Do You Prefer High Tech, Low Tech, or No Tech? Blog # 12: One more to Discuss on July 18th, so you will not have HOMEWORK NEXT WEEK!!!! Yay!

Researchers looking at the impact of Facebook on relationships among college students found that the use of Facebook increased jealousy between friends and those in a relationship.  They identified four themes that contributed to increased jealousy.  They are as follows:

- Accessibility of information: Increased info about the interactions of significant others lead to increased monitoring and jealousy for 19.1% of participants

- Relationship jealousy: 16.2% of respondents were explicitly linked to Facebook use contributing to jealousy

- Facebook as an addiction: 10.3% of participants had major difficulty limiting the amount of time he or she looked at his or her partner’s Facebook profile.

- Lack of context: 7.4% of respondents referenced how Facebook can be ambiguous and that, without context, jealousy can be spurred over misunderstandings.

Additionally,  university students who faced a sudden Internet and media blackout began to display withdrawal symptoms, during a study conducted by the University of Maryland.  One student said she was "itching like a crackhead" after going cold-turkey for 24 hours, and another student reported feeling "dead" without media, while another student described the whole experience as "sickening."
The students recognized that there are joys in life besides browsing the web and curating their social networks, according to the survey, but all nevertheless reported feeling distress, sadness, boredom or paranoia. "Media is my drug; without it I was lost," said a student. "I am an addict. How could I survive 24 hours without it?" One wrote: "Emptiness overwhelmed me." Another said he "felt incomplete."

How do you think the use of technology has impacted interpersonal communication in the past 5-10 years?  Whether it be cell phones, texting, email, instant messaging, skype, social media, etc., has technology helped or hindered our interpersonal communication with others?  Please support your view with an example.