Essay Topic

EXPRESS YOURSELF

J. How do you imagine social interaction within 10 years, taking into consideration the impact of technology on human relations?

Disclaimer• This is not a research paper/presentation. It is an expression of my views on social interaction today and what it will be like in the near future.

Social Interaction

Mid 1900s 1990s 2000s 2010s0

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4

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10

12

14

EaseExpressionValue

Evolution of the main method of social interaction

Mid 1900s•Face to Face

1990s•Telephones•Face to Face•Computer Chatting

2000s•Mobile Phones•Emails, Chatting eg MSN

•Texting (ShortMS)

2010s•Texting (conversations, BBM, Whatsapp)

2020s•??????

Smart Phones

and WWW

Free of Charge instant messaging• Whatsapp, BBM

Social networking sites• Facebook, Twitter,

Linkedin

Constant world updates• News push notifications• Youtube entertainment videos

– world wide platform for people to share videos

Voice & Video Chatting• Skype, FaceTime etc

Status at the moment (2012)

A Best friend everyone shares: Their smart phone.

As a result..

• People sit together without actually being with each other• technology has not reached the stage where social interaction is as

efficient as it should be yet

• 3G on smart phones not as good yet, so people end up with higher frustration levels and inefficient social interaction

• People are losing the sense of realism in social interaction (being comfortable with someone’s physical presence)

• The novelty and excitement of such an all-in-one social interaction is making people lose interest in some aspects of social interaction which the current platform cannot provide • Eg physical presence and touch, emotional understanding (largely lacking

in interaction via text)

Anti-socialness is more prevalent

What the World Wide Web says about social interaction today.

These are some of the top hits I

got when I looked up social interaction on google.

Why?

This situation arose because of a lack of understanding of the right way to leverage on the advancements in

technology for their benefit.

In the midst of creating technologies to make social interaction a much larger platform, people are losing

touch of the most basic form of communication- Talking to each other, feeling each other’s presence,

and emotionally understanding each other.

And SEE each other OFFLINE.

BUT..

• After a period of downfall in ’real’ social interaction, people are slowly starting to value personal touch and more effective communication (non-text) again. • Developments:• Skype video chat

• Face time

• Audio messages

• Pictures and video sharing via multiple modes.

• **Phone tower game at social Gatherings**• This is where people stack up their phones in one tower till the end of the gathering,

and first person to break the rule pays for a round of drinks/dinner. This shows how people are starting to value the quality of time spent with each other all over again.

People are realizing the downward change in real relationships and slowly working on it.

Social interaction in 10 years

1990s 2000 2012 20220

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4

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8

10

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14

TechnologyValue of Personal in-teractionCloseness between people

In 10 years..

• In 10 years, people will leverage on technology to improve social interaction in societies, communities, countries, and the world as a whole.

personal touch and human relationships will be valued the way they were a century ago.

Social Interaction in

10 years

Feel the virtual

presence

Virtual Physical

interaction

4 D experience

Always connected to EVERYONE

Developments

• Users will become more intelligent and technology savvy• Understand how to use technology to fulfill their needs• Become Choosers of technology rather than simply adapting

to any new technology

The End

Who knows, in 10 years, this application procedure itself might not be required to get to know the applicant. Social

platforms would be advanced to the extent where matching of applicant to school might be just a click

away(2010), or shall I say a touch away(2015)? Or even better, a thought away(2022)!

Have a nice day!