Hanging out has a whole different meaning these days. Riding bikes, fishing, swimming, even playing sports has taken a back seat to social media platforms where young people spend hours on end chatting and sharing photos and videos. It’s the new way of communicating among themselves that has taken over almost any other activity. The new way of getting in touch with friends or meeting new people online seems to be more convenient than the traditional meetings in person. Hectic lives forced new generations to find a new approach that will save them some time while still keeping in touch with family and friends. Why is it that youngsters like to chat so much instead of going out and talking to their friends face-to-face? Several reasons emerged lately and set the scene for how communication will look like in the future.

Convenience

The main reason is, of course, convenience. First of all, you can chat with several people at the same time; people who don’t know each other. For example, young people can chat with their friends while answering mom’s calls or sending her a text. Multitasking, talking on the phone, chatting, and googling terms for the school project can be done simultaneously, and all from the comfort of your room.

Further, when you’re talking to someone in person that you don’t like, or just are not interested in talking to him or her at all, breaking up the communication can be difficult without being rude. Online chats eliminate this feeling, and you can stop talking to anyone at any time, and it’s going to be just fine. You can also mute, block, or delete people that are rude, bothering you or you just feel comfortable talking to.  This has its advantages, for example, when someone is trying to cyberbully you, a few clicks can resolve this and you’ll never hear from the person again.

Meeting new people online has been around for a couple of decades. Initially, the whole concept seemed strange and many shied away from even making a profile, let alone chatting with strangers. Today, more than half of couples admitted meeting online, through online chatting and dating sites, or social media platforms. People seem to like it and use it every day. Again, meeting your partner online has its benefits. That creepy guy or girl can be gone from your list in one click, while in real life it could be a whole different story. Getting rid of annoying and weird people is very easy, and young people found it to be very useful.

The other thing is, it saves time. A person can chat with several potential friends or partners online, and quickly see whether or not they are compatible to continue the communication or even see each other in person. In real life, it would take weeks and hours of your time to meet them all, if you even had the chance to bump into them. Besides, many chatting websites take the privacy of their users very seriously, so you can feel that your personal information is fully protected. Read more on how to meet new friends online and possibly form life-long relationships.

Honest feedback

Typing words is so much easier than actually saying it to a person’s face. First off, the feedback is instant. For example, if you post a photo of yourself, your pet, or anything, people are more likely to honestly and without regret say what they think or comment honestly whether or not you look nice or not so nice. Sure, this opens up a can of worms, with socially awkward and frustrated people to bully everyone, but they can easily be ignored and eliminated from further communication. Chatting has the advantage of getting people’s opinions right away, like it or not.

In-person, people are rarely this honest especially to strangers; it’s rude and it can create unpleasant situations. Fake politeness, smiles, compliments, and friendships are all around us. Online, you can just say it, politely still, without putting yourself in hot water. Some will appreciate the honesty, while others might block you, but hey, that’s totally fine, don’t let that bug you for a second.

Forums and live chat rooms can be also the source of information that you usually can’t find in the mainstream media or even social media platforms. People feel relaxed to voice their opinions since the whole conversation stays anonymous. Here you can learn something new, or get a new perspective on some old and new topics.

Showcase your personality

Being who you really are in person can be a hard thing to do. There are a lot of shy people who are just trying to fit into socially accepted norms, ignoring their opinions that might sound strange to others. The need to be accepted takes over in face-to-face conversations and simple nodding in agreement becomes sufficient. This is fine when talking to your colleagues, or people that you don’t know so well, but the problem is that it often happens even with friends and family members.

When chatting online, people are more informal so stating their stands comes easier. The laid-back atmosphere of online communication has huge benefits for people who experience shyness and tension while talking to large groups. They overcome their anxieties in minutes making them more social, finding people that they have a lot in common to talk about.

Putting your personality on display online is so much easier for many people. That’s why they prefer talking in chat rooms, texting, and on social media platforms than seeing someone eye-to-eye. Meeting new friends, or even partners, in an online environment gives many people the freedom to be themselves in every aspect of their personality, without the fear of being ostracized from everyone. The anonymity is another huge plus that is largely exploited leading often to more casual and comfortable conversations.

Texting, chatting, and using different social platforms to communicate is certainly the future of interacting with other people. Older generations are trying to catch up, while young people made it their way of life.