Senora Wendt is a very active Facebooker. Photo by: Elizabeth Jackson
By Elizabeth Jackson
Posting on walls, the “like” button, blocking someone, checking one’s newsfeed are actions that 20 years ago would have been impossible. Today, this is not the case and it is easier for someone to make the connection that people do today through Facebook.
Facebook brings a wide variety of feelings from people. With some people that get on the website every day, such as foreign language teacher, Señora Constacia Wendt, there are also people that do not get on very often, such as sophomore Tabitha Masterson.
With mixed feelings about the social networking website, there are some points that are made that may not be the easiest thing to hear for the Facebook-aholics. For instance, there are people that because of Facebook, have weakened their willpower to communicate with others in real life, as it has been replaced with Facebook. “I don’t think we have lost the ability to communicate real emotion when we are face-to-face, but I do think that it is difficult to accurately convey emotion when we are confined to writing–emoticons don’t always cut it. I also think that when they are using social media, some people forget that there is a REAL PERSON behind the nickname. People end up writing harsh or mean things that they probably would not do in person,” said Señora Wendt. Sophomore Blake Smith said “Yes, because all the risky things you want to say, you say them through a text or facebook.”
Masterson states that she does feel like people have lost the ability to express themselves because, “…if people say something wrong then other people [will] judge them the wrong way, and it will all just turn into a big mess.”
Sometimes Facebook may seem dramatic. Freshman Giovanni Garcia believes that Facebook is dramatic because people, “…start thinking whether people will like it or not.” Erasing what one says on Facebook and being able to delete it might be an advantage to people.
When asked what particular part of Facebook has taken away the most from social skills, senior Colton Honeycutt said “Being able to post something, then go back and remove it if you please, unlike real life, where you can’t do that.”
Although there are people who feel that Facebook has taken away from their communication skills, there are still others that feel the exact opposite. When asked if face-to-face conversations were more awkward now and why she thought this, freshman Cyann Halcomb said, “No. Talking to someone on Facebook is exactly like talking to someone through mail.”
With all being said, Facebook brings mixed feelings about whether or not it changes communication in general.