Talking Through Text: The impact of Cell Phones on Communication and the Loss of Meaningful Interpersonal Contact

As technology continues its rapid involvement the world faces ever changing ways to communicate with their peers that do not involve direct communication.  The Internet marked the start of a rapid transition from personal communication (person to person) towards more informal methods like instant messaging and email.  (Bennett & Manheim, 2006)  Cell phones only further aided this transition with the advent of texting.  Today, anyone with a modern phone can access the Internet to check their Facebook, check email, take photos, send text messages and in rare exceptions actually make a phone call.  The cell phone is the culmination of several communication modes that has far reaching impacts across the globe.  The cellular phone has brought positive change to third world countries that can use the cellular phone to bolster their faulting economies.  The cell phone of today allows immediate access to information anywhere there is a cell tower speeding up the exchange of information and ideas.  The untold story is the affect cell phones are having the newer generations who have grown up meeting and talking with their friends through cell phones.  While seen as a way of furthering education in the class room the many fear the phone is destroying the art of person to person conversation which could have far reaching impacts on the way future generations live their lives.   

Bennett, L., & Manheim, J. B. (2006, November). The One-Step Flow of Communication. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , pp. 213-232.