Often times in life, the saying of "don't take things for granted!" and "appreciate what you have until it is gone!" are spoken as wise advice. Maybe sometimes it is said so much that it becomes a cliché. How true this has become during the global pandemic of COVID-19! (Coronavirus Disease of 2019)
Interpersonal communication includes, but is not limited to, kinesics, facial communication, haptics, sound and silence. As the COVID-19 pandemic has become more prevalent in the USA and specifically in Michigan, our state decided to do a temporary "soft" lock-down. The ability to still obtain necessary needs is allowed.
What about the needs of interpersonal communication? Is it a need? Is it a want? Is it essential to the human health?
Social distancing has put a very strong limit on the ability to read kinesics. This includes people's body gestures, facial communication and body appearance. As written in the last blog post, nonverbal communication takes up 93% of a conversation. The inability to ready someone's facial expressions, can put a damper on interpersonal communication and relationships.
Haptics (touch) has also become very restricted through the pandemic. Six feet is the required space between two people. One of the ritualistic ways, in America, to greet people is to shake hands. A way to comfort one another is with a hug. To show intimacy is to kiss. All of these have a restriction because of the global pandemic.
When engaging in interpersonal communication, one also takes in the sound and the silence happening between a conversation. Paralinguistic's focus on the rate, volume, and pitch of the speaker. One may also focus on the silence during conversation. They could reflect upon whether or not the person is anxious, lying, just trying to gather thoughts, or simply has nothing to say in response. Again, all of this is taken away because of COVID-19.
Interpersonal communication has been taken for granted. Social media and cellphones have created an amazing platform to still allow us to communicate with one another. However, everything stated above has been restricted in some sort of way that has hindered interpersonal communication. Is it a need? Is it a want? Is it essential to the human health?
