Interpersonal Relationships...

Interpersonal relationships to me are being ruined by some new media. From the personal conversation that people used to have with each other is being overtaken by such things as text messages and internet chatting. I think the lately ever since text messaging came out it has been the worst. I don't think many use the phone or in person communication as much anymore at all. I can see the use in the feature on your phones but now people don't talk on the phone or in person as much. I guess in some ways if you have something to get across to another person really quick and straight to the point that text messaging would be useful. Also if someone was deaf or blind that text messages would be the way to communicate. I think personally that text messaging is a great invention I mean I do like person to person communication but text messaging takes the 4 hour long conversations out of the mix when you just want to get something across. According to Bujega, inter personal relationships are being ruined by new media technology. New media technology according to Bujega's piece in the reading comes from not being able to see the emotion and character of a person when they are saying something or trying to express something to the person inside the conversation. Bugeja argued that social networking sites are almost like death to interpersonal communication. He also stated that people are so engulfed in new media and web2.0 that they begin to confuse it with real life. For Bujega, face to face interaction in place-based community is the source of individual moral development and social well-being. 
The other thing is chatting online either in chat rooms or in instant messages. I am not gonna lie I use facebook chat a lot and agree that it is pretty useful ever since they added it to there site but I find now that I'm sitting at the computer on facebook twice as long as I should be. I think that this is useful to people with disabilities. I think that Americans or even people around the world now since facebook has expanded are taking too much time to communicate through new media rather than face to face or even letters anymore. I think that new media is making it almost easier for people to communicate but it does take away from personal communication between people. It might be easier with people who have social skills to communicate and get their feelings and emotions out from new media such as chat rooms,text messaging, blogging or even instant messanger, but the emotion sometimes is almost unrecognizable. Sure you can put little emoticon's and stuff but sometimes your feelings and emotions can be misread through the new media. I mean can honestly anyone say that they can tell someone's emotion at the time through a screen? Maybe its just me but I honestly can't and thats when personal communication can be better than just something you read from a screen.