realistic conversation with someone standing right in front of you by asking them to only
speak to you via social media? This happens all the time. I know that I personally have met
with people and within just a few short minutes I hear them asking me to message them on
Facebook. I am guilty of the same thing myself( Branson). It will not give a friendly relationship
to the people who just know us to intimately know us if there is no face to face conversation.
Lastly, we need to use less social media or mobile phone to show effort has been made to
show that we are concerned to the reality life and surrounding.If you’re concerned, it’s easy to
start taking steps. Put your phone in the trunk when you drive, so you can’t be distracted by it.
Don’t allow phones at the dinner table. And the next time you’re chatting to someone and you
feel that wee buzz on your leg, or hear an incoming alert, ignore it until you’re done talking
because it’s probably not more important than the conversat\ion you’re in.
http://uk.blastingnews.com/tech/2015/01/is-social-media-killing-our-communication-skills-
00244897.html
Is social media killing our communication skills? Angelo Caito
Do you remember the last time you actually picked up a telephone and called a friend to inquire
about their day?Angela CaitoAngela Caito FOLLOW Published on:24 January 2015 Social
media is killing our communication skills Social media is killing our communication skills

In 2005 I opened a Facebook account when I was sent an invitation via email to join the new
#Social media website. Within 2 weeks I had more than 500 new friends from across the
United States. Friends that I would never meet nor seldom even chat with when online. In
2008 I opened a new Facebook account and began searching for friends from back in my
school days. Within less than two years I had gained not only 200 friends from school, but also
nearly 1000 more from around the world that I had never heard of. In 2010 I decided to open
a Twitter account. I seldom used the site until 2013 but when I did I realized just what a great
impact Twitter had on my professional life.

Business seemingly began to boom for me all because of a few 140 character tweets made
each day. In early 2011 I received a private invitation to join Google+ prior to its official launch
in September of 2011. Of course I joined just as most #Internet addicts like myself did.

Throughout the last decade as social media has progressed into the homes of nearly 2 billion
people around the world many lasting relationships have been formed, friendships have
bonded and, wait for it, personal social interaction has seemingly declined. What is the point
in meeting a friend face to face when we can chat with them all night long if we choose to and
we never have to leave the comfort of our own home?

Has social media reduced our social skills? What's the point in getting dressed up for a dinner
engagement when we can sit in the comfort of our living room wearing sweats and t-shirts and
host group events online? Think about it for a moment.

Do you remember the last time you actually picked up a telephone and called a friend to inquire
about their day? How often do you pry yourself away from the glare of your laptop screen to
take a walk or go to a social gathering? Social media has allowed all of us to interact solely
through chat rooms, text messaging and posts made to Facebook, Twitter and other social
media meeting spots. Meeting friends face to face has been declining rapidly over the last 5
years. After all, why do we need to leave the house when we can get all the news and
information necessary with the click of the mouse? Instead of being 100% real with others, we
hide behind our phones and laptop screens with typing overtaking talking. We post hundreds
of selfies to show others how great we look, how adorable our children or pets are, or how
amazing our backyard pool and barbecue pit is. Our pictures are liked, our posts commented
on or re-tweeted and yet, we have lost that true essence of communication that can only be
made with face to face interaction.

Friendships have become less intimate that they have ever been. When we meet face to face
we can see body language and facial expressions. We can feel the way someone feels by the
tone of their voice yet when we communicate only through social media outlets, those
important characteristics of a conversation are non-existent. While it may be easier to type
something to a friend than it may be to say it to their face, what we are becoming is akin to a
race of anti-realistic, non-emotional and un-caring people altogether. Robots. That is what the
human race is declining to. We are teaching our children that physical social lives are
mundane and pointless. We also teach them that solving problems is best done online rather
than in person.

How many of us have Facebook friends in relationships and we watch the daily arguments via
our news feed that should most likely be resolved behind closed doors. I know I have some
friends who will post about how awful their girlfriend/boyfriend may be, and then suddenly
there is a string of 100 comments between the two cussing one another out as well as random
comments from others being rude about one or the other. Within a couple hours, the same
couple is posting of their undying love for the other. I haven't had to watch television in more
than a year now thanks to the drama that unfolds on my Facebook feed daily. I often have to
wonder why these people, who are obviously under the same roof, are shouting at one another
via Facebook posts instead of resolving the issue face to face.

Communicating via the internet makes difficult conversations seem much easier than if you
had to speak face to face. When confronting issues that are uncomfortable you can easily
dismiss them by not responding to questions or accusations. Even when you say something
that you know would hurt someone if it was said to their face, you don't have to acknowledge
that when typing it to them. Walking away from someone standing in front of you is often a
hard thing to do when you know they're hurt, but failing to respond to their painful messages
on Facebook makes many feel as if they have done no harm with the words they have typed
to the person. All too often when using social media, we fail to see the damage done by the
choice of words we use. Words can be easily misconstrued to mean things we never meant
at all because those we are posting to cannot see our facial gestures or our body language
when we say them. A simple phrase like "Hey, what's up?" can be translated to "Would you
like to go out?" or even "What's your problem?" depending on who you send it to. Words, all
too often, lose their value through social media.

Social media has a way of breaking down our personal communication skills. When faced with
a conversation in public with someone, how many of you have said to someone "Look me up
on Facebook" or "You can text me anytime!" In other words, how many of you have escaped
a realistic conversation with someone standing right in front of you by asking them to only
speak to you via social media? This happens all the time. I know that I personally have met
with people and within just a few short minutes I hear them asking me to message them on
Facebook. I am guilty of the same thing myself.

I spend nearly 75% of each day online. Out of necessity to utilize the internet for work, I have
to be online every single day of the week. I write for websites and social media blogs therefore
keeping up to date with the world around me is extremely important. I also use social media
to keep track of friends that I haven't seen in many years. Friends that I drifted apart from once
High School was over many years ago. The odd thing about that is many of the people I stay
in touch with from my school days live less than 10 minutes away from me, yet I have not
physically seen them in many years. Social media has become a way of life. It's become a
form of communication without having to get dressed up for a night out, without having to
spend money on gas to drive somewhere to meet, and without having to find myself in a
conversation or situation that I would rather run away from. Social media has, in a sense,
made socializing unnecessary in the real world.

I realized on my last birthday just how prevalent social media was in our lives today. After
receiving 100 birthday wishes posted to my Facebook wall within an hour, as well as more
than 200 private messages to wish me a Happy Birthday I was feeling great about my special
day. Great that is until I realized not one friend personally picked up a telephone and called
me. Not one friend invited me out for birthday celebrations as in previous years. Not one friend
stopped by my house to say hello. For many, and I am sure I am not alone in this, social media
communication has created a lonely atmosphere. Sure it's great to say hello or have a late
night chat online with a friend, but that physical connection to the world still needs to be present,
and for many, due to social media, there is no physical connection at all.
While social media may be beneficial to those who would be too timid to strike up a
conversation in public or too reserved to say what they feel to someone in person, it can also
be detrimental to people as well. Bullying and social harassment has become prevalent in
society today. Many children and teens have committed suicide due to online bullying. This is
a horrific problem in society today and one that should be dealt with urgently. Children who
are bullied online are three times more likely to commit suicide than children who are not
bullied online. Today, it is estimated that 95% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 are
using some form of social media. Many people seemingly have no compassion for others
when they are posting online. People are very brazen when they can hide behind their
keyboard and monitor and not have to deal with the pain they have brought upon someone
else through their harsh words in a comment. Compassion for others is out the window all too
often when people begin bashing others via Facebook or Twitter. People need to understand
that their words hurt even when they may not mean them to sound quite so harsh. The person
receiving the hate filled comments may not be able to handle the criticism that is being thrown
their way with such terrible words posted publicly for all to see. Social media has become a
hate filled outlet for those who bully others. Social isolation, in my opinion, should be
mandatory for those who will harm others with their words.

While many aspects of social media are harmful there are also positive communication skills
that can be achieved through social media. For many people speaking to someone face to
face is challenging and often stressful. Being able to open up via outlets like Facebook assist
with guiding these people into physical meetings offline. Once the ice has been broken so to
speak by holding a conversation online, it can make it much easier to meet in person and
continue the conversation. Social networking can help you meet people who think the same
way you think, enjoy the same sports or outdoor activities, or read the same type of literature.
It can form bonds that we may have never known without being prompted by social media.
Meeting new people can be an exciting venture, but moving forward to a physical meeting can
create new possibilities in life. New romance, friendships and even meeting distant relatives
that we never would have had a chance to meet prior to the invention of social media are
suddenly possible with a quick online search and a brief meeting via Facebook.

So now I will ask you, my readers. Do you think social media is harming personal
communication or has it created an avenue to expand and enrich our social media skills and
make them better than they were prior to the advancements of the internet connections we
have today?
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/abetteriowa/2015/09/30/does-social-media-
kill-communication-skills/73067760/

Does social media kill communication skills? Deb McMahon, A Better Iowa
contributor
Being of "that certain age," I notice changes in society and trends that sometimes are
beneficial and others that seem to impair our human nature.

Conversing and speaking in complete sentences seems to have gone by the wayside for some.
Why? Pondering this question, which may seem inane to some, begs to be addressed and
answered.

With social media consuming so much of our time, conversing with one another face to face
has suffered. The busyness of our lives and over scheduling also takes a toll on the family.
The percentage of families that sit down together to share dinner is steadily declining.

The dinner table used to be a place where those gathered shared their news of the day. Often
it was where families discussed current events and had actual conversations. Fast food meant
dinner was ready at the allotted time, not a bag of greasy takeout to be devoured in record
time.

Email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a host of other ways to communicate have often
taken the place of talking and sharing. Yes they are fast, available at all hours and easy, but
should never take the place of verbal discussions.

Listening to some people as they try to put together a complete sentence is uncomfortable
and can be agonizing. Lots of "you knows" and "umm" and "well" as they try to put together a
string of words that make sense.

Maybe it's time to practice good verbal skills by requiring a class specifically addressing
conversation skills. The main requirement would be to put away the cell phones and learn
about eye contact, how to listen and how to gather your thoughts into complete sentences.

Social media has its place but should never be an exception to replace human contact. Tonight
while having dinner, turn off the phones and begin the tradition of face to face communication.
Take turns sharing your joys and concerns and practice the forgotten art of conversation.