Passage Three

        On a dry and cold Friday afternoon last October, Sharon Seline exchanged text messages with her daughter who was in college. They “chatted” back and forth, with the mom asking how things were going and the daughter answering positively followed by emoticons(表情符) showing smiles, b-i-g smiles and hearts.

       Later that night, her daughter attempted suicide.

       In the days that followed, it came to light that she’d hidden herself in her dorm, crying and showing signs of depression -a completely different reality from the one that she conveyed in texts and Facebook posts.

       As human beings, our only real method of connection is through real communication. Studies show that only 7% of communication is based on writing and speaking. The majority of 93% is based on body language. Indeed, it’s only when we can hear a tone of voice or look into someone’s eyes that we’re able to know when “I’m fine” doesn’t mean they’re fine at all.

      This is where social media gets risky.

      With modern technology, anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, or the Facebook post, projecting any image they want and creating a false image of their choosing. They can be whoever they want to be. And without the ability to receive body language, their audiences are none the wiser.

      This presents a paradox which doesn’t exist before. With all the powerful social technologies at our fingertips, we are more connected-and potentially more disconnected-than ever before.

      Every relevant metric(衡量标准)shows that we are interacting at a great speed and frequency through social media. But are we really communicating? With 93% of our communication context(语境)lost, we are now attempting to establish relationships and make decisions based on phrase or emoticons, which may or may not accurately represent the truth.