Depersonalization And (in)communication In Social Networks
Technology has made a big difference in our daily lives through social networks, appsthe ubiquitous tablets… But, How can these influence our communication processes?
We are increasingly connected, although the physical barriers that exist between people when communicating online make them a useful tool to facilitate our routines, but being a complement without replacing direct human contact. The world of applications and social networks allows us to more or less faithfully recreate a direct communication process between sender and receiver, p But it is not the same as being in front of the webcam and being able to appreciate the nonverbal language, what to interpret a text message
Human communication is not something simple. There is never a situation in which information travels cleanly from one person to another: There are always gaps for misunderstandings, hidden meanings behind words and double meanings
This is because the scheme sender-channel-receiver It is affected by physical barriers, our ways of interpreting phrases and words and even our emotional state, which in some cases can cause, for example, off-color appearances in a conversation. In communication there is always room for unexpected dynamics to appear: unfortunate phrases, confusion with double meanings, etc.
Communication problems increase when we interact from the internet
Not being face to face makes these potentially problematic unforeseen events arise more frequently. However, the use of social networks and the electronic devices used to communicate do not influence our way of communicating just by hiding contextual or gestural information from us.
For example, the feeling of security surrounding the comfort area from which one can comment can create the phenomenon of depersonalization when attacking other participants without measure. Being separated from each other causes members of a conversation to behave differently In order to carry out a discourse analysis and be able to interpret the emphases, movements, looks and symbols that are relevant to the speaker, it is necessary to be able to access a certain personal proximity, in addition to being able to enhance the capacity for empathy and assertiveness.
A clear example could be the comments made on Facebook posts regarding some topic or opinions. There is an incomplete communicative process here, in which any person can stop responding at any time, can respond without having read the messages that have been previously told to them, and can misinterpret the recipient of the sentences, among other things. That is why Sometimes we fall into overjustification of what is said, creating very extensive contributions that make the conversation slower
Creating perfect avatars
Distance creates the opportunity to offer the public an ideal image of the self through profile photos, publications and so on, but cognitive dissonances may appear between the “real self” and the “ideal self” that are somehow resolved in a certain way. temporarily by the social masks that the user may create, added to the development or expression of one’s own ego.
We can find examples in publications in groups that could well be social experiments, and if they are not, they are a great source of information about the communicative processes in social networks and how sympathies are configured to create new networks.
Groups of people from a city, pages with viral content, etc. They contain information about conversations and how selves interact to show a desired public profile in discussions. As banal examples of conflicts that can illustrate it, We find responses to comments about spelling, or how internet search engines are used to reinforce arguments by copying and pasting concepts and quotes created by third parties
All of this is facilitated by the comfort of home and the ease of accessing information on the Internet, in addition to the security generated by not having the person you are speaking to in front of you.
New forms of harassment
The cases of cyberbullying, which personally remind me of Milgram’s famous experiment on submission to authority (but in this case without a socially accepted authority figure). Dissemination of responsibility processes are facilitated when people are not physically present, since comments can easily be deleted, For this reason, many people choose to take screenshots to have evidence of cases of abuse
These processes have been going on for a long time, but the communication channel and context have changed, making it more complex. In communication through social networks there are multiple factors that determine a person’s behavior.
For this and much more, It is worth encouraging us to reflect on how we can use social networks to improve our power of communication between people beyond using them as a means of entertainment or to seek social acceptance through the image that we want to show to the public.
