Nowadays more people are choosing to socialize online rather t | Mardon's Blog | IELTS 8.5

Nowadays more people are choosing to socialize online rather than face-to-face.

Is this a positive or negative development?

In today’s world many people prefer communicating online rather than in person. In my view, this phenomenon is more advantageous than disadvantageous.

To start, online interactions result in many benefits. Firstly, this form of communication allows us to save a great deal of time as we no longer need to go through the trouble of arranging time and venue for the meeting and travel all the way there. Instead, we can have a video call and get to enjoy virtually the same conversation online. Another important advantage of conversing via messengers is that people can stay safe from contagious viruses such as COVID-19 by choosing this mode of communication. This is because in-person meetings always involve some sort of physical contact in the form of handshakes and hugs which can leave us vulnerable to the transmission of viruses.

Some people, however, are under the impression that people lose their social skills if they are chronically exposed to online communications since not all of the communication skills are actively engaged when talking online. This means such skills as empathy will be practiced less often and will eventually disappear. As a result, the quality of many social relationships will be undermined and certain relationships may even go as far as breaking down. Nevertheless, I believe online interactions are not very different from real-life conversations, and just as many people skills are used when we have a Zoom talk with our friend as in a face-to-face conversation. Therefore, it is not logical to assume communicating online would lead to worsening social skills and poor relationships.

In conclusion, the introduction of video calls and messengers has made our lives far easier than before and the benefits we get by using them to communicate with others are far more important than some minor issues they cause.

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