Computer Effects on the Social Interaction

Introduction Statement of the problem The introduction of computer technology in the American society has had many effects to the interaction of people in the society. In this research project, I intend to find out the effects of computers on the social interaction in teenagers and young adults in America.

Literature review Social interaction in teenagers and young adults has been greatly affected by the use of computers in America. According to Lenhart A. et al. (2010), teens and youths have turned into the use of social networking websites. This has been made possible by the use of computers which have increased the access to the internet among the teens and youths. Computer technology has thus affected the interaction of youth and teens in America because currently they interact through social networking sites via the internet, Kim J, (2010).

Researches conducted have shown that the teens population interacting through the social networking site has increased considerably due to the availability of computers. The number of teens and young adults sending messages to their friends through the social networking sites in daily basis has considerably gone higher. Laptop is one of the computer makes that is used by teens in large numbers and the teens and young adults use wireless internet through their laptops for the purpose of social interaction. The effect of mobile internet in has affected the social interaction of teens and young adults who have turned to the use of laptops and other computer types for their interaction. More so, wireless internet has also narrowed the distance between the youths who are far apartfrom one another hence increasing the chances of communicating with one another Linda B. (2003).

The use of digital computer technology has become an increasingly common means of communication among the youths. Due to access of internet through computers, youths can interact through chat rooms, forums, social networking sites like face book, interactive online gaming networks and web blogs. Computers have affected social interaction among the youths because face to face interaction ahs been limited and this has made some teenagers feel lonely. More so, in places where many people have turned to the use of computers for interaction, it has been reported that there is a reduction in the number of social interactions that take place. Research has also linked the presence of a computer in a family with a decline in children’s social relationships as many children are spending most of their free times in computers than in social interaction with other people, Chellman C.

(2004).Computers have also had a positive effect on the social interaction of teenagers and youths. Computer mediated communication has encouraged new communication behaviors among the young adults hence it has affected social interaction among the young people. Furthermore, computers have also modified communication strategies among the youth. The youths who use computers are highly aware of social context and adapt their relational tone, personal language, sentence complexity and message composition time depending on their target recipient. This suggests a high level of cognitive awareness in terms of pragmatic skills, Weiner B.

and Craigheal W. (2010). Limitations of the study 1. In this study I will use a sample of five teens and five youth adullts. This data is small and may not be representative of the whole group.

2. The sample collected will know that they are being studied and may give untrue data 3. It may not be easy to know the effect of computers on the social interaction of people because it not something that can be observed Opportunities of the study 1. The study can be conducted several times in order to get the right data 2. The sample chosen for the study can be controlled to prevent it from giving untrue dataImportance of the study The importance of this study is to find out the effects that the use of computers has on the social interaction of teens and young adults in America.

Use of theory In this research the cues-filtered-out theory is the theory that will be used to help in this study. This is a theory that states that the text-based computer enabled communication does not have physical and social cues which gives people anti-normative and unconstrained behaviors, Chellman C. (2004). People addicted to computer communication cannot use gestures, voice tone and social expressions hence their social interaction has been affected. This theory will be used to show how the use of computers has affected the way the youth and teenagers interact with one another, Weiner B.

and Craigheal W. (2010). Purpose statement Introduction of computers has had a lot of effects on the way the youth interact with one another. Computers have both positive and negative effects on the social interaction of the youth and teenagers. The purpose of this research is to find out the effects of computers on the social interaction of teens and young adults.