Originally posted by rtelford on January 21, 2017
Lately there seems to be more and more discussion as to how our hyperconnected lives may be affecting our behaviour and how we may be addicted to our devices.
In the video below Dr. Daniel Siegel considers these ideas as he answers the question: Is social media replacing our real relationships or adding to them?
Before watching this 4 minute video, I propose that you consider and answer the following questions!
- What, to you, is the difference between your online relationships and your face to face relationships?
- Dr. Siegel says that social media shapes the brain. Do you think that your brain and/or personality has been somehow reshaped by social media? Why or why not?
- What differences do you notice between communicating face to face, and communicating through social media? Are you effective at communicating your message in both ways? Why do you think that is?
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, and watch the video…maybe we can get some good discussion going in the comments!
Rob
People will not be able to notice the 7 signals he mentioned (eye contact, facial expressions, tone of voice, postures, gestures, timing and intensity) when they spend more time on social media. Because of more face-to-face interactions before social media became intensive, people naturally could read those signals rather than having to be taught about them.
It’s hard to tell sometimes whether social media is adding to or taking away from our relationships. Unfortunately, what we see on social media is not always an accurate depiction of reality. We tend to post happy moments and important events as opposed to the negative aspects of our lives. I think posts on Instagram paint a very perfect picture of life. Though social media does have the potential to connect people together, authenticity is very important. Misuse of social media or overuse of it is taking away from relationships. I often find it challenging to communicate effectively through social media. In my experience messages are often misunderstood due to the lack of expression, tone and other social cues. Though the use of emojis and punctuation can support the communication process, I still find it quite robotic to send a message via social media. I’ve come to realize that much of the research on this topic is negative. It’s almost as if we are looking to reject social media as a suitable outlet for building connections.