Last semester, I took a class for my major called nonverbal communication.
It taught he quite a bit, and I find myself using everything I learned in class, but this lecture stood out to me.
In this lecture from last semester, Dr. Wahl covers the significance of nonverbal communication through social media and technology.
He starts off with the chapter opener for chapter ten to give a glimpse into how we communicate through text messages and social media in our everyday lives.
In this example, a girl and her boyfriend breakup but it is done solely over text message. The girl goes on to say "can you believe it? That shows how much he cares".
Dr. Wahl explains that this shows us that we communicate so much though our cell phones that we not only build relationships with them but can terminate them as well.
The three main traditional nonverbal communication codes, explain nonverbal cues in video chat, discuss the impact of cell phone usage, nonverbal cues related to online deception, and explaining the difference between the physical and virtual body.
Dr. Wahl goes into the first objective by explaining the impact of cellphones in face-to-face interactions. He brings up an example of an in-person conversation, but one person might be texting while trying to continue the conversation with that person.
To a majority of people, this is considered highly rude, and Dr. Wahl encourages us to think about our own preference when it comes to the presence of cell phones in personal face-to-face interactions.
Depending on the message, sometimes a phone call is the only efficient way to deliver a message, but in some cases text messaging can be an efficient way to have a conversation.
Emoticons, "textisms" (bye4now, 2nite), and acronyms are all things that can be communicated only through text messaging and these can provide nonverbal cues.
The main way we communicate nonverbally in text messages or emails is through grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the message itself.
It’s important to have an appropriate persona over the Internet and this lecture taught me quite a bit on how I use mine, for which I am grateful for.
