In this Covid 19 era, health protocols instruct us to stay at home. Work, study and shop from home. The routine of everyday life changes. No more meeting friends who usually chat casually over coffee. No more laughter, jokes and smiles. Forced to be covered in silence. All life plans fall apart. What emerged was fear.
Imagine, if there was no digital communication technology. We will feel living in social isolation. Digital communication makes us connect with people globally. We can relate to anyone and anywhere. We feel not alone, ourselves entertained and memories awake. Internet technology has changed various aspects of life. Starting from lifestyle, how to work, study, shopping to how to communicate between individuals. Everything has been digitized. What is digital communication? What are the benefits and negative effects it causes.
Digital communication is also called online communication. Digital communication is computer-based communication to send and receive messages or exchange news via digital platforms. The concept of digital communication is always developing depending on the inventions of internet technology-based tools. In the past, there was only SMS, then whattshapp, Facebook, Instagram, line to video call appeared. There is a digital communication medium that is synchronous, when all communicators simultaneously exchange messages or reply to a message. For example, communication in a game or online game, chatting on social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp and online learning media. In addition, there is a digital communication medium that is synchronous, if there is no answer to answer in communication interactions. For example, email and comment fields on social media, such as YouTube, Instagram and others.
Digital communication is a communication process dominated by written communication, from SMS, email, WhatsApp, Facebook and others. Body language has completely disappeared.
Written messages can lead to different interpretations. Messages conveyed by different senders are received by message recipients. If we are functionally illiterate, the message will not be read because we do not understand the meaning. Here it appears that digital literacy skills are needed.
Digital communication is also called communication in cyberspace. In cyberspace there is a transparent life, where privacy melts away. This digital, wireless world has made us connect with others globally and share experiences with each other.
Digital systems can be used for studying, working, shopping and other living activities, even building trending and self-image. All that can be easily done with digital communication.
In addition, digital systems can be our personal entertainment, keepers of memory and become our therapists. It can even take us away from marriage consulting agencies, classrooms, psychologists, doctors and parents where we complain.
Digital systems have many benefits, but they also benefit us. This is what not many netizens understand. The activities and behavior of each netizen are always wanted, collected in big data, mapped and ready to be used for various purposes.
The digital footprints of netizens being mined by an industry are worth trillions of dollars. Multi-national companies peek at consumer behavior and predict their behavior to create new products. Digital traces are also used for political purposes, to win political competition through cyber-psychology.
In addition, netizen data can be used for various fraudulent acts. The digital system makes us vulnerable to cyber crime, especially for children. There is child sexual abuse, child trafficking and cyber bullying of children.
Through digital communication, children can call or be contacted by anyone. Recently, the public in the country has been shocked by the case of child grooming, namely sexual criminals who build emotional relationships with children through digital communication for the purpose of sexual harassment.
In conclusion, digital systems provide benefits to us, but we can also benefit from this system. Smart people use digital systems to build a money mine with the expertise to map and collect data from netizens. Bad people take advantage of this system to commit cyber crime.
Social media, a place to exchange messages and information and channel aspirations digitally, must be used wisely. Be careful in doing digital communication. Do not just plagiarize, reveal all personal secrets. Our digital footprints can be used negatively. But don't be a judge and executioner either. Express the facts that have been filtered correctly and make sense.
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