1 of 7 9/1/2016 3:55 PM / Leadership $684.99 $1,169.99 APR 30, 2012 @ 08:52 AM 374,892 VIEWS The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication? Susan Tardanico, CONTRIBUTOR I write about authenticity, leadership & communication. FULL BIO Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. On a crisp Friday afternoon last
2 of 7 9/1/2016 3:55 PM October, Sharon Seline exchanged text messages with her daughter who was in college. They chatted back and forth, mom asking how things were going and daughter answering with positive statements followed by emoticons showing smiles, b-i-g smiles and hearts. Happiness. Later that night, her daughter attempted suicide. In the days that followed, it came to light that she d been holed up in her dorm room, crying and showing signs of depression a completely different reality from the one that she conveyed in texts, Facebook posts and tweets. As human beings, our only real method of connection is through authentic communication. Studies show that only 7% of communication is based on the written or verbal word. A whopping 93% is based on nonverbal body language. Indeed, it s only when we can hear a tone of voice or look into someone s eyes that we re able to know when I m fine doesn t mean they re fine at all or when I m in doesn t mean they re bought in at all. This is where social media gets dicey.
3 of 7 9/1/2016 3:55 PM Awash in technology, anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, the Facebook post or the tweet, projecting any image they want and creating an illusion of their choosing. They can be whoever they want to be. And without the ability to receive nonverbal cues, their audiences are none the wiser. This presents an unprecedented paradox. With all the powerful social technologies at our fingertips, we are more connected and potentially more disconnected than ever before. Every relevant metric shows that we are interacting at breakneck speed and frequency through social media. But are we really communicating? With 93% of our communication context stripped away, we are now attempting to forge relationships and make decisions based on phrases. Abbreviations. Snippets. Emoticons. Which may or may not be accurate representations of the truth. Recommended by Forbes A New Set of Communication Barriers
4 of 7 9/1/2016 3:55 PM Social technologies have broken the barriers of space and time, enabling us to interact 24/7 with more people than ever before. But like any revolutionary concept, it has spawned a set of new barriers and threats. Is the focus now on communication quantity versus quality? Superficiality versus authenticity? In an ironic twist, social media has the potential to make us less social; a surrogate for the real thing. For it to be a truly effective communication vehicle, all parties bear a responsibility to be genuine, accurate, and not allow it to replace human contact altogether. 10% off Dell Inspiron i5559-3347slv 15.6 Inch Laptop $599.99 $537.95 In the workplace, the use of electronic communication has overtaken face-to-face and voiceto-voice communication by a wide margin. This major shift has been driven by two major forces: the speed/geographic dispersion of business, and the lack of comfort with traditional interpersonal communication among a growing segment of our employee population: Gen Y and Millennials. Studies show that these generations which will comprise more than 50% of the workforce by 2020 would prefer to use instant messaging or other social media than stop by an office and talk with someone. This new communication preference is one
5 of 7 9/1/2016 3:55 PM of the generational gaps plaguing organizations as Boomers try to manage to a new set of expectations and norms in their younger employees, and vice versa. PAGE 1 / 2 Continue 15 Comment on this story Print Report Corrections Reprints & Permissions SEE ALSO EFFECTI COMMU SOCIAL IMPROV NONVER LANGUA SOCIAL COMMU From the Web Ads by Revcontent Hemp Company Releases Legal CBD Oil Across All 50 States BE WELL BUZZ (1) Easy Trick "Removes" Your Eyebags & Wrinkles (Do This Tonight!) FIT MOM DAILY Obama Quietly Signed Bill Giving 119 Million Americans "Consumer THE OXFORD CLUB You're In For A Big Surprise in 2016 If You 6x Lotto Winner: Lottery Isn't As Random As You Baltimore Firm Has Scary Record of
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