Texting is Making us Dumber, Shallower, and Less Empathetic

Every generation thinks that new technology is going to lead to the downfall of our society. This time, though, they may be right.

By imagerymajestic, published on 16 July 2012

Stock Photo - image ID: 10092529 from Freedigitalphotos.net

A new study from the University of Winnipeg shows that "Those who text more than 100 times a day were 30% less likely to feel strongly that leading an ethical, principled life was important to them...Higher texting frequency was also consistently associated with higher levels of ethnic prejudice."

Although face paced social media such as Facebook and Twitter allow for increased connections with others, the connections are superficial at best. Replacing face to face or even voice contact with other people with short text based messages reduces the opportunities to reflect on what is being said, and allows room for tremendous misinterpretations. Without real human connection, teenagers and young adults are being less familiar with body language, reading facial emotions and social cues, and do not have patience to engage in thought provoking conversations. 

If we wish to be seen as more than the collectives of our social media projections then we must engage and cultivate that which makes us uniquely human, the ability to connect with one another beyond words.