New Technology Affecting Human Communication (Research Paper Sample)

New Technology Affecting Human Communication
Name
Institution New Technology Affecting Human Communication
Research Proposal
Authorization and Background
Communication is a valuable aspect of everyday human life, be it in the world of business, at school, in hospitals, and in homes. Communication has evolved in various ways, causing different effects in people’s lives. The following is a research based on determining the evolution that communication has undergone over the years. Modern society has embraced new forms of technology because of their capabilities and proving to be better than the traditional ones. This research compares the two forms of technologies and examines their pros and cons. It also comprehends the effects the new forms of technology have on humans. The main focus is communication because it uses technology, and it has also changed over the years because of the evolution realized in the technical world.
Identifying the Audience and the Problem
The key audience of the detailed research is Marilyn Seguin, a business and professional writing professor and my classmate. The aim of relaying to them the detailed information attained through research is to portray that communication among people in different fields has changed. In addition, the changes have been brought about by a shift in technology from traditional to modern states. Indeed, changes in technology have occurred over the years and so have advanced means of communication, but are the effects all positive, or are there any setbacks fueled by the same?
Clarifying the Purpose
It is evident that technology has changed in various situations, but the main purpose of the research is to check whether it has negative or positive effects on people. In this case, the main reason behind the research is to determine if communication is better or not than it was in the past. Technology may seem to have fueled advancements in communication, but there may be chances that it has encouraged negative factors in the same. Therefore, the research will make a conclusive discovery as to whether the positive effects of technology in communication outweigh the negative ones or not. The outcome of the research is necessary and will have a profound effect upon determining the solutions of the identified problems. It is undeniable that technology advancements have encouraged problems in communication as it will be identified in the research. Thus, there is reason to seek solutions, which is yet another valid reason to carry out the research.
Scope
The initial plan of the research is to examine the changes witnessed in the world of technology. Secondly, the plan will involve examination of the effects technological advancements have caused in communication among various people. There will also be a chance to seek solutions to the problems created by technological advancements in communication. In order to achieve the aforementioned plans, the following topics will be utilized.
• Introduction section focusing on elaborating the main points of the research
• Traditional human communication
• Modern human communication
• New technology’s role in the evolution and the effects on humans’ communication
• The future of human communication and possible solutions to the identified problems
• Conclusion
Limitations and Delimitations
Traditional means of communication have been overtaken by time and most people are using new forms of technology to do so. In turn, the information concerning the traditional communication means is tasking to accomplish.
Data Collection and Analysis
The research will revolve around both traditional and modern means of communication, for example, cloud computing. Hence, there will be a need to source information from reliable literature, but give credit to the authors through correct citations.
Schedule
1/30/2014 – Research proposal
2/5/2014 – Revised Proposal
2/17/2014 – Submit Progress
3/17/2014---Send Table of Contents
3/24/2014– Post Report Draft
4/8/2014– Submit Final Project
Executive Summary
The following is a detailed report elaborating the effects that new technology has had on people, both negative and positive. The report commences by introducing the various traditional methods that were in use during the olden days. In this section, the report includes a refined report on the effects of traditional communication methods. As such, it is a section that gives clear and detailed information on how people used to communicate during the olden days. The report also includes a section detailing about modern methods of communication and their effects on users.
Following this is a detailed report about the role played by new technology in communication. This sectioned is detailing the evolution that communication has undergone over the years and the role that new technology has played in making the changes possible. Finally, the report gives detailed speculations on the future of communication and possible solutions to the problems spurred by the use of new technology in this field.
New Technology Affecting Human Communication
Introduction
Since time immemorial, man has been communicating using various means. These methods range from the word of mouth, written messages, smoke signals, telephones, and computers among others. Man has been facing various challenges when coming up with appropriate and effective means of transferring messages. These hurdles include distortion of messages before they reach the recipient, lack of fast means of delivering messages and overuse of fabricated devices to relay information. Technology is one of the major aspects behind the changes in the way people communicate (Littlejohn and Karen, 2008). Currently, there are several means that can be termed as modern while the ancient ones are the traditional modes of communication. Creativity and curiosity are vital factors that fuel the development of new communication means, and they are successful with the help of technology. However, as much as technology has been embraced in the world of communication, it has displayed various effects on humans, both positive and negative.
Traditional Human Communication
Traditional means of communication among humans were as necessary as they are in the modern world. Therefore, people had to coin effective and feasible means of passing on messages and knowledge, and technology has brought evolution of the traditional means of communication. This makes the olden methods of communication that did not have any technological advancement to be termed as traditional. However, the line between traditional and modern means of technology is quite bleak as technological advancement commenced long ago. For instance, the invention of the wheel eased travelling, which is a means that was used to relay messages (European Commission, 2014).
The best definition of traditional communication can be categorized as the means that people used during the olden days. These means took many forms and just to examine a few, they included the use of messengers. People during the olden days had messengers whom they sent from one region to the other, either to deliver the word of mouth messages or goods. The messengers either went on foot or rode horses from the sender to the recipient. It was an effective method, but also had negative aspects that were undesirable to different parties. For example, the distance between the message sender and recipient sometimes was too far to cover. In turn, the messenger delayed delivery of the message within the provided time. In other scenarios, the messengers either lost the direction or died on the way, and the message did not reach the recipient. Other messengers distorted the original messages because of the travelling conditions or fatigue. All these scenarios portray the challenges that communication through messengers faced. On the contrary, some of the messengers were efficient in their work and delivered what they were sent on time and in their original form sans any distortion (Gupta, 2004).
Songs and poems are means that were of traditional orientation and used to relay messages. A key advantage of using these as a means of communication is that they were easy to understand. Many of the songs or poems were coined with an aim of relaying a message. Singing or reciting poems in native languages made it easy to comprehend the message behind the whole performance. However, various disadvantages are associated with the use of songs and poems as a means of communication (Wandberg, 2000). For example, some people misunderstood the songs or poems while others found it too difficult to decipher the messages. Other people perceived the songs and poems as entertainment that lacked any in-depth meaning or message.
Myths were also a common means of traditional communication in several communities where people used stories as a clear way of passing on knowledge between generations. On several occasions, it worked, and people understood the message. For example, morality was best taught through stories that displayed what would happen if one did not follow the teachings of the stories. Many people learned from the stories and heeded the teachings. Some stories communicated to people about their traditions and cultures for the ultimate purpose of learning about their past. These stories included the explanation of a community’s origin, which different people have differing perceptions on when defining where life came from on the earth. Indeed, stories were an effective way of communication, but they also had their setbacks. The stories’ main disadvantage was their openness to distortion once narrated by different people. As people kept telling the stories, they got creative and some exaggerat...