Has the Digital Revolution Improved Communication in Today's Society - Essay Example

? Has the digital revolution improved communication in today's society? Introduction The entire world economy is going through a digital revolution, Communication has become easy and the geographical distance has been overcome with this revolution. On a click of a mouse one gets to know every bit of information s/he wants. The digital revolution has affected the society and its machineries like the schools, business places, method of service production and many more by enhancing the working of it. It has proved to be both a boon and a curse for the society. Impact on the Society The digital revolution has transformed the whole world economy into a global village where man can communicate with each other without being restrained by the geographical boundaries. With the introduction of social networking sites like Orkut, facebook and Twitter a person can interact and communicate with each other anytime and from anywhere s/he wants. It enables one to know about the other’s culture and thereby reducing the gap which arises from the racial prejudices among different clans of the world. The blogs and bulletin boards on the internet make people share their ideas and thoughts and thereby also enable one to make the regional and territorial problems global. Social causes can be also met with the help of these social networking sites like support for the earthquake victims and the networking of the political debate among the people on the internet. Instances like the challenging of the political dictatorship in Iran by public awareness in the West and also demand of a democracy in China has also been observed. (Leadbeater, 2008; Wintour, 2009) Impact on the Education The Education sector stands no exception to the digital revolution that the world is currently undergoing. The intuitions have started using the digital mode of imparting education by the use of video conferencing and the use of projector in the class. There are instances where education is being provided online like the sites “ebay”. And many are of the opinion that soon there will be a school of everything which will enable pupil to have the scope of learning outside their syllabus. (Leadbeater, 2008) The online education system has many advantages as in the online courses which are being offered allows flexibility in the timing and the distance and there is no option of missing the lecture. Inspite of having all these advantages one cannot deny the fact that in a distance learning course the students need to be self motivated and as the learning style is totally auditory one does not receive as much inputs as he wants. (Howlett, 2011; Tech addiction ‘harms learning’, 2009) Impact on the Health As reported by Marc Prensky video games playing can reduce health issues like obesity, depression, diabetes and smoking and also social problems like shyness. The video game “Games for Health” which is a yearly conference does attract people. There are online yoga classes which help people keeping themselves fit without going to the center thus saving time on their part. As pointed out by some eminent psychologist that constant exposure of the human brain to the computer makes one addicted to it as the chemical in the brain starts working more actively. Divorces and unemployment has been reported to arise from this internet addiction. For an internet addict life become all the more on the virtual front as they become “social recluses” which makes them avoid going outside and avoid interacting to people face to face. (Oshima and Hogue, 1999) The increasing rate of obesity, depression, diabetes, smoking and social problems are the result of becoming too addictive to the computer (Prensky, n.d; Smith, 2008; Internet Addiction- A New Disorder, n.d) Impact on the business The sector which has benefitted mostly from the digital revolution is the business sector. Now both the product and services can be provided online through the internet with a click of the mouse without wasting the time of the buyer and the seller. The transaction has become easier and today consumers are more aware and knowledgeable about the market. Before buying anything the internet facilitates to research about the product. One of the car makers of America has found that 80 percent of the buyers who have logged in first have decided on the price they are prepared to pay for the cars. The internet provides one with all the information about the product that he/ she is willing to pay thereby not requiring the assistance of the salesperson. But this has to be noted as well that the advancing technology in the sphere demands people to be more technically adept. And this has to be noted that the process of accessing the site and getting information is not difficult and not time consuming which sometimes is. (Markille, 2008) Channels of communication also enable one to have chat with his colleague during the meeting without disturbing the others. The disadvantages of the virtual meetings are that there are less chances of interpreting the body language and the facial expression of the person. The duration of the virtual presentation can also be a factor as a long virtual presentation can result in the lack of involvement from the on line listener which can cause attention gaps which could had been avoided had it been in the real world where there are scope of question and answers. (Kahai, 2009; Wilson, 2010) Conclusion From the preceding discussions it is evident that the digital revolution that the whole world is undergoing currently has proved to be beneficial and as well as harmful at times. The fact cannot be denied that the business houses are reaping benefits from the use of the internet by expanding its customer bases and thereby spreading awareness about its products. But the harmful effect from the usage of the digital equipments cannot be denied even, like the psychological stresses and reduction in the attention span and the development of some chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and diseases like that. References: 1. Wintour. P., (2009) Facebook and Twitter “infanitizing” the human mind, The Guardian. 2. Leadbeater, C, (2008), Online revolution, The Observer. 3. Howlett, B, (2011) The Advantages and the disadvantages of online education, University of Phoenix. 4. Tech Addiction ‘harms laerning’, (2009), BBC News available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8256490.stm (accessed on May 9,2011) 5. Oshima A and A. Hogue,(1999), Writing Academic English, Longman. 6. Smith, D,(2008), The Observer. 7. Markille, P, (2008), The Confident consumers, The Economists. 8. Kahai, S., (2009), Face to face over virtual meetings, Kolabora Magazine 9. Prensky, M, (n.d), Don’t bother me, Mom I am learning. 10. Wilson, J(2010), Communicating in a virtual space, Open Channel magazine. 11. Internet Addiction- A New Disorder?(n.d). Read More