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Kristen Dube
October 8, 2013
Literature Review
Research Methods – SOC 316
Are Students Social Skills Lacking Due to Modern Technology?
Every year, the use to technology gradually increases; students especially, are drowning
themselves in modern technology on their cellular and handheld mobile devices. Everywhere
you go and everywhere you look, you witness people sucked into their own worlds; talking,
researching, calling and emailing on their mobile devices. But is this taking away students faceto-face social skills? I will be focusing on how student’s socials skills are lacking due to modern
technology. Are students more apt to confront others via text messages, emails, or social media
rather than face-to-face confrontation?
It is completely normal to look around a college campus, and see that majority of the
students have a handheld device/cell phone visible. Students are constantly text messaging,
emailing, researching and even listening to music on their cell phones. And this doesn’t change
in the classroom, it is also normal to see students using their mobile devices during lectures. I
myself am guilty of sometimes communicating on my cell phone in the classroom. Cell phone
use is both a positive and a negative issue in the classroom. Students may benefit from their
mobile devices for research purposes. For example, if an unfamiliar word is spoken of in class, a
student with a smart phone or hand held device has the luxury of hoping onto Google and finding
out the definition of that word within seconds. However, there are a lot of negatives to internet
access in the classroom. A student who is constantly on their phone or handheld device during a
lecture, is more opt to be completely distracted from the material the professor is teaching.
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Students in their defense claim that they are able to multitask; this is somewhat true. Some
students are able to multitask by listening to the lecture and being on their handheld device but
for most, it is just another easy distraction. The next issue to be discussed is social skills. Are
student’s social skills lacking due to the constant distraction of modern technology? I fully
believe that student’s social skills are lacking due to smart phones, tablets and iPads. When you
own a smart phone or device, you literally have the world at your finger tips; there is nothing that
is out of reach.
Smart phones are somewhat of a “security blanket”, they can be easily used as an outlet
for someone who is facing an awkward or difficult situation face-to-face. For example, a girl has
a crush on a boy who is always trying to communicate with her face to face. When he sees her in
public, he approaches her in search for a conversation with her. However, she is too nervous to
actually have a full blown face to face conversation, so she constantly is checking her cell phone
the entire time he is talking to her in order to shield her shyness. But were social skills always
lacking this much? Another perfect example is students waiting for a class to begin. I feel as
though before modern technology, students were actually conversing with each other while
waiting for a class to begin. Now days, students have headphones in and are completely in their
own world until the class begins. Students constantly have an outlet for their shyness and
technology is doing nothing to help them with face to face conflict.
In “Voices that cannot be heard: Can shyness explain how we communicate on Facebook
versus face-to-face?” by Pavica Sheldon, two studies are conducted to measure the use to social
media and modern technology. “In the last few years, social networking sites have become a
popular and freeway for people of all ages to socialize with each other and entertain when
nothing else is going on” (Sheldon). “Because of the missing nonverbal cues in most forms of
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the computer-mediated communication, some studies have suggested that shyness might be
associated with increased internet use” (Sheldon). In other words, social media is basically
causing shyness to occur when a student who is used to communication via social media is
communicating face-to-face with another person. “Previous studies have found that online
communication benefits shy individuals since they can communicate with others through the
internet.” (Curtis, pp. 121-142) Social networks and cell phones help shield a person who is shy
to the real world. This is causing students social skills to lack because they are more apt to
discuss situations through Facebook, email and text messaging verses meeting up and conversing
face-to-face.
In “Face-to-face or Facebook: Can social connectedness be derived online?” by Rachel
Grieve, the issue discussed is social connections. “The social connectedness construct has
evolved out of the study of belongingness” (Grieve, 2013). People resort to social media such as
Facebook or Myspace to receive an inner feeling of belonging to a society or community. This
research suggested that “Facebook may act as a distinctive medium in which to develop and
maintain relationships. It may follow that the use of Facebook can possibly provide an
alternative social outlet associated with a range of positive psychological outcomes, particularly
for those who are unable to connect face-to-face. This article gives somewhat positive feedback;
backing up the students and people who use social media over face-to-face communication as a
security blanket. People who are shy can comfortably communicate with others via the internet
in order to reach the desired feeling of belonging.
In “Users of the world, Unite! The Challenges and opportunities of Social Media”,
Andreas Kaplan discusses social media and the challenges that come with it. Social media is all
about sharing and interacting with other people. But “Obviously, mobile social media does not
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come without a price. Some would argue that while it enables the detailed following of friends
half-way across the world, it can foster a society where we don’t know the names of our own
next-door neighbors.” (Kaplan) People, including students, become so wrapped up with their
own personal lives and connections via the internet, that it may cause you to not even recognize
your personal surroundings. Students get so caught up in texting and emailing, that they don’t
even realize that physical friendships face-to-face are passing them by every single day. What
would the classroom be like if the students did not have the accessibility of their cell phone?
Would students communicate with each other? The answer is yes. If students did not have 100%
of their focus on their cell phones before and during class. They would seize the opportunities to
have face-to-face conversations with their peers. Also, students who do not interact with their
cell phones and mobile devices during class lectures, are more opt to participate in class
discussions. Students are drowning in their own social lives because of social media and it’s
causing their social skills to suffer.
However, not all of social media and modern technology is negative. I reviewed an article
that was written in 2008. It definitely showed how much times have changed, but it also showed
what society was like before the huge wave of smart phones arose. In “Social interactions across
media” by Nancy K. Baym, Yan Bing Zhang and Mei-Chen Lin discuss how social interactions
via the internet had not become a major issue like it is today. “This article argues that
understanding the role of the internet in social life requires that we differentiate between the
wide variety of online activities, recognize that individual relationships can be maintained
through multiple media acknowledge that internet use is shaped by user choices, and make direct
comparisons between internet social contacts and other means of pursuing social contact.”
(Baym, Zhang, & Lin, 2008). Within the article, the studies surveyed were seeking to establish if
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more people communicate face-to-face or via the internet. The findings of these two studies
really show how drastically times have changed from 2008 to 2013. “This social shaping of
technology perspective emphasizes users’ active roles in making choices about how to engage
technologies depending on their circumstances, personality traits, and needs. How people choose
to use the internet socially is influenced by their relationships, including their geographical
distance and type, and individuals’ pre-existing sociability. They proposed that online social
interaction fills a different niche from telephone interactions in long distance communication.”
(Baym, Zhang, & Lin, 2008) Although the users were apt to using the internet socially within
their daily lives, face-to-face communication clearly remained their dominate mode of
interaction. In 2008, social websites such as Myspace were huge among teens and college
students. However, smart phones and being able to access the internet on the go had not yet
arisen. Students at this time were racing home to check their computers after school verses now
days where students have the internet at their fingertips. Results also indicated that “Online
interactions were conducted less frequently in public places than telephone calls and face-to-face
interaction.” (Baym, Zhang, & Lin, 2008)This does nothing but show how much social
interactions via smart phones has progressed over the years.
In conclusion, these four articles have proven that modern technology such as social
media and smart phones/devices can have positive and negative outcomes. Modern technology
has somewhat ruined face-to-face social skills for the generations engulfed in smart phones and
internet access. Students who own smart phones and devices are faced with issues such as
lacking social skills and falling behind in their educational studies. If students did not have
internet access at their fingertips, they would be able to still maintain full conversations face-toface with other individuals instead of using their devices as a security blanket. Modern
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technology can be viewed as a security blanket in multiple different ways that affect students and
their interactions with others. A positive aspect of smart phones and devises consists of being
able to research any question a student has within seconds via the internet. With all of these pros
and cons to modern technology, it is clear that students social skills somewhat lack with face-toface confrontations.
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Bibliography
Baym, N. K., Zhang, Y. B., & Lin, M.-C. (2008). Social Interactions Across Media: Interpersonal
Communication on the Internet, Telephone and Face-to-Face. Sage.
Curtis, P. (n.d.). Mudding: Social phenomena in text-based virtual relities. Culture of the internet, 121142.
Grieve, R. (2013). Can Social Connectedness Be Derived Online. Elsevier.
Kaplan, A. M. (n.d.). The challenges and opportunities of social media. Science Direct.