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I wanted to share this interesting post discussing the challenges faced by people used to online communications technologies when attempting to use old technologies like the telephone.
Technology’s Child: Why 21st-Century Teens Can’t Talk On the Phone discusses how phones conversations are "both too slow and too fast" and don't provide mechanisms for thinking about and carefully editing what is said.
Will telephone ettiquette become a victim of the internet revolution, replaced by new skills?
Time will tell.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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That's a fascinating article Craig, thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteEven though I am waaayyy past the age of the writer, I can relate to quite a few of the things she has highlighted.
Increasingly I have found myself less and less a 'voice' telephone user. I have never been a personal 'chat over the phone' type person, but have had many many years of having to use a phone as a core communication tool for work purposes. In recent years though, I am tending to more and more use email, text, (text) chat, and social tools like Linkedin and Twitter to communicate with work colleagues.
I realised this trend a year or so ago and rationalised it thus:
For me to pick up the phone and call someone - and expect them, not only to be available to speak, but also be switched on to the topic of my conversation, is I think a bit arrogant. People have busy lives - especially work lives, and I find that sending a short (or long if appropriate) written form of communication helps in so many ways -- PRIOR to a voice conversation - either on the phone or in person.
Personally I prefer an ongoing dialogue to start with a written message (via channels noted above), followed up by a face-to-face conversation. To me, those two forms of communication are far superior to telephone conversations, which have so many limitation (again pointed out in that great article.
Thanks for sharing Craig, look forward to others' comments and perspectives.