The Role Of Electronic Communication Today Essay Example

When you think of the word community, you most likely think of a group of people who live in the same place and share similar characteristics. Electronic communication, like smartphones, email, and social networking has completely altered this definition of community and, in so, expanded what community now means to people. Communities that would otherwise be closed off from each other, are now able to be easily shared with the click of a button. These platforms that lay a foundation for more communities, allow us to help each other, and bring us together over the internet, are giving us a whole new sense of community.

The internet and the electronic communication it provides allow for people from all over the world to be connected and find community on those platforms. As Dex Torricke-Barton puts it in his praise-driven post, “How the Internet is Uniting the World”, “Hundreds of millions of people are now part of online communities.” (para. 8). It’s hard to ignore the immense platform and communities that the internet lays a foundation for. It allows for you to find people who share your interest who, without the internet, you would have never come across. Torricke-Barton claims that the internet, because of this same population and diversity, “...has become a planetary infrastructure for communications and collaboration.” (para. 10). With how much more accessible the internet becomes, more communities will form on these communication-based platforms. We become united over these platforms, not based on our locations and how close we are to each other, but based on our interests and how similar we are to each other. Torricke-Bartons puts it best when he states “The internet is uniting the world. And it’s going to change all our lives.” (para. 6). Torricke-Barton, in this same post, tells a story of a man named Abdul Halim Attar. He tells of how Attar, a single father of two, was photographed selling pens on the street while holding his sleeping daughter in a city that was new to him. Gissur Simonarson, the man who uploaded the pictures of Attar, was able to promote a campaign made for Attar over the internet, as well as locate Attar with help from people who recognized the man. People from all over the world donated over $117,000, to aid Attar and refugees like him. The internet can be a kind place, and allow for us all to help others in need, regardless of the distance between us. In the informative op-ed created by Emma Sterland, “Online Forums Are a Lifeline for Isolated Parents of Disabled Children”, Sterland tells of a similar scenario in which an online community called Netbuddy aided parents of disabled children from all over. Sterland starts by stating how many parents of disabled children suffer from extreme stress and isolation. She then goes on to explain how the community, Netbuddy, “provided a place for people to share experiences, swap practical tips and exchange information." (para. 5). Netbuddy aided these parents in their journey and as Heather Harvey, a parent of a disabled son introduced in the op-ed puts it, “Talking to other parents of disabled children, who have been in your situation, is incredibly helpful.” (para. 11). Electronic communication allows for things like this to be possible where, in a world without these platforms and communities, just wouldn’t be. If we stuck with our original idea of community, we’d be trapped looking for help in people close to us, which in many scenarios, isn’t there. The internet and electronic communication provide us mainly with a way to be closer to one another, without worrying about having to look for it in our offline communities, where it may be absent. Sometimes, the thing we look for doesn’t even have to help us, but maybe just provide us with something as simple as a good laugh. In her article “Is Social Media Disconnecting Us from the Big Picture?”, Jenna Wortham speaks of a scenario she witnessed on the social media platform Vine. Wortham goes on about a woman she followed on the platform who lived in Saudi Arabia, and how the woman used a sound bite made from a black woman who lived in America. She expresses her amazement in response to this scenario by writing on how there was a line that connected the two women on the platform, and how the internet does this a lot, claiming that “...the internet flattens space and time…” (para. 7). I, for one, share this sentiment, so I was surprised to read Wortham’s claim later in this piece, which claimed that social media “...seems to have made it easier to tune out the people we don’t agree with.” (para. 12). Reading this, I recalled a statement made by Sven Birkerts, in his fear-mongering book, “Changing the Subject: Art and the Attention in the Internet Age”. Throughout the entire passage I read, Birkerts throws heavily dated fears at his audience, mainly on how he believes the internet will strip us from reality. The main statement I want to combat is one in which Birkerts writes that the electronic grid “...foster[s] the model of disengaged engagement.” (para. 13). The claims made by both Birkerts and Wortham share the sentiment that we, as humans, will soon be stuck in electronic echo chambers, where we’re stripped from reality and are left to rely on the internet. I completely understand this worry, but at the same time, it deeply confuses me. The idea that we can someday be stripped from reality and never run into someone or something that expresses ideas that contrast our own is ridiculous. I believe that humans are naturally stubborn and carry free will, which diminishes both of these claims. We could never be stripped from reality since there’s always the option to just log off. We could never be stuck in echo chambers, since with reality, comes people who don’t always agree with you. Everyone carries their own set of convictions, and in the real world, you can’t “coach” the people around you like you can the algorithm on a social media platform. The idea that you can be on a platform for a tiny fraction of your day and not have to panic over people who differ in opinion from you in a hardcore way, especially when their opinion is one that harms others, is a peaceful thing. In moderation, being around people who share your ideas and being able to be around people who comfort you, is a good thing. Online echo chambers aren’t that big a threat, since we all have to return to real life at the end of the day. Because we have to return to reality at the end of the day, worrying about the internet completely enveloping society shouldn’t be a threat either. These types of worries, though they come from a good place, could be barring us from further improvements in technology. Online platforms and electronic communication does more good than it does harm to humans. Participating in the community, aid, and connection the internet and electronic communication provides for us positively outweighs believing in the impossible thought that we’d be trapped in these communities and never communicate in real life again.

Despite the claims that the internet and electronic communication will one day lead us to be trapped in endless echo chambers and never seeing reality again, the same platforms are proven to aid us and give us communication amongst ourselves time after time. We’re able to communicate with people we would’ve never communicated with if the internet didn’t exist. These platforms aid us heavily and to grossly dismiss these benefits just wouldn’t make sense for anyone to do. These platforms and all electronic communication provide us with an entirely new twist on what community is.