She said that “Whereas before it was more difficult for families to communicate...because there were no cell phones...now they have cell phones and they can contact them, whenever they’re in an emergency and things in that nature.” What Rivero points out is very true. Cell phones are great for those times that you absolutely need to be in touch with someone immediately, but as Rivero goes on to talk about, “A negative is that people, or children, are using technology as opposed to speaking to their parents face to face about topics that can be difficult...because they’re kind of nervous to talk to their parents face to face, whereas sometimes those communications would best be had in person.” Instead of telling parents about things like a car accident, or getting a ticket, or failing a class in person, they just shoot over an informal text, or maybe a post on a Facebook wall.I’ve talked about mainly families in terms of parents and their children, but something that I also wanted to touch on was actually Rivero’s specialty: couples. A big part of a successful family is having parents that get along. Whether the family is nuclear (“traditional” with a mother, a father, and their children), binuclear (a family in which members live in two different households; ex. divorced or separated parents), or blended (created when two people marry and one or both brings children in from a previous partnershi
p), there is still a major importance revolving around adult role models that get along. In the embedded Audioboo interview, Rivero talks about how a lot of people she’s spoken to in marriages or who have partners “sometimes argue through text messages which is something that is relatively new because text messaging started pretty recently.” This new phenomenon that is extremely convenient is also coming with some positive side affects. Rivero says, “It allows you to...write down what you’re feeling and think about it before you actually hit send whereas...if you’re in an argument face to face, you might actually say things that you don’t mean or things that you’ll regret.” Though it’s nice to be able to filter the things you say through text messaging, there’s also a loss of the nonverbal communication, which is an extremely important component to communication in general, but especially when you’re in a heated discussion. Sometimes through text messaging, you might not realize how harsh something sounds on the other end, especially if you didn’t mean it to be that way. According to the Marriage and Family Encyclopedia’s article written by Tara M. Emmers-Sommer and Kathleen M. Galvin, “Whereas e-mail has increased communication among some family members, it is used as a substitute for face-to-face conversation among others.” This is a problem because of what I mentioned earlier about the lack of nonverbal communication. The fact that technological communication is often replacing face-to-face communication is a problem, however it’s being addressed. With products like webcams, Skype, and more recently the iPhone’s FaceTime, people are starting to gain the ability to incorporate visuals wit
h their online communication. Instead of sending and receiving virtual messages through a computer screen or faceless cell phone, you can finally start seeing people’s faces. This is great for those families that can’t be together, like long-distance relatives, or partners who are separated because of a work trip. The possibilities are endless. Recently, Apple has added FaceTime to their iPod Touches, which is an outstanding way of incorporating communication into other realms. You could just be listening to your favorite song, and then pause to see your cousin’s new baby, or to quickly give advice LIVE about which prom dress your sister should buy. Like I said, the possibilities are endless, and the future of technology is helping increase the range of things we can do to stay in touch in better ways. The future of technology could also improve married couples or other partners. Now that more information is available online, there are likely many applications being designed to address social issues like communications between partners. Things like reminders to do something sweet for your partner, or even a reminder of important dates like birthdays and anniversaries will help. The world of technology continues to grow, and could help improve these kinds of issues. However, like it was mentioned in the Audioboo interview, face to face communication is important too. If people become too dependent on technology and communicating in that way, then partners might not maintain the kind of relationship that allows for growth through face-to-face conversations, which is an essential component in a successful relationship.
I foresee a lot of changes in the culture of families and how they communicate. With more ways to communicate through technology, I think a lot of people will start to contact each other in those ways, however like all new things, I also believe there will be people analyzing the negative side affects, and addressing them. If it were to get to a point in which divorce rates were rising due to incompetent communication, or if parents and children were starting to feel disconnected even with all of their online communicating being done, someone will do something to bring it back to an acceptable level.
**I wasn't able to embed the actual interview, but I WAS able to Tweet it, so please see my Twitter feed on the right to hear the interview itself!
Sources: Emmers-Sommer, Tara M., and Kathleen M. Galvin. "Communication - Couple Relationships, Family Relationships." Marriage and Family Encylopedia. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. http://family.jrank.org/pages/291/Communication.html.
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