Face to Face is Not Their Way
By Elaine Ma

What are the ways of communication of generation Y? Facebook or Face to Face?

The communication of the new generation has changed in the high-tech world. Always an indispensable part of human lives, the ways of communication for the new generation is not only face to face, but also using the digital social network to connect with others.

The social media is getting more and more popular. Facebook and Weibo are two famous social networks for people to share their moods, daily stories and updates of their friends or relatives' lives. They can connect to the social network wherever and whenever they want. Wong Wai Hong, a university student, said, "The social network is a convenient communication way to connect with people; it is a big improvement in the technology field."

On the other hand, people get used to contacting their friends or classmates through "apps", for example, WhatsApp and WeChat. These new tools lead to the decline of face to face communication.

Ma Fong Fei, a high school teacher said, "Face to face is my preferred communication way in my daily life. Most of the time I need to teach students and chat with colleagues, and I do enjoy it. However, the social media is another method to connect with others when it is not convenient to make a phone call. Also, I can get to know other people. Leaving a message is a good way to let others know me."

Since today's teenagers are raised in a high-tech world, it can be a big challenge to communicate with each other well for different generations. The social media brings everyone closer together but it also widens the distance of communication between people.

People rely on the social media to communicate and keep in touch with friends. When discussing a project, students usually open a chat room and discuss the details through the social media instead of face to face.

"I am not allowed to use the phone in school, so I always talk with classmates face to face in the daily time," Wong Kei Kei, a secondary school student said. "However, the social media is important for us as we need to discuss homework and group work through the 'apps' at night."
Obviously, it would have an effect on sociability. Teenagers are easier to have nervousness and stressful feeling when they have to talk about something face to face. Teenagers use the social media and "apps" to communicate with people. It is a trend and it causes serious problems. "They would become silent and are not willing to talk and share their opinions when discussing something in public," Ma said.

Moreover, Wong Wai Hong emphasized, "However, I think the communication with 'apps' does not belong to a real 'communication'.Face to face is a useful communication method to exchange views and explain points."

Differences exist when we communicate face to face or through the social network media. To a certain extent, social media can't transmit meanings and feelings completely, but face to face communication can carry information and emotion to its greatest capacity.