Some media experts worry that all the connectivity has not necessarily strengthened our relationships. Sometimes, in face-to-face encounters, we are not really present because we are checking our mobile phones for text messages or searching for information on our smartphones. Another suggests that technology gives us control over our relationships and makes it easy for us to communicate when and how we wish, so that we often choose technologies, like texting or voice-mail messages, that actually distance us from each other.
The effect of social media like Facebook and Twitter have far-reaching consequences, and it is important to understand that these technologies can have positive and negative impacts on intercultural encounters because high-tech communication, we come into contact with people who are very different from ourselves, often in ways we don’t understand. The people we talk to on e-mail networks and blogs may speak languages different from our own, come from different countries, be of different ethnic backgrounds, and have had many different life experiences. For example, by using Twitter and Facebook, people were able to receive up-to-the-minute information and connect with friends and family in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Japanese tsunami in January 2011.
Most United States likely to have access to and use the Internet are young or middle age, have a college degree or are students, and have a comfortable income. Race and ethnicity doesn’t seem to play a role, if we compare similar levels of education and income. While the digital divide is shrinking, certain groups still lag behind those with low incomes and less education. Even more important than income, education, or access to a home computer, “Internet connectedness” also depends on one’s social environment. People are more likely to use the Internet if they have family and friends who also use the Internet, can help them resolve Internet-related problems, and who see the Internet as playing an important role in their lives.
These inequities have enormous implications for intercultural communication. In the global information society, information is an important commodity. Everybody needs it to function. This ability is especially important in an increasingly “networked” society. It is easy to see how without these skills and knowledge one can feel marginalized and disconnected from the center of society.