Telephones and email have made communication less personal

TOEFL Essay 40 with model answer:

Read the question below. You have 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise your essay. You should write at lease 300 words.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

 

Telephones and email have made communication between people less personal.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.


Model Answer:

At present, telephones and emails are the most desired ways of communication. But unluckily, they are making the communication among people less personal. They only use the communication modes to deliver necessary messages and information. I do strongly agree with the statement for the following reasons.

Before the invention of the telephone or email, communication was not so easy. People wrote letters and it took time for the letters to reach the desired destinations. However, the letters were filled with emotions and the recipients became glad about the letters. It was a kind of blessing to receive a letter from someone. Both the sender and receivers were happy. And the information in the letter was private. But with the change of time and technology, people are using email and telephone. They can send messages instantly from one place to another. But those messages are without any emotions and only contain the necessary information. Actually, they are less private than the letters of the past days.

Moreover, when you are talking on a telephone or reading an email, there are chances that you will be surrounded by people. So, if the message sender tells or sends you something confidential, you are unable to keep it a secret. People around you will come to know about the matters by your conversations. They may also read the email if you become unaware about the Secrecy. But there are fewer chances of exposure with letters written on paper. In last week, I had got an invitation to a job interview and they phoned me. I had to respond and everyone around me came to know that I was trying for another job that I did not want them to know in the beginning.

Therefore, I strongly agree with the statement that telephones and emails have made communication less personal. In fact, often it becomes difficult to maintain the privacy with these mediums. Although there is a little privacy is kept with the email communication, but you would be unable to keep the privacy with the telephone. Your communication will be less personal and you will not even know that.