PLEASE I NEED HELP WILL GIVE 100 POINTS Although there are still occasions when it is required, face-to-face communication seems to be decreasing. In the age of digital technology, we conduct many of our relationships through our devices instead of in person. Coworkers send e-mails instead of holding meetings. Students access assignments and lessons online that teachers once delivered in class. Friends interact through social media instead of getting together (and, sometimes, even while they are together). Perhaps our apparent preference for digital methods of communication is merely a sign of technological progress. But could this trend be harmful? What do we gain, and what do we lose, as our interpersonal relationships arc increasingly conducted online instead of in person? In the digital age, it is worth considering the implications of decreasing face-to-face communication.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about face-to-face communication.

Perspective One

As our methods of communication become more impersonal, our connections to each other weaken. As a result, we become self-centered, unsympathetic people.

Perspective Two

Our face-to-face communication may be decreasing, hut our connections to others have never been richer. After all, we use our tools to communicate faster—and with more people—than ever before.

Perspective Three

The absence of body language and tone of voice results in regular misunderstandings. Many of our personal and even societal conflicts occur because our digital communication is commonly misinterpreted by others.