Traditional vs. Modern Methods of Communication
Over the last fifty years, many advances in technology have revolutionized the way we communicate with people who are far away. There is a clear difference between the methods of communication in use today and those used in the past. Before the advent of computers and modern technology, people communicating over long distances used traditional means such as letters and the telephone. Nowadays, we have a vast array of communication tools that can complete this task, ranging from email to instant messaging and video calls. While the present and previous means of communication are similar in principle, they differ regarding their speed and the range of tools available.
Regarding its forms and methods, communication has generally remained similar in the past and the modern-day. Traditional communication involved the use of both written and oral forms of communication through the use of letters and telephones. Similarly, people nowadays use both of these forms. Just as in the past, written methods of communication are prevalent; for example, the use of email and text messaging. Also, oral forms are still used, including the telephone, mobile phone, and voice messages via instant messaging services. Unlike modern communication, traditional methods of communication have a passive audience, which means that the audience is not involved in the content in the medium. While modern communication is inherently capable of being more interactive, more participatory, and more decentralized, traditional communication methods are more associated with paper-based messages such as letters, reports, proposals, and notes.
There are, however, clearly many differences in the way we communicate over long distances, the most notable of which is speed, especially concerning written forms of communication. While in the past, letters would take days to arrive at their destination, modern-day technology means an email comes almost instantaneously and can be read seconds after it was sent. In the past, if it were necessary to send a short message, for example, at work, a memo would be passed around the office, which would take some time to circulate, which is significantly different from the modern-day, in which a text message can be sent immediately.
Over time vastly different methods and tools of communication have appeared. Fifty years ago, the telephone and the letter provided the primary means of communicating over long distances comparably to the vast array of communication methods available today. Modern communication includes not only the use of telephone, letters, email and text messages, but also video conferences via software such as Skype or mobile phone apps such as WeChat, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. It indicates that traditional ways of communication involved more physical contact and spoken communication, while modern communication involves less physical contact, and people talk less.
In conclusion, methods of communication have significantly advanced over the past fifty years. Despite both having a medium for their audience, the two methods of communication differ in terms of the speed and range of tools available for communication. There is no doubt that technology will continue to progress in the future, and the advanced tools which we use today may one day also become outdated.
