Effects of Text Messaging Among Teens
Effects of Text Messaging Among Teenagers
Introduction
How often do/did you use your cellphone/smartphone as a teen? When I was a teen, I received my first cellphone at the age of 15. I thought personally this was the best invention ever created as a young teen and with that, I soon found out that I just entered a whole new social world with these new technology devices. I entered a generation that would be called the Tech-Generation filled with cellphones/smartphones and social media. I quickly discovered the texting function with my cellphone and started to send texts daily to my friends. My cellphone became a necessity for me; if I did not have my cellphone, I would freak out. In addition, I started to replace phone calls and in-person socialization with texting. Texting made it possible to communicate to my friends and family whenever possible. It almost seemed impossible to not get a hold of them. I was granted with a whole new method of communication. I choose to text because a simple text would do the trick and I could keep doing the activities I was doing while sending the message. Along with the convenience of texting, I was also more comfortable speaking my mind through these messages. Now that I look back, I wonder if texting had an effect on the way I socialized as a teen. Did I gain or lose in-person social skills? This is a question I ask myself now as a young adult in college where interpersonal communication is essential throughout my daily activities. I feel that teens are becoming too comfortable with texting and not practicing in-person social skills. With this being said, the effects of text messaging is obviously significant for these teenagers, who are the main users of texting and considered the tech gurus of this era. Is it eliminating face-to-face interactions? Does it promote face-to-face interactions? Is text messaging eliminating in-person social skills for these teens? These are some questions that I am concerned about and will
Introduction
How often do/did you use your cellphone/smartphone as a teen? When I was a teen, I received my first cellphone at the age of 15. I thought personally this was the best invention ever created as a young teen and with that, I soon found out that I just entered a whole new social world with these new technology devices. I entered a generation that would be called the Tech-Generation filled with cellphones/smartphones and social media. I quickly discovered the texting function with my cellphone and started to send texts daily to my friends. My cellphone became a necessity for me; if I did not have my cellphone, I would freak out. In addition, I started to replace phone calls and in-person socialization with texting. Texting made it possible to communicate to my friends and family whenever possible. It almost seemed impossible to not get a hold of them. I was granted with a whole new method of communication. I choose to text because a simple text would do the trick and I could keep doing the activities I was doing while sending the message. Along with the convenience of texting, I was also more comfortable speaking my mind through these messages. Now that I look back, I wonder if texting had an effect on the way I socialized as a teen. Did I gain or lose in-person social skills? This is a question I ask myself now as a young adult in college where interpersonal communication is essential throughout my daily activities. I feel that teens are becoming too comfortable with texting and not practicing in-person social skills. With this being said, the effects of text messaging is obviously significant for these teenagers, who are the main users of texting and considered the tech gurus of this era. Is it eliminating face-to-face interactions? Does it promote face-to-face interactions? Is text messaging eliminating in-person social skills for these teens? These are some questions that I am concerned about and will
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