Jaquan White

Professor Padgett
UWRT 1102-066
March 10, 2015
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: How does being dependent on technology affect the youths communication
skills?
Proposed Thesis: Youth are negatively affected, communication skills are limited
when it comes to face-to-face interaction.

Witt, E., Massman, A., & Jackson, L. (2011). Trends in youth's videogame playing,
overall computer use, and communication technology use: The impact of selfesteem and the Big Five personality factors. 27(2), 763-769. Retrieved March 10,
2015.
This article says 90% of our youth in the U.S. uses the Internet. It states
technology is indeed a more vital part of life than for adults in relations to social
connections and entertainment. The question is will our youth know how to
communicate if every source of entertainment, and social technology is taken
away? Another excerpt from the article, Rapid advancements in technology have
enabled todays youth to have access to an unprecedented quantity and quality of
media. In fact, on an average day, youth spend 2.5 hours watching TV, 46mins on
the internet, 73mins playing video games, 150mins listening to music, over 60mins
on the phone, 30mins instant messaging, 25 minutes watching movies, and emailing. This adds up to nearly half a day engaging in some type of technology
use. This alone goes to show how dependent our youth is on technology to function
in their everyday life. As for how it affects communication, its easy to draw the
connections. One who sits in front of the TV or on their phone numerous hours of
the day tend to lose the skill to be comfortably sociable in face-to-face
conversations. Especially cell phone use, as we see texting is truly the main source
of communication when it comes to youth. Find someone who mainly communicates
by text. Then, tell them to call that person and see how well they communicate over
the phone. Probably awkward silence every 5 minutes.

Rolfe, J., & Gilbert, M. (2006). Youth, new media, technology and
communication. Young Consumers, 7(3), 15.
The media and popular opinion say that young people have a natural affinity
for digital technology; that they have become totally dependent on it; that they are
becoming alienated from each other because of their addiction to it; and that it is
causing them irreparable damage in all manner of unspeakable ways. This is how
this article starts off so that it directly supports the thesis posed. Now the article
does go on to argue that certain claims by the popular opinion and media are false
such as The youths attention span is being greatly affected by the use of
technology and calls that particular statement a myth. Claiming that their attention
span is damaged when they find something genuinely interesting such as a video

Jaquan White
Professor Padgett
UWRT 1102-066
March 10, 2015
game has to be a myth to me simply because it is technology. Not to be start on the
debate of what is considered as technology, but its not complicated to see what
type of technology is negatively affecting the youth. We need cell phones, true. We
do not need cellphones that only improve another aspect to attract attention. Some
people truly need their cellular device, a radiotelephone system in which a
geographical area (as a city) is divided into small sections each served by a
transmitter of limited range, to function (definition accredited to dictionary.com).
Say all this to ask the same question, how are these much needed cellular devices
affecting the youths ability to communicate?

Subrahmanyam, K., & Mahel, D. (2011). Digital youth the role of media in
development. New York: Springer.
Solely focus on the aspect of communication by text-messaging. In this
current generation our youth and maybe a few younger adults depend on
communicating by a quick text. Whether its just to meet up with someone or even
setting up something as important as an interview for a job. Pulled another statistic
from this particular book, In a recent survey conducted for The Wireless Trade
Association, 14- to 19-year-old US youth reported that they spent equal amounts of
time texting and talking; many (54% of the females and 40% of the males) claimed
that their social life would end or be worsened without texting (Harris Interactive,
2008).I feel like that statement made by those individuals does no only apply to
the youth, but many other age groups. Its such an easy way to interact that people
forget how to do so face-to-face. This brings concern in relation to the youth seeking
jobs in their future where it is required for them to conduct a face-to-face interview.
Another aspect brought to attention by the book is the use of emoticons. States
Emoticons, particularly character-based ones, are much more ambiguous relative
to face-to-face cues and may end up being interpreted very differently by different
users. Basically saying its definitely easy to misinterpret a message that includes
those emoticons. All information attained just to help others realize that maybe the
youths ability to communicate is being greatly affected by text whether it is in a
negative or positive way.

Castells, M. (2007). Mobile communication and society a global perspective: A

project of the Annenberg Research Network on international communication (pp.
77-126). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
This source brings forth many different views on technology and how it
affects communication. Refers to the world as a whole, compared to the others
where its mainly focused on the youth. It still mentions the younger generation
though. If we take a different approach and ask ourselves how technology affects
the people already in the workforce; the source brings this study to attention In the
United States, a study by Grant and Kiesler (2002) found that workers at Carnegie

Jaquan White
Professor Padgett
UWRT 1102-066
March 10, 2015
Mellon University became attached to their mobile phones a few months after
acquiring them for work purposes and began to see them as personal possessions.
Now, if people who are already considered trained products of our society are still
distracted by mobile phones then how will it affect the youth? Not to mention the
book says that study was done in 2002. It is 2015, a time where technology and
even mobile phones to be specific are improving in a way to grasp attention thats
unbearable for a weak mind.