"Anything that is in the world when you were born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural way the world works" -- Douglas Adams. Change is difficult for most people, especially the older one gets. What was normal yesterday is already different today. Every generation is used to having life a certain way and has learned to adapt over time with the changes. Evolution takes place in everything from relationships to medicine to the Earth’s natural landscape. Two of the biggest ecological changes in the world during the past 70 years are technology and communication.
Archeologists say the action of sending a message dates back to the 6th century B.C. (Historyworld, 2009) when Persians traveled by foot over mountains and through valleys to deliver a verbal message or pictures scribed on tablets. The first change in sending messages was the creation of main roads and the increased athleticism of the horse and rider hundreds of years later. Throughout the years, inventions like the printing press, telegraph, telephone and photocopier improved the way the world communicated, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that Americans had cordless telephones and started learning about devices called computers (Phone Warehouse, 2009).
Today, more than 61.8 billion people own a personal computer (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003) and 250 million Americans have a cell phone (Stevens, 2007). Computer mediated communication, also known as CMC, didn’t happen over night. During the Baby Boomer era, Americans primarily used the postal system to send letters and information, read the newspaper to get their news, and listened to the radio for entertainment. Generation X introduced video games, cordless telephones and a few more channels of television, like MTV, for entertainment. Now, during the Generation Y period, television channels have multiplied and can be viewed in high definition, the computer and World Wide Web are affordable for most American households and personal telephones can be taken everywhere.
| Generation | Year Born | Age |
| Baby Boomer | 1943-1960 | 48-65 |
| Generation X | 1961-1981 | 27-47 |
Generation Y | 1982-2008 | 1-26 |
Baby Boomers and Generation X have had to learn new ways of communicating via technology for work and/or personal reasons and once they have learned it, these technologies have proven to be an efficient communication dynamic. Individuals now use computers to send and receive messages, watch and read the news, get an education, pay bills, have a video/web conference, conduct research, listen to music, play games, shop for items such as groceries or clothing, blog to divulge one’s mind, engage in a cybersociety and even find a mate. The speed of the technology has also increased communication. No longer do individuals have to wait for the mail to receive a letter, wait until the day is over to talk to their spouse or watch the nightly newscast to learn about their community, they can now communicate at the click of a button.
Computer mediated communication has created different cultural, psychological and social changes for each generation, but the most common issue is that is has changed the frequency and usage of face-to-face communication. The Baby Boomer era and scholars initially saw CMC as “cold, psychologically distant and overly task-focused,” (Thurlow, et al., 2004, p.50). They believed face-to-face communication was more desirable because of the “detail, fluidity, warmth and intimacy, and sociability.” With more people using CMC and through its study, some scholars, like Walther, believe CMC encourages Hyperpersonal Communication (p.53). Meaning, CMC can actually stimulate the antisocial and create a greater intimacy than face-to-face communication. Whether one is from the era of the Baby Boomers, Generation X or Y, I believe the use of computer mediated communication versus face-to-face communication is personal choice.
In conclusion, how we communicate has drastically changed throughout the years. Individuals now have a choice in their communication method through the use of technology. What each generation once thought is “normal,” is no longer, and in order to survive in today’s world, it is best for individuals to stay current with their technology, especially when communicating. Delivering a message via horseback today would look quite silly. “A new technology does not add or subtract something. It changes everything,” (Postman, 1993, p.18). The question is…how will you deal with tomorrow’s change?
Here is a great site about generational differences:
http://www.aia.org/nwsltr_pm.cfm?pagename=pm_a_20030801_genx
RESOURCES
Historyworld. History of communication. Retrieved from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp? groupid=1457&HistoryID=aa93 on January 22, 2009.
Phone Warehouse. (2009). Telephone history: Cordless phone history. Retrieved from http://www.affordablephones.net/historycordless.htm on January 24, 2009.
Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York: Vintage.
Stevens, T. (2007). Switched: 82% of Americans own cell phones. Retrieved from http://www.switched.com/2007/11/14/82-of-americans-own-cell-phones/ on January 24, 2009.
Thurlow, C., Lengel, L., & Tomic, A. (2004). Computer mediated communication: Social interaction and the internet. London: SAGE.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2003). Current population survey: Computer use and ownership. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf on January 20, 2009.
