Have you ever thought about how often you use your phone to communicate with family, friends, respond to appointments, or communicate with co-workers? For several years now, most people prefer texting or emailing than actually using a phone or meeting someone face-to-face. For some people they feel awkward talking on the phone, or some form of face-to-face contact.
Most baby boomers have a strong opinion that texting or emailing is a cold way of communicating. However, some parents and grandparents admit texting or some form of social media messaging is the only way they can still communicate with their children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews. At our current circumstances with the Pandemic, we're being asked to maintain physical distance, but we still need these social and family ties for our well-being and even for our health.
There are some companies even prior to the Pandemic have Skype or some form of a direct messaging (DM) in place for co-workers to communicate instead of calling the person or walking into another office/room, or cubicle to discuss a business matter. Can everyone effectively communicate a problem, direction, or a better way of doing something by this form of communication? In business related matters, can the typed message be conveyed as cold, possibly the other person being annoyed, not fully explained as the other employee needs to understand? Can the typed message be sent, then all of a sudden, the other persons “Busy or Offline” message button gets turned on?
In personal matters, do your text messages, emails, or various social media messaging go unanswered or go an extended amount of time to receive a reply? How do you deal with it? Do you resend another message or do you wait patiently for a reply? Have you ever caught yourself texting a family member who lives with you, home at the time, to ask a question instead of walking downstairs or into another room?
While doing research online to prepare this article, I read that most researchers found when individuals interacted directly with friends on the phone, they stated feeling significantly more connected when they communicated by talking on the phone rather than by typing. The volunteers did admit, it wasn't awkward to hear each other's voices, heard the tone of their conversations, and didn’t need to guess how the other person felt. In fact, they shared hearing one another’s voices even without seeing each other, that it seemed essential for further bonding.
After doing this research and thinking about my personal experiences, I realized why my parents were lucky growing up. My parents had to learn how to communicate face-to-face, use the telephone to make plans with friends, and talk to extended family members for a greater bond. Although, technology has come a long way since my parents grew up, and it is wonderful, social media has a big part on how we communicate, keep in touch, or a way of increasing our friendships. In a huge way, it prevents people of all ages with various forms of growth, communication, and ongoing people skills.
Source of Information: Various Google Searches and Personal Experiences
Until Next Week, Stay Safe and Well!
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