The evolution of technology in the global community throughout the past fifty years has brought about the most exponential advancement in communication people have seen in centuries. The invention of cellular telephones and the global connection forged by the creation of the Internet have collaborated to provide the world with nearly unlimited possibilities for communicating with incomparable efficiency. According to the organizationInternet World Statistics (Usage and Population Stats), over twenty-five percent of the World’s population is communicating over the Internet daily. This percentage is five times larger than the previous five percent discovered in December of 2000. Coupled with this statistic, it is forecasted that the World’s mobile telecommunication population is soon to involve over fifty percent of the population (ITU). It is apparent that technology has blossomed in the past few decades, and has enhanced the way we as a global community communicate.
The International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) prediction of fifty percent population cell phone use was a fairly conservative outlook in 2006. The ITU’s most recent data shows that nearly sixty-five percent of the global community actually uses cell phones as a vehicle to enhance their communication abilities. They also discovered that the demographics of cell phones vastly outnumber those of fixed landlines in every country in the World. In densely populated countries, such as the United States, the ratio of cell phones to fixed landlines is roughly 2:1. However, this ratio is far more drastic in remote countries where the population density is far less. For example, in Iraq the ratio is roughly 16:1, while in Afghanistan it is nearly 78:1.
The ability to span thousands of miles with communication is not the basis of this discussion, it is the ability to do so wirelessly and with mobility that makes this so revolutionary. In 1969, the first cell phone was made available to the public. This institution has quickly developed in the most widely used communication medium used today. It allows us to rapidly share information through text, picture, and voice messages almost at an instantaneous rate. Not to mention, the ability to have a direct and clear conversation at any location or time. People no longer have to be sitting in their living rooms to receive a phone call from their distant relative who lives hundreds of miles away. This outlet to the World travels with us, and constantly connects us to society, and exponentially increases the amount of communication billions of people partake in. “As technology advances and different forms of wireless communication unify into a single piece of equipment, the blending of public work and personal privacy also occurs. The technology of new cell phones seemingly increases personal freedom and mobility. (Javadi)”
With the influx of wireless communication, our society has reached new levels of potential that before couldn’t be comprehended. Each generation seems to have breakthroughs in technology that keep the world moving forward in intellectual progression. Our generation’s creation of the cell phone was, in fact, revolutionary. However, when communication seemed to be at the highest potential it could possibly reach, the introduction of the Internet amplified the previously established mobile technology present in our lives and added more intensive personable interaction through the World Wide Web. Hundreds of millions of people are socially interacting with friends, family, employees, business partners, and institutions instantly and with minimal amounts of effort. The Internet can provide its users with countless opportunities to communicate impersonally or directly.
E-mail is perhaps the most important means of communication manufactured through the institution and creation of the Internet. Electronic mail has basically taken the place of previous form of mail delivery, post. E-mail purposes countless privileges as apposed to manual post delivery. Messages can be sent in a matter of seconds rather than days, messages can be attached to unlimited contacts rather that only one, and messages can be sent free of any charge as apposed to postage fees. E-mailing from the comfort of your own home, office, or classroom has rendered postage almost obsolete in our society today.
Social networking websites have seemed to be the modern “powder-keg” of social communication today. Everyday we hear about some high profile celebrity posting a controversial, hilarious, or completely dim-witted twitter/facebook/myspace update that catches the public’s attention. This means of communicating branches even more profoundly into the average person’s life. As a college student people use these socially connected sites constantly to share information about their lives or seek information about others. These sites are also home to the previously popular instant messaging systems that we experienced in the 1990’s. Over seventy-one million people are connected through Facebook in the United States (Corbett). This statistic alone portrays the saturation these socially networking sites present in our society. People need to communicate. It is a basic need, and this is a very basic medium to achieve it.
Technology involving the Internet has progressed from impersonal messages merely incorporating text to the ability to maintain video and voice direct communication. The introduction of hardware such as web cams and software programs such as iChat, Skype, and MSN Messenger have provided people with opportunities to have direct vocal connection to others with video display as well. People can contact and see family members separated by great distances, while companies in the global economy can hold videoconferences with CEO’s who reside in different countries. To think of technology that our global society has and how well we can communicate wirelessly is absolutely mind-blowing.
Communication is one of the most basic and essential aspects we have in our lives. It is imperative that the progression and improvement of our communication techniques continues to improve and break down barriers. The past few decades have perhaps been the most influential years in our World’s recent history in regards to global unification and cohesion. Communicating will only continue to become more and more efficient as modern technology improves and as time moves along. It is very clear that the World is driven by communication, deriving from it the foundation for quite literally everything our global society strives for. And being as technology is a huge collective World process, these two components of our lives will continue to grow simultaneously and strengthen one another. However, technology cannot account for the importance of face-to-face direct communication.
No matter how easy and affective our means of communication become, we will never disregard the importance of such direct communicating techniques such as public speaking, counseling, or teaching. Therefore it is essential to maintain a highly intensified academic curriculum involving the instruction and improvement of our direct interaction with other people. No matter which profession or situation presents it self in the workplace, academic, or social scenario people will always revert back to the basics of communication; personal interaction.
Bibliography
Corbett, Peter. “Facebook Demographics.” Social Network Analysis. July 6, 2009. Researched December 8, 2009.
http://www.istrategylabs.com/2009/07/2009-facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-513-growth-in-55-year-old-users-college-high-school-drop-20/
“Half the World will use a Cell Phone by 2009.” Mobiledia. Posted January 20, 2006. Researched December 5, 2009.
http://www.mobiledia.com/news/43104.html
“ITU Statistical Database.” International Telecommunication Union. ITU 2009. Researched December 5, 2009.
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/Indicators/Indicators.aspx
Javadi, Kia. “Cell Phones.” The Impact of Wireless Technology on Society…
Developed 2005. Researched December 8, 2009.
http://www.askkia.com/articles/societal-impact-of-wireless-technology-on-society.html
“The Internet is the Place.” Social Networking, “The Third Place, The Evolution of Communication.” Posted November 29, 2007. Researched December 5, 2009. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
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