Is Face to Face Communication Too Much To Handle?

I am sure you have seen it, two teens in a room, smart phones in hand and they're texting each other instead of just talking the old fashioned way!

In a recent study by the PEW Research Center, teens are sending an average of 60- text messages a day.

And in July alone, 121 billion minutes were spent on social media sites.

Is the art of communication face to face becoming, "too much to handle?".

Mouths moving. It used to be the main form of communicating with one another.

But more and more today it seems it's our fingers getting the workout while our lips and tongues have no role.

And now having clumsy and slow fingers can be more limiting than being tongue-tied.

"Technology has changed communication and it continues to change communication in ways that we just keep learning about."

Dr. Jim Sernoe is the chair of the Mass Communications Department at MSU and says when teens gather these days, you're as likely to hear the clicking of texts than the chattering of tongues.

"You can walk in the room and you will see like four teenagers like this and stuff, and they are like oh did you see what this person said or this person," said Hope Rose a sophomore at WFHS.

For teens it's become more important to have an active life online, keeping up to date by following friends through things like Facebook and twitter and posting on their pages.

But Dr. Sernoe says while we may be gaining the ability to be plugged in 24-7, there are some negative side effects.

"They are losing the basics of face-to-face communication," he said.

And with things like computers and cell phones screens teens are able to hide, avoiding those face to face interactions they need to learn for later on in life.

"When I tell somebody, oh so and so is mad at you because of something you did, that's not something I would say face-to-face, but I'd do it through texting because you don't have to look at them and see there reaction," Lauren Meaders said, who is a Freshman at Old High.

"I think when you are not physically with them you are more confident with what you want to say," said Levi Lamb, A freshman at Rider.

Sernoe says communicating by way of a screen also provides a shield, so people don't have to take responsibility for their actions.

But one of his biggest concerns from the speed of modern communication is the dependency many are developing for quick response.

"They are looking for instant gratification. If a long time goes by and your text isn't answered you start to wonder if this person has been in an accident or what's going on," he said,

It's an anxiety felt by many teens.

"When somebody doesn't reply it makes me feel like i said something wrong," said Lamb.

"It makes me nervous if they don't respond to me," said Meaders.

Time can only tell where current and future means of communication will lead us but,

"In the end, humans are still seeking humans, and people they can count on. And you can't count on your twitter followers at certain times," said Sernoe.

Because a smiley face by text is just a representation of the real thing.