With technology advancements sweeping through our society at a rapid pace, there is no wonder why society's expectations of mass media and culture have changed from “from the way we work to how we communicate to how we fight wars” (Al-Rodhan, N. 2015). Social media has been a growing trend amongst many. Since technology is now in reach of our fingertips, people are now starting to expect immediate communications. We have changed the culture of communication as we know it.
“In the traditional world, newspapers, corporations, governments, or other types of leading organizations simply had to give out information, and people would consume it by reading or looking at it” (Harper, R. 2010). Now we hold that world in the palm of our hands, because of social media and how fast news can travel we are always in the know and most likely updated before those who don’t utilize these media platforms.
There are many benefits to utilizing digital tools like communication, engagement, time saving, mobility and the need for creativity. Instead of just sending a lengthy email, you can quickly sending a Skype, text, etc. to someone in your company. This can help with faster interaction and makes the communication a bit easier.
“Workers can use different business technologies to create innovative business ideas which can be used in business growth and expansion. Many companies create technological challenges and reward employees who come up with creative ideas using technology. Employees can use internet technology to innovate ways of promoting a business online (Ramey, K. 2013).” Motivating and encouraging employers to be creative is how you develop new items and brainstorm. It is an essential part of the business environment; encouraging your employers to be creative.
In addition, another advantage is mobility; which creates less limitations. “Employees can work from anywhere at anytime, this mobility makes employees stay in control of their jobs. Technological tools like virtual meeting applications save us time, we don’t have to be in meetings physically yet information and data will be shared in real-time” (2013). Of course with all this technology being right at our fingertips there is some disadvantages to all these digital tools like causing distractions and work relationships.
With technology all around us, how could we not be distracted by some part of it? The frequent use of social media can cause a huge affect and cause productivity to decline (2013). There are ways for companies to reinforce not using these applications by blocking specific sites company wide. Limiting the amount of daily digital distracts will help maintain a quality environment and increase productivity.
Since everything has become so automated, digital tools can become an issue for work relationships. The way technology has changed communication can highly affect a company. “Interpersonal communications are important in building workplace relationships because employees will get a chance to know each other in person, sometimes they can even share non-work related information, this type of interaction is killed by communication technology tools” (2013).
In order to start make improvements to these technology and cultural limitations, we need to continue the teachings of the fundamentals of communication. The fear is that the next generations will not even know that fundamentals of communication; face-to-face and eye-to-eye. We as a society needs to utilize these communication tools but to not forget how we got there.
In Sherry Turkle's TED Talk about being Connected, but alone? brings a lot of light to where we are today. She goes on to talk about we are constantly connected with friends and family yet we are alone in the physically world doing so. "...our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication" (Turkle, S. 2012). This is one of the biggest limitations and cultural shifts of communication.
Resources
Al-Rodhan, N. (2015, March 13). The Many Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies. Retrieved February 18, 2016, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-many-ethical-implications-of-emerging-technologies/
Harper, R. (2010). The Social Media Revolution: Exploring the Impact on Journalism and News Media Organizations. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/202/the-social-media-revolution-exploring-the-impact-on-journalism-and-news-media-organizations
Ramey, K. (2013, February 25). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in the Workplace. Retrieved December 23, 2015, from http://www.useoftechnology.com/technology-workplace-2/
Turkle, S. (2012, February). Connected, but alone? Retrieved February 28, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en
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