Is Technology Killing Human Emotion? - How Computer-Mediated Communication Compares to Face-to-Face Interactions

Abstract

Technology is a vital part of day-to-day life for people all around the globe, but the effects of taking our communication online remain unclear, especially in terms of interpersonal communication. Human interaction and social connectedness are key to our happiness, and technology has the power to influence our well-being. This research explores how 10 aspects of interpersonal communication differ in virtual and face-to-face environments. An online questionnaire was created where participants assessed their interpersonal communication in virtual and real-life environments. Our findings show that face-to-face communication is able to convey five out of ten dimensions of interpersonal communication competence better than virtual communication because important implicit information and nonverbal cues are transferred, whereas in a virtual environment they are either not sent or not received.