Communication: The Generation Gap

These days it’s hard to get by without using technology in your everyday life. Email has become a staple in the business world, and it’s hard to imagine how people ever got along without it.  Text messaging seems to be following suit. Many people prefer to send a text rather than make a phone call.  Text messaging might be affecting more than just a person’s social skills and their ability to speak on the phone.  Text message lingo has been creeping its way into the professional world for some time now, and it’s something that needs to be addressed before emails between business partners are littered with OMG’s and LOL’s.

It has gotten to the point where teachers are now having to tell their students to specifically avoid “text-speak” in their papers.  This doesn’t reflect highly on the kids who are growing up to be the future of our country.  Another issue that has arisen is the lack of public speaking skills in young adults.  Every other word is “uh,” “um,” or “like”.  I believe this can be traced back to technology hampering our social skills by taking away the need for verbal conversation.

The business world is still run by people who grew up in a time where technology wasn’t popular. They had three TV channels and playing outside was more important than playing a video game.  They had to use the telephone, write letters with good grammar, and speak to adults in a professional and respectful manner.  Nowadays, people are starting professional emails with “hey!” and ending them with emoticons.  I’m all for the betterment of mankind through the use of technology, but there is a time and place for LOL’s and JK’s, and it certainly isn’t in the business world.  Young adults need to learn to keep their text speak between them and their friends because the adults who are reading their resumes and their emails are not going to find them as amusing as their peers do.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member London Faust