A REVIEW OF THE EFFECTS OF INSTANT MESSAGING AND ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF THE YOUNG GENERATION IN HONG KONG

Social media and instant messaging applications have become the most important daily life activities of the youngsters. This study provides comments and discussion that social media and instant messaging have both positive and negative effects on young people’s communication skills. These kinds of applications not only can improve their reading and writing skills but also their communication. Moreover, it is still true that communication in social media will lower the chance of face-to-face communication, which might lower their skills in verbal communication. This study also comments other issues in social network, such as cyberbullying. Parents should try to the time of their children in using these applications and spend more time to know what their children is using these social and instant messaging applications.