Pros and cons of online communication. Will it replace real contacts?

Progress is moving forward by leaps and bounds. Until recently, computers were primarily used for work or gaming. And we had no problems with communication. We spent half our lives in queues and traveling. There is only one minus - we called friends from other cities and countries once every six months. And only for five minutes, otherwise we would then receive a bill with six-figure sums.

Today, thanks to the development of technology, it has become possible to make purchases in online stores, solve a number of administrative issues and, of course, actively communicate on the Internet. And you don’t need to go outside, visit a neighbor or work colleague to exchange news. You can do this at home, sitting on your favorite chair or sofa. Convenient, isn't it?

But is everything really as good as it seems to us at first glance? If you look closely at the current situation, you might be horrified! Communication on the Internet replaces real relationships for us. Statuses “engaged”, “have a boyfriend”, “everything is complicated”, hearts under photos. But what is really going on in the soul of the person who sent us the emoticon, we may never know.

Features of Internet communication

Online communication is a special type of communication in which people interact through gadgets and the Internet. It is worth defining what exactly is meant by communication via the Internet: email, social networks, Skype and video chats, chat rooms, online games, comments under videos or articles, forums - in general, almost everything that the Internet provides.

Features of Internet communication include:

• Lack of non-verbal sources of information (wherever communication is not carried out through a camera).
• Time delay (the answer can be given much later than the message received).
• Elimination of any barriers (local, time, language).
• A familiar and comfortable place for communication, which gives a person confidence and calmness.
• High risk of misinformation and misconceptions, manipulation, deception (Read about online safety here).
• The ability to talk on any topic and say everything about yourself. It’s strange, but true: it’s easier for people to tell something particularly shameful and tormenting their soul (and thereby free themselves) to a stranger online than to a close friend.
• The opportunity to be yourself or, on the contrary, to be in some other role, image.
• Practicing writing if you consciously monitor your speech. Internet communication can help improve literacy and improve the presentation of thoughts. And, for example, keeping a diary is a popular method of psychotherapy.
• Deterioration of oral speech. It’s easier to express your thoughts on paper (keyboard, virtual sheet). And if you don’t pay attention to your writing, then your speech will gradually include abbreviations and slangs.

Interesting fact: on the Internet, people tend to exaggerate reality, embellish their lives and their image, and show their best side. When communicating on the Internet, we learn only 3% of information about a person.

Communication on Skype is close to real interaction, but still inferior to it. You can plan the time of connection, prepare for it and, if desired, embody some image.

Using email

E-mail allows you to communicate with recipients from different cities and countries. Email correspondence has certain rules, cultural and business norms.

E-mail etiquette includes:

• principles of communication between recipients;
• competent writing of letters;
• their correct design.

In the letter you must fill out all fields and indicate the subject (title, heading). It is recommended to fill in the recipient's mailing address last. The text of the letter itself can be saved in a separate file, because the message does not always reach the addressee.

The text must contain a greeting, addressing the recipient by name and patronymic (if such data is available). No errors, clear content, structured information, easy-to-read font—these are the basic requirements for an email. The tone of the message cannot contain insults or curses.

The principles of communication by e-mail are identical to the rules of the network. You need to correctly construct phrases and sentences, check grammar and spelling. You should not write words in capital letters or overuse abbreviations. It is advisable to use your signature at the very end of the email.

Emails should be answered with mutual respect for the senders. Working with mail depends on the discipline of the recipient. It is necessary to regularly review your mail and send responses in a timely manner. A response sent on time characterizes the recipient on the positive side.

Advantages of Internet communication

The very fact of communicating with different people, eliminating any barriers is a plus, especially when it comes to work. It is virtual communication that allows many people to work without leaving home. And for those who are energetically drained by real contacts (usually introverted people) this is a real godsend.

Everything related to work and connected to the Internet is a plus. Apart from the remaining nuance in the form of a lack of non-verbal elements of communication. This can sometimes provoke misunderstandings or misconceptions about a person. But this can be solved. Let’s stop there and talk about leisure time on the Internet.

Among the advantages are the following:

• the opportunity for people suffering from shyness, complexes or fears to make acquaintances, find friends and life partners;
• voluntary interaction;
• the ability to control the semantic, content, grammatical and other aspects of information;
• the ability to immediately find additional material and clarifying facts;
• the ability to interrupt communication and blacklist a person (a plus, but controversial);
• stimulating one’s own motivation, increasing self-esteem and giving self-confidence (for example, keeping a diary and communicating with “brothers in mind” when losing weight);
• development of fine motor skills.

Psychology

Nonverbal communication - what is it in psychology
Experts distinguish virtual communication as a separate type of social interaction. This is explained by the fact that in the process people use specific communication methods.

When communicating online, a person relies on his past experience, which tells him how to act. He does not see the interlocutor’s reaction and cannot guess whether everything is going well.

When talking on the Internet, a man and a woman are in an equal position

The same rules apply in the virtual space as in the real world. Each interlocutor is individual, which means that you need to have flexible thinking.

Communication with a girl

The main way to use the Internet is to find a life partner. You can meet a woman online not only on dating sites. Social networks and thematic chats are suitable.

Important! Outside of special services, a girl may not be in the mood for dating.

It is enough for a man to adhere to several rules of behavior. The first is initiative; he should be the first to start a conversation. Second, humor helps keep the conversation going. Third, don’t be intrusive. An abundance of messages, emoticons, and compliments will tire you and cause bad emotions.

With this approach, it will be easy for a guy to find a lady to date. If she begins to show initiative in communication and concern, then this is a good sign. She is interested, so you need to continue to stick to the short rules.

Disadvantages of Internet communication

Communicating on the Internet for entertainment seems to me to be a flawed form of communication. Yes, sometimes this is the only opportunity (kilometers separate), but in other cases I am for real contacts. And that's why:

• In real communication, we see all the interlocutor’s reactions according to the “here and now” principle: tone and speed of speech, gestures, facial expressions, and so on. This reduces the risks of misinterpretation of information or deception.
• Real communication is live. It does not allow you to delete the first thought. On the Internet, a person clearly filters what he writes.
• On the Internet we receive and see what they want to show us. While in life one can discern much more, the secrets of the subconscious. You can store gigabytes of correspondence and essentially learn nothing about a person (which is a waste of time and effort), or you can get a complete picture of a person in a half-hour meeting.
• No matter how much you decorate online communication with emoticons, it remains dry and emotionless. This, as I already said, is good for business relationships (although also not 100%), but bad for informal relationships.
• As a rule, speech on the Internet undergoes changes: abbreviations, errors, slang. Gradually this is assimilated and moves into real life (one virtual “SPS”, which is also pronounced by some people in life, for what it’s worth). The quality of speech is an important element of personality. The Internet does not develop communication and oratorical abilities.
• Illusory perception, the imaginary similarity of interests and views on the world, as a result - disappointment and a feeling of lost time. This is especially true for online dating. What do we see when it comes to printed communication? Photos, pictures, emoticons, signs and symbols - information that they want to tell us.
• Interaction via the Internet leaves only communication itself as an activity, although in life it is more often an element of other activities (work, study, games), and actions and actions are valued more than words.
• Accidentally sending a letter to the wrong recipient, screenshots, recordings and other “compromising evidence”.
• As long as virtual communication remains virtual, you can create and maintain any image of yourself. This is what makes some people addicted to the Internet. Escaping reality into a fictional world is an inadequate behavior strategy, not a solution to problems. People go to all sorts of tricks, they even came up with virtual sex. How can this process be virtual? Yes, there is no chance of getting pregnant or getting sick, but what is the real problem? Fear of intimacy, self-doubt, complexes, failure in life - these are the true problems.
• Communication in virtual space changes a person’s consciousness, speech and ways of interacting with the world. Excessively “greenhouse” conditions are harmful to the individual in the same way as chronic stress. If a person creates his own ideal and comfortable world on the Internet, then gradually he completely learns to respond adequately to external stimuli (and in the real world there are always enough of them). The more frequent the irritation, the higher the desire to completely get bogged down in virtual communication.

Let's not forget about the possibility of anonymous communication. Unfortunately, this often results in a feeling of impunity and permissiveness. Although sometimes it is easier to speak out anonymously and feel more confident, you can exaggerate your capabilities.

By the way, the influence of anonymity and its use depends on the individual personal characteristics of a person. For example, teenagers with an age-related unstable psyche and individual psychological problems (uncertainty, fears) are susceptible to the development of permissiveness and promiscuity on the Internet, which later turns into real life.

What social networks are there in Russia?

In Russia, the popularity of online communication services does not lag behind global indicators. Only they have their favorites - Russian VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. It is imperative for anyone who promotes their products or brand through SMM to know their leaders in this industry.

The rating of all social networks in Russia is estimated as part of the traffic that is created by this service on the Runet. The assessment is based on the results of 2021 studies of the largest Russian statistical data collection services on the Internet: Yandex.Metrica, SpyLog/Openstat, LiveInternet, Hotlog, [email protected].

Rating of social services in Russia:

• VKontakte (from 42% (January) to 65% (April) of all traffic).
• Facebook (16.5%).
• Classmates (10-13%).
• Twitter (3%).
• YouTube (4%).
• LiveInternet (0.7%).
• LiveJournal (0.5%).
• Blogger (0.3%).
• My [email protected] (0.2%).
• Google+ (0.14%).
• @diaries (0.06%).
• BabyBlog (0.02%).
• Habrahabr (0.01%).

These services lead in activity among Russians. Let's briefly look at two main national developments.

In contact with

Russian network created in 2006. Owned by Mail.Ru Group. Supports over 90 languages, over 460 million registered users. Most popular among Russian-speaking users - the leader of all social networks in Russia in terms of use. Possibilities:

• Creating your own page.
• Correspondence with other project participants.
• Sending pictures, audio and video recordings.
• Online cooperative games.

This resource is most often chosen for online stores and sales. This is facilitated by a wide range of opportunities and a large Russian-speaking audience.

Classmates

Another successful development by Mail.Ru Group. It ranks third in popularity in Russia with more than 330 million participants. The project is available in 14 languages ​​and has been operating since 2006. Main features:

• Your own page for publishing information.
• Communication by messages or video calls.
• Search for people using different parameters.
• Payment for goods, money transfers.
• Additional paid options (invisibility, blacklist...).

The Odnoklassniki project works in both full and mobile versions, which is convenient and saves network traffic and time for loading the page.

Internet communication as a way of self-expression

Of course, the entire Internet is a field for self-expression. This is what bloggers and video bloggers, magazine editors, and authors of pages and groups on social networks use. All of these are forms of online communication. The opportunity to express yourself is wonderful in itself. The question is how exactly a person decides to express himself, what he wants to convey to people and what he takes from himself. The main thing is that “loneliness on the Internet” does not arise: when there are many viewers, and there are admirers, and virtual friends, and there are enough comments, but there is no happiness in life, and there is no one to turn to for help.

Afterword

To summarize, I would like to say that I am for a combination of real and virtual communication. Technological progress must be used, but done wisely. For example, you can discuss something with a friend in the evening and agree that when you meet in person, everything will finally become clear.

As is often the case, the problem of Internet communication has two sides. You can’t evaluate it based on “good/bad” criteria. It is not the fact of virtual communication itself that is important, but the essence of this communication and the parties involved. You can communicate with interesting people and realize yourself, or you can simply “kill time”, run away from yourself, creating the illusion of life and communication.

Therefore, it is impossible to judge risks without knowing the specific context. In the article, I conditionally divided the facts about Internet communication into pros and cons, but, as you probably noticed, each of them has two extremes: the advantage and disadvantage of communication within the World Wide Web.

Will virtual communication replace real communication? Maybe. Is it good? No. Man is a social being, communication is an independent activity and an integral element of many types of activities. Without real, emotionally charged communication, we cannot develop and become a person, a person, an individual.

Virtual communication is, to a certain extent, deprivation. On the Internet, we communicate not with people, but with their images (compiled by them or us), a repeatedly processed surrogate of personality. Real communication is more complex, there are higher risks of offense and conflict, there is not always a chance for error and the opportunity to be imperfect, yourself, but it is much more interesting and useful.

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