Tech impact: beware the dark side of technology.

• Author: Gray, Bruce A.
• Position: Tech Talk - Effect of technology on human relationships

Technology has provided us the opportunity to interact with the world in new ways. We can keep track of family and friends via social media, have a video phone call half way around the world and be in constant contact via text messaging. But like all good things, technology has its dark side.

file internet provides the opportunity to be involved in a conversation and remain anonymous. The speed with which information is disseminated and goes viral is frightening, and once in cyberspace, it's virtually impossible to eliminate. With our increased use of the internet and other technologies in our daily lives, several interesting trends have developed that warrant our attention.

Among the most important of these is the impact technology has had on human interaction, and the breakdown of certain skills. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when we send a quick text message or respond to a post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, we're actually dealing with another human being, and not just a computer or smartphone. Here are some examples I've observed of the dark side of technology's effect on human interaction and basic skills.

Spelling

With a limit of 140 characters on Twitter and typing with one's thumbs, a new language has emerged that requires brevity, abbreviations, acronyms and altered spellings to remove "excess" letters. This would be only mildly problematic, except that this language has made its way into emails, blog posts, status updates and other written correspondence. While no one would fault these alterations for a Twitter post, they become frustrating when exhibited in an email, or worse, a business letter.

Relationships

I began dating in the early 1980s before many of our social media tools were even on the drawing board. When you met someone and wanted to get to know the person better, you arranged a date, which often included dinner or a cup of coffee and actually talking to each other, face to face. Because you couldn't check a profile on Facebook or LinkedIn, you actually had to ask questions, give answers, read body language.

Now, most of our relationships, whether personal or business related, involve checking in to learn more about the person prior to meeting. This is a great technique for preparing for a job interview, but not so much for a social interaction.

I was speaking with a group of young single men a few weeks ago and they were commenting on how difficult it is to engage in conversation on dates. It's almost...