How Social Media Impacts Communication Skills

By Soha Mahapatra

How many times do you use any form of social media in a day? Chances are, it’s a lot. In the United States, users open social media an average of seventeen times each day. While it might be tempting to check in with family and friends, keep informed with the news, or look up what your favorite influencer has been doing recently, all this social media use is taking a toll on your communication skills.

Having good communication skills means being able to communicate and receive information clearly and effectively. This is a skillset that can be applicable in almost any social situation or career, and is incredibly important within daily interactions. Being able to hold a meaningful conversation with a peer, or taking a few significant points from a meeting with your teacher seem like basic interactions, but they are more difficult than you think. This is because of the negative impact social media has on your communication skills, specifically in the areas of literacy, confidence, social awkwardness, facilitating quality experiences.

Social media has proven to decrease the literacy and writing quality of many individuals.

Constantly using improper grammar and spelling when texting friends may seem convenient, but it is hurting your writing and written communication skills in the long run. How many times have you accidentally used a “texting term” when typing an essay or taking notes?

The confidence of an individual can also be depleted by social media use. Having a feed of people posting their lives completely filtered only shows the good stuff.

However, it could potentially lead to self esteem issues through comparing yourself to others online. This lack of confidence translates to in person interactions, as bad feelings about yourself making it difficult to interact with others face to face.

Social awkwardness goes hand in hand with confidence. Hiding behind screens when communicating with others gives you power to say whatever you please, because you’re not actually seeing someone’s face. But not seeing someone’s face and having practice with in person conversations leaves you void of understanding social cues and other human emotions. Studies have shown that excessive time spent on social media also leads to in person social anxiety.

Having an addiction to technology leads to lack of quality experiences that don’t involve a screen. When hanging out with friends, how long does it take for one of you to take your phones out?

Being constantly on social media leads to a lack of meaningful, face to face conversations.

Some adults have even stated that they would rather stay home and post on a social media platform instead of going out with friends or experiencing something. What is the point of life if you’re staring at a tiny screen all day, looking at pictures of what other people are doing instead of going out and doing things for yourself?

Overall, social media does have its benefits of keeping us connected and allowing us to interact with others that have similar interests. But, like with anything, it needs to be used in moderation in order to maintain communication skills and keep a grip on the real world.