Today's Communication: 10 levels of INTIMACY

The communication line back then was bounded to mailing letter and calling on the telephone.

With the help of new inventions, everyone has an unfettered access to communication and has been made open and available in smartphones and other gadgets. In a series of typing and clicking, people can send their messages to their target recipients. From there, the exchange of thoughts and ideas take place. More than sending private messages, people are free to share photos, videos, stories, and opinions to the public. Since social spheres nowadays are on the Internet, physical contact is slowly becoming obsolete. Our society is brought to the open web. Virtual communication impedes the real-time communicative activities of the people. However, people can seek for online communities and interact with others who share the same interests. The emergence of the Internet as a means of communication shapes the people to become more cognizant of their social responsibilities and more involved in the society.

Since social spheres nowadays are on the Internet, physical contact is slowly becoming obsolete.

The least intimate modern communication is through twitter because posting a tweet will mostly reach numerous people around the world.thus,interaction is wide and intimacy low. Second least intimate modern communication is through a Facebook status for the reason that there is a wide audience of your post and most of the time interaction is one way the people will just look at the post and will not respond. Third least is through a Facebook message because some people do not really know the people they are chatting and because of it is less intimate. Fourth, is the email for the reason that not much people are using emails to communicate and communicating an email to a person suggest that he/she is not much of a close friend of the sender. Fifth is texting, this is a relatively close approach of communicating because of the reason that you would not know a phone number of a person if you do not know someone well. Contrastingly, this is not a close way of approach since there are only a few people using text as a medium of communication nowadays.

Sixth level is the instant messaging apps like WeChat, KakaoTalk, Line, etc. this media provides a closer intimacy because it is close to texting, but instant messaging is through Internet, which provides convenience for all types of users today. Seventh level is the letter. This is quite an intimate way of communicating because this is more private BUT takes a longer time to exchange messages. Eighth level is the phone. If we're talking about intimacy, it means being physically close and in contact with the person whom you are communicating with, so phone or phone call made it to the eighth level because both parties can already hear each other's voices, which makes them feel like they're together. Ninth level is video chatting, this one's much more intimate than calling because other than hearing the person whom you are talking to, you can also see his/her face, this makes people feel that they're much closer now, with only a see through wall between them.

The 10 levels of intimacy in today’s communication is somehow accurate, it is true that the last level of most intimate is talking in person, which is also the level where people don’t usually do now because of the technologies that have surrounded us. People should have control with using their technology for them to experience more talking (in person), because the experience is so different when people are talking with each other with their friends or family. Talking with someone, people can feel the feelings and emotions of the person that you are talking with. And also, the Internet is just a temporary connection to each other.

Out of all these modern communication tools, the most intimate is talking with someone personally. Reasons are: it's not just the mutual experience a person will get from talking with another person and the obvious emotion one could express, but also, there are always messages that admittedly, we cannot express or say in plain text messages. Though these social media applications maybe a temporary connection between people, these still function as effectively; it's just that,these are less intimate. So do not just sit on your chair while facing your phone chatting with somebody; meet people and make more memories without those digital barriers!

Credits: https://www.ovrdrv.com/10-levels-of-intimacy-in-todays-communication/