I’ve tried texting and instant messaging. They’re awkward and time-consuming, and I still haven’t mastered the lingo. My son’s friends always know when it’s me responding to their messages. I actually use full sentences and proper grammar. A dead giveaway.
A lot is lost in translation through high-tech devices. We no longer pay attention to every word we write. We’re much more concerned about getting to our next message than we are to crafting our current one. And there the cycle starts again—more e-mails, more texts, all trying to decipher and explain the original, intended message.
As for the argument that technology expedites communication? I wonder how much time it really saves. How often have you e-mailed a colleague and realized it would have been much faster to resolve your issue if you walked over to his or her desk and said what was on your mind?
I’m for old-fashioned communication. Thinking before you put something in writing. Good old face-to-face discourse. That’s where ideas are born, are nurtured, grow and mature.
Can technology do that?
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I appreciate how technology makes communicating faster and easier when I need to track down my son or ask my husband to pick something up on a grocery run. But that speed and ease is making people sloppy writers when they work on something that will be printed or otherwise preserved. Two examples from my past week of reading: David Sedaris’ new book refers to a car’s “break” cables, and a New York City reporter’s autobiography repeatedly refers to a murder weapon as a “clever.” Mistakes like this derail me from the story I’m pursuing. The two dozen or so job applicants I’ve corresponded with lately have sent letters, e-mails and resumes riddled with errors. Their mistakes distract from the message the writer is trying to convey–instead of these missives saying “hire me,” they say “I’m not careful enough or smart enough for this job.”
I hate texting and refuse to do it, and I’ve almost had it with e-mail too…I have to do it for work and it is useful, but for communicating with friends e-mail and voice mail have become a poor substitute for ‘real’ communication…instead we have what a friend of mine calls ‘virtual communication’where it kinda feels like we’ve had a conversation after trading 3-4 e-mail/ voice mails, but no one ever talks to anyone anymore…I’d rather have a two minute phone conversation than spend 5 minutes typing another damn e-mail. And while I’m at it, no one seems to answer their cell phones anymore either or return calls promptly…I can’ always answer my phone but always return a call as soon as I can…I’ve left messages for friends and NEVER hear back? How infuriating…within a few years I’ll probably be holed up in a small wood shack writing ‘manifestos’ railing against the the evils of all this technology! I really do feel it’s stealing the soul of our children one little piece at a time…ADHD? gimme a freakin’ break…stop exposing kids to the non-stop consumerist propaganda of our insane corporate-owned fascist-run govt. marketplace…we don’t have anything called a citizen’ anymore in this country, they’ve al been replaced with moronic, unconscious consumers and we all suffer the consequences. (I suggest reading Eckhart Tolle’s ‘New Earth’ to get an idea of how truly unconscious we are!!!)
Back in the day, when e-mail was first introduced as a business tool, it was quite the invention. We could communicate, send attachments, correspond to peers and friends all over the world, all while sitting at our computer. We were, and still are, only limited to the speed of our connection. As always, progress brings challenges and survival of the fittest. Due to the increasing SPAM issues and SPAM filters, e-mail is a much less reliable tool than it was in the past. However, our children are quite adept at utilizing ichat, igoogle, instant messages and all the acronyms associated with sending text messages. They are very proficient communicators. I still call it a text page and my son looks at me like I’m an idiot. My point of reference is just different than his.
The continued upside to e-mail, or even sending a text message, is that I’m not interrupting you by standing at your desk, or calling you on the phone when you are in the middle of a project or something that needs your attention. I’m not wasting countless minutes continuing the conversation talking about my weekend, or my latest challenge or accomplishment.
I still appreciate e-mail as a business tool, and will admit that as much as I try, I leave out a word, I’m often too casual or make the obvious incorrect word choice. While I appreciate and value the technology, at the same time I make every attempt not to be a slave to e-mail. I determine when I read and respond to my e-mail as oppose to feeling like I have to look at every received message immediately upon its receipt.
I don’t imagine that you will be too surprised by my reply.
Regards,
Your technology chick!
That’s interesting you should write about how we muddle the message in technology. I have been making mental notes of various articles and conversations I’ve had over the years about that.
If you talk to linguists they say our language is evolving. I don’t profess to know the lingo of texting either, but “G8” is translated “Great” and the message is clear. But most linguists and communication scholars will agree that beyond the short, affirming message, texting can mess with the message.
If you want something to screw with you cerebral synapses, Lauren Myracle’s New York Times besting selling sequel to ttyl (translated, Talk To You Later), “ttfn” (translated, Ta Ta For Now), is written entirely in texting lingo. After reading the first chapter I downed a fifth of whiskey and went to bed. But teenagers love it.
I tend to side with you, though. Technology hasn’t made communication less time consuming, especially from the vantage point of communication professionals like us. We still need to spend time crafting messages. And for texting or e-mailing a message that could be quickly hashed out face-to-face may seem like a waste.
But this is where I have to draw the line. I’m a firm believer that to communicate effectively, we must use the same tools and language of those we want to inform or persuade. If texting is the preferred method, then texting it is. Think of it as Morse code for a new millennium. Remember it wasn’t long ago American servicemen reported “All Quiet on the Western Front” in a series of dots and dashes.
I share in Laura’s frustration. Why, at our company retreat yesterday, one of my associates admitted to having e-mailed an associate who occupied the office next door, rather than get out of her chair and discuss this face-to-face. She admitted that it was because she was just flat lazy. It’s symbolic of what’s wrong with business and society as a whole. We’re just too damn lazy . . . and only concerned about what is convenient and comfortable.
This article, and the comments here are all reminiscent of the stereotypical generational divide. Technology has always had its detractors – and I’m not trying to offend here – but they generally fall on generational lines. My grandmother won’t use a computer to save her life. She just doesn’t get it. No matter how much I try to explain the ease of use, she still can’t get a PC powered up much less use it for any constructive purpose. In my youth, I had to program the VCR to tape any show my parents wanted to watch. They just couldn’t figure it out and quite frankly, they didn’t want to try. It made no sense to me; anyone who has ever programmed a VCR will attest, “It ain’t rocket science.” The problem isn’t technology getting in the way because millions of people are using it to communicate effectively every day; the issue here is where it has always been, with an older generation sensing a shift in the playing field and being afraid of losing their “top dog” status to the young pups.
I waffle on this. On the one hand, I’m irritated when a close friend is more likely to answer a text than a call; on the other, there’s value in being able to provide immportant information on the fly (for instance, if your child sends you a text telling you she’s safely home from school while you’re in the middle of a meeting and unable to take her call).
On the new technology front: my niece is in college, getting her elementary ed degree. I asked her recently if there was ever any discussion in her classes about the responsibility teachers have to teach proper grammer in this abbreviated-word world we now inhabit. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. On the old technology front: I recently read “1776″ by David McCullough. In it he noted that in a span of less than 12 months, George Washington wrote over 900 letters!
People communicate in the ways they have available. With our current technology, Rodger’s right - the kids love it (and require it). As for me, I don’t expect I’ll ever get there.
And one final note, I believe TTFN was introduced by a.a. milne through the mouth of my pal T-I-double Guh-ER. That predates technology, right?
No offense Laura but this makes you sound like an old fossil. It’s not a terrible thing to be progressive. Today’s forms of communication are just the beginning and unfortunately there isn’t much stopping it. Most of the time, current forms of communication are more convenient while you are on the go. If you need to pass information to someone quickly you can text it or e-mail it much quicker than calling them on a land-line. Speaking of which, land-lines are right around the corner from being completely replaced.
In the end, even if you do have a problem with progressive technology, there isn’t much stopping it considering the 9/11 generation is going to carry it on for the rest of their lives.
Thinking about whether technology enables communication is less of a discussion than an argument. I admit that I can text with one hand and often have to retype professional emails as to eliminate the acronyms that are inappropriate for business communication. I even have to occasionally educate my 30 year-old boyfriend on what TTYT means. I assure you, there is no sense of pride in this articulation of character as I think the personification of a 30-something robot spewing out acronyms rather than laughing at a “Who’s on First” bit is sad. Having said that, I think there is a time and place for fast and less personal communication. There is something to be said for quick necessity-bearing communication. IMing a coworker that is out of town for a quick status, or texting an employee as they are waiting in line for an plane; all great things. Very functional. Very appropriate. However, when navigating within more “human” communication (this as compared to the necessity-bearing kind as aforementioned) the less personal means of communication can seem crass. Further, without a face or voice backing an opinion it is sometimes easy to forget the humanity of the person to whom we are speaking. We would all love to think that this isn’t the case, but the fact remains we wouldn’t mutter obscenities under our breath to a car who pulls in front of us if we knew it was our neighbor behind the wheel. As well, I like to believe that there is an art to good sarcasm. This art is depleted with the now sciencific colon-parentheses master combo. Further, there is an alternate reason for “enhanced communication needs”; that being a lack of accountability. How many times do we all think in our minds “this is a CYA email”? In our defense, we do live in a time when communication has been made so easy, sometimes a single email can get lost in the barrage of messages that any one of us gets in a 24 hour period. And the argument begins again. So back to Laura’s point, is it better to simply have a face-to-face or even a telephone conversation rather than a less personal text/IM/email? .02 is this. @TEOTD DIIK
Your thoughts of being careful or ’smart enough’ for a job might be bent. Consider the large number of people that are brilliant and can’t spell. It’s because they’re dyslexic, or have other cognitive differences than the grammar and spelling self-righteous nerds we’ve become. I was gifted as a youth by a grandmother who was an English teacher, great phonics education, and a natural memory for words and their linguistic uses– as well as other languages. Others don’t have those gifts, yet may have them in other places.
I write 5-9000 words each and every week. I have a great spell checker and I occasionally need it despite my memory and as an effect of the speed at which I write. Yet I also eschew texting as a useless thumb-deadening mindless pursuit of time. You can’t text me. You can email me on a dozen accounts. You can call. Or you can write a letter. It’s up to you. You don’t need to justify your means of communications, you just need to communicate. Pick a medium you enjoy. Tolerate the inadequacies of others. Phonetic spellers can do at least that– communicate. TTFN & HAND!