Good morning everyone! I’d like to ask all of you a question before I start my speech. How many of you are using pen and paper to communicate with your friends? Well, I think not more than ten, right? It’s simply because we can use mobile phone and the Internet to connect with our friends nowadays. Thus, there’s a saying that” Modern technology has shortened the distance between people.” But I personally agree to a small extent only to this saying. In the following five minutes. I’m going to explain my opinion by comparing the pros and cons of modern technology in communication.
Let’s first begin with the convenience of using modern technology to communicate with others. It’s true that modern technology helps ease the communication between us. We can use mobile phone, SMS or chat online, in order to contact our friends. Compared with the mode of traditional letters which took us a lot of time to write, post and receive, modern technology certainly brings more convenience to our life.
However, there’re usually two sides on one coin. The convenience brought about by modern technology causes the lack of direct communication between people. For example, a family with four members is having a meal at the same table in a restaurant, but all of them are just focusing on their mobile phones. Not strange, right? Also online chat-rooms are common among teenagers. Without saying anything, they can just type out their words. Moreover, we can always see a pair of lovers having dinner together, sitting face to face but chatting through SMS. True, we can’t deny that modern technology links people together. We can meet our friends in primary school again on facebook, we can call our friends in the USA on MSN and we can even talk to them face to face with a webcam. Without the modern technology, we may never see our old classmates again. But does it really shorten the distance between people? I guess not.
Why are people nowadays more likely to type SMS instead of having a lunch with their friends and talking about themselves? It’s all for the modern technology – people are more familiar with mobile phones, computers, etc. They avoid talking face to face with others, some teenagers are even afraid of talking to people. .. For instance, a family living in the same flat may use facebook to call others to have dinner. We all know, this did not happen before the technology improved. A bit ridiculous, isn’t it?
Last but not least, people may think that modern technology has shortened the distance between people as people can connect with others faster and more easily. Yet, it doesn’t mean that the faster the communication, the shorter the distance. People’s feelings can’t be easily expressed through SMS or MSN but hand-written letters. The feelings from their hearts written on the letters can shorten the distance in the world. It’s what the modern technology can’t achieve.
To conclude, modern technology really brings a lot of benefits to our life, but distance between people is not that easy to be shortened by solely technology. Next time, before you use the SMS, think about having a lunch with your friends or even pick a pen to write a letter. Words from your lips and pen surely mean more than that from the short texts of your mobile phone or Facebook.
Thank you very much!