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Northern Star

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Communicating and hanging out with your roommate(s) is a good way to bond and form friendships.

How to build a good relationship with roommate(s)

By Daija Hammonds, Managing Editor | September 12, 2022

Now that the semester has started and you’ve settled into a routine, getting along with your roommate might be the last thing on your mind. Sharing a space with a stranger can be awkward, but take it one day at a time and use these tips to build a good...

Using podcasts and other forms of media, news organizations have been able to reach a wider, more technology oriented audience.

News organizations using entertainment to inform

By Jaime O'Toole | September 6, 2019

Using podcasts and other forms of media, news organizations have been able to reach a wider, more technology oriented audience.

Graduate student Mary Stamps contributed to the conversation Friday during the I Am Because She Is event in the Center for Black Studies.

Women explore generational gaps in communication and ways to bridge those gaps

By Sophia Mullowney | December 4, 2018

Graduate student Mary Stamps contributed to the conversation Friday during the I Am Because She Is event in the Center for Black Studies.

Social media can be damaging to esteem

Social media can be damaging to esteem

By Mackenzie Meadows | March 22, 2018

Social media should not dictate how someone feels about themselves, but it seems to be becoming more and more common.Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook all have one thing in common and that is the negative effect each platform has on its users.More...

InFocus: What should change in the SA?

By Perspective Staff | March 23, 2014

Jeremiah CaterinaThe next Student Association leaders need to communicate more with the student body. I think this should be accomplished in two ways.First, our student leaders need to utilize more technology to reach out to students. Each executive position...

Deleting your Facebook profile has social benefits

November 28, 2011

Oct. 5: A day that will remain in infamy. The decision I made this fateful day would fundamentally shift how I communicated with everyone in my universe. The choice I made was quite possibly the best thing that I have ever done since the Internet has...

Communication between roommates is key

By Colin Remes | November 15, 2011

At some point, nearly every student that has attended a university will have at least one roommate. And roommate disagreements, squabbles, Mortal Kombats and beer pong challenges are usually inevitable. As much as I have learned here in studies of communication,...

Some NIU departments need more variety

By Jack Baker | October 23, 2011

Sometimes, I feel like I'm paying to take the same class twice, and it sucks. Last year, I took Media Management (JOUR 449) where we talked a great deal about media convergence and media conglomeration and the effects they have had on media and society....

Does texting make communicating less personal? Yes.

By Colin Remes | October 19, 2011

Everyone can agree that our technological advancements have made our lives significantly easier. However, texting has increasingly made communication less personal. Because of this, messages are often misinterpreted and oftentimes unknowingly hurt or offend people.

Back in the day--before cell phones became attached to our hips, people had no other choice but to call on a house phone if they wanted to get a hold of someone. Nowadays, I often hear my friends say, "ehh...I don't feel like calling I'll just text them," when trying to get a hold of someone. Yes, it is more efficient at times to shoot someone a text if you have a quick inquiry, but we shouldn't make texting so much of a habit that it's awkward to call someone. I'm sure people have been in a situation before where they're arguing with someone through texts because they want to avoid the confrontation in person. This creates a problem because people sometimes read the message differently from the way you communicated it.

There is more to communication than just words. People communicate through facial expressions, their tone of voice and body language. Something you might be sending to a person might be sarcasm or a joke, but they might take it as that you're trying to be mean. Remember: All they see are words and nothing else. According to an article on About.com titled "Types of Nonverbal Communication", "While nonverbal communication and behavior can vary dramatically between cultures, the facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger and fear are similar throughout the world." Sending a text that reads, "I'm fine," may make it hard for the recipient to tell if you really are fine or are upset without seeing your facial expression or hearing your tone of voice. "Depending on the topic of conversation it can be hard to do it through texting because people can take it the wrong way," said sophomore special education major Lauren Wright.

Using texting as a main source of communication also affects people socially. I know you're thinking, "Well of course it does, I text my friends on the weekend to see what's going on." However, if people get too used to texting all the time and rarely use a phone or have face-to-face conversation, it impacts the way they interact with people. It may sound silly but communicating everyday with people allows you to practice your communication skills and develop confidence in other aspects, such as an interview, a speech, or even just being able to hold a conversation.

I'm not trying to tell anyone to stop texting or that texting is bad. Let's be real, you're probably texting someone right now, just as I'm about to. The main point is to not let texting control the way you communicate to people. Still make the effort to call your parents just to hear their voice or meet up with an old friend to catch up in person rather than just the occasional "How are ya?" text.

High school students spend a week brushing up on their communication skills with NIU Forensics

By Tony Osborne | July 18, 2011

DeKALB | High school students from across the Midwest spent the week on campus hoping to spruce up their speeches at the NIU Speech Camp.The 26th annual summer camp helps high school students from Illinois and Iowa improve their communication skills before...