EMC: FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE?
Limitless. This is the most adequate word to define the stand of social networking sites in today’s generation. Social media is one of the things in this world that doesn’t require certain limitation in terms of age, gender and social stability. Prior to some researches and people’s perception, it serves as a ground to easily communicate with individuals that you want to get along with.
Electronic mediated/intermediated communication (EMC) is simply the use of technology in communication. This tool of communication has various impacts in oneself and even in the society. Some are good, some are bad.
EASIER, THE BETTER?
Admit it or not, intermediated communication is much easier than usual communication types. Majority of the information that we know are the ones that we have seen, read and browsed on our respective social networking accounts. Students typically use the internet as source for their various school works, businessman usually promote and sell their products online, and even television and radio programs used social media to get a vast support and sympathy from the masses. These are just few representations of social media as a legit provider of more accessible communication nowadays. Also, it somehow paves a way for building relationships among individuals. In a Philippine context, this plays a vital role among Overseas and Filipino Workers (OFW). Through the internet, they are given the chance to communicate with people they longingly want to be with. Social media is the only room for them to relieve all the exhaustion, homesick and pain they are going through. By some means, it still molds communication between people as interaction still takes place.
EASIER, THE WORSE?
Social media acts like a bestfriend to each and everyone of us as it serves as a room for sharing our thoughts and expressing our emotions. Due to some burst of emotions, other people tend to post offensive thoughts leading to cross boundaries that devalue human ethics. Intermediated communication may be a ground for various cyber crimes if users don’t know how to use it properly. Social media reaches every single part of the globe and one wrong click may be spread out to every social media user. Other than that, I personally believe that intermediated communication doesn’t promote a healthy relationship among individuals. You cannot perfectly show your love to a person by just sending him/her heart emojis or virtual GIFS. Posting rants are not enough to express wrath and disappointments. This only means that we cannot visualize and feel the real emotion behind screens and keyboards. Unlike in face-face communication wherein we can see, feel, hear and even smell an individual’s real persona through verbal and non verbal actions. Face-face communication promotes better understanding among individuals which is a fundamental key in building a well-rounded relationship.
Everyone has their freedom of expression but everyone must also know certain limitations. If we know how to respect boundaries, there’s a huge chance for us to be able to achieve appropriate and effective communicative skills either in person or in screens.
Let us all bear in our minds that everything that we post on social media reflects to our own mark. As Lisa Horn said, how do you want to be known?
