Imagine if each message in your inbox was an actual letter. Imagine, opening each letter and reading the pages every morning, during the course of the day – filing away some, sending on others.
How many of us get hundreds of e-mails a day? Can you imagine sorting through some one-hundred odd letters every day and night? No wonder we get bogged down.
The other evening I found myself perusing various feeds in Google reader. I also had two email programs open (work and personal). I was running iChat, Yahoo IM, G-mail chat, and Tweetie. Oh, and I was texting from my iPhone.
This common situation is infinite, part of a lifestyle that defines the ultimate interactive experience – the one we speculated about years ago while learning Microsoft Front Page and building interactive CD-ROM’s.
The baseline 1’s and 0’s of a 2-dimensional social destiny in the making.
Here within the Digital Age, the way we read is changing. We absorb information from various mediums creating a non-linear path of focus. Perhaps due to the multitude of interactive media available to us, we’re brief in how we consume content. We sample and browse, allowing the inevitable multi-tasking to occur.
It can be said that cumulatively, we’re actually reading more than ever.
So I’m wondering – does this new process, this newly adapted way of working through multitasking – affect the quality of our interpersonal communications? And what are the long-term effects of this?
Do we communicate in shorter amounts – but with more folks, in higher frequencies?
The interactive experience is rich. We have the real-time aspect of Twitter, the private element of chat. The social aspect of Facebook. Time delayed emails, character counts, garbled texts sent on-the-go.
It’s easier to reach folks more than ever. But is it confusing? Is it too much? Or is being networked 24/7 merely a lesson in brevity?
On a business level, this may not be a bad thing. We can cut to the chase.
But what about on a personal level? Where in time and space does all of this communication add up?
I wonder if it makes our relationships fluid and transparent – like with the prevalence of social networking we have the ability to see everyone’s business. Or, if it creates more obstacles through illusions of what we choose to share.
And, how can we get to know someone if we never slow down?
Maybe we need to slow down in general and become more present when we multi-task. We can take the time to stop and chat with someone in person. We can stop needle dropping and enjoy an entire song or album. We can put 5 more minutes into that email.
Maybe we need to appreciate…Life. Or we may wake up one day with nothing but a bunch of intangible 1’s and 0’s.
Reads:
Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social – http://nyti.ms/c1P81A
I’ve often wondered the same thing. And in fact, I’m convinced that we have diluted our attention to such a high degree that it has affected our modes of thinking. I’ve noticed on a personal level that I’m always juggling communication streams. And I’ve also noticed it amongst friends.
But researchers also weigh in: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html
For whatever it’s worth, as I watched a period drama the other day (“The Young Victoria” — which I liked) I considered a scene in which the main characters retreat to a salon after dinner. They write letters, knit, play chess, and sit by the fire. There’s something nice about that idea.
That is a nice idea. I wonder if we do the same now only on an exaggerated level to accommodate to the 21st century: writing e-mails instead of letters, online chess, scrabble instead of the board game.
Thanks for sharing the link to that article – what a great piece combining relevant stories alongside studies. As a multi-tasker i always find it difficult to enjoy simple things like enjoying a book, going on a walk, simply…being. Now, I love leaving my cell phone in the car when it’s time to do things like go on a hike. Maybe it’s that much more refreshing when we actually do unplug.
I’ve often wondered the same thing. And in fact, I’m convinced that we have diluted our attention to such a high degree that it has affected our modes of thinking. I’ve noticed on a personal level that I’m always juggling communication streams. And I’ve also noticed it amongst friends.
But researchers also weigh in: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html
For whatever it’s worth, as I watched a period drama the other day (“The Young Victoria” — which I liked) I considered a scene in which the main characters retreat to a salon after dinner. They write letters, knit, play chess, and sit by the fire. There’s something nice about that idea.
That is a nice idea. I wonder if we do the same now only on an exaggerated level to accommodate to the 21st century: writing e-mails instead of letters, online chess, scrabble instead of the board game.
Thanks for sharing the link to that article – what a great piece combining relevant stories alongside studies. As a multi-tasker i always find it difficult to enjoy simple things like enjoying a book, going on a walk, simply…being. Now, I love leaving my cell phone in the car when it’s time to do things like go on a hike. Maybe it’s that much more refreshing when we actually do unplug.
I think our newfound access to information and communication via increasingly usable devices is still so fresh and exciting that any judgment, survey, or even NYT article on the subject cannot be taken too literally.
We’re humans. Creatures of comfort bound to act irrationally in a wide open yet unfamiliar place of such inebriating possibilities as the digital world. Attention, Stimulation… we’re multitasking and we want more!
But how can we be the same if everything around us is changing?
You can break it down to the 0’s and 1’s. For business, society, government… this is a revolution. But I think it’s just a “shift” for interpersonal communication and the way we relate, react, co-create, and respond.
All of this info is ours at last and it’s still incredible to just suck it up and share it. We have instant audiences and can solicit instant feedback yet for the most part our tweets do nobody more good than ourselves. Sometimes you’ve gotta say it out loud to realize it. But for the hundreds of blogs in our RSS readers how many posts are we commenting on or better yet taking personally as invitations for feedback / collaboration.
In IMs and status updates and quick emails, much comes across out-of-context and is open to interpretation — even guessing. What does he/she mean exactly? But it’s a shift – we still “learn” each other in much the same way we might (or might not) in an extended face-to-face.
Everyday we know the future will be here tomorrow and that’s not to be taken for granted. But some things stay the same.
It’s easier than ever to make connections but it’s nothing compared to being “there” and making it all connect.
Totally. We definitely can’t be the same if everything around us is changing.
And I agree that free-flowing communication creates a “shift” in interpersonal communications. With that shift, some things are gained and others lost.
For the public sphere this is obviously an incredible thing.
For the private – maybe not so much.
We are, for the most part, talking to ourselves through hyper-aware self-presentations via blogging tools, answers to “What’s Happening?” on Twitter, and in tweaking that perfectly-crafted image of self (or, profile) on Facebook.
Is it communication? Absolutely. Is it authentic? Who knows!
in our eyes, we’re all celebrities.
The plethora of ways to communicate now is incredible. And fun! But I wonder how easy it is to become misguided as to who someone is – and on the one-to-one level of IM and e-mail, what gets lost.
Many thoughts – practical, relevant, whatever – can go missing in the big-picture context of a relationship with another person.
There are loads of people behind a screen all day and night; working, gaming, or otherwise.
If we all don’t get out into the real world and take some time to unplug, I wonder if it becomes way too easy to lose meaning with not only others but perhaps even the things our FB “interests & activities” list.
You really nailed it in the last graf.
Sure: sarcasm and nuances of our personalities seem to come across better in IM and email now than they have in the past. We evolve.
Sure: we’re communicating in public right now. Yet as public as it feels to swap comments on blog posts, in the grand scheme of things, it’s like talking and walking down the street or having a conversation over coffee. One can hope their statements are picked up by a bystander just as one may hope that what’s said aloud wasn’t heard at the next table.
It’s wishful thinking if not vanity either way you look at it. We are able to live our lives in public now, it’s our movie, and we’re both directing and starring.
But realistically, the audience — if and when there is one — isn’t paying much attention to begin with. And so what if it is?
We’re aware of these shifts in communication for both the public and private spheres.
What may be most threatened now and in the future is the personal sphere.
It’s too easy (and fun) to lose oneself in the digital wonderland be it marathon work sessions, gaming, surfing and discovery, whatever. But to a great extent, one-on-one IMs and e-mails can at times be akin to talking to a mirror.
I don’t think it’s possible to replicate nonverbal interpersonal interaction online – video chat comes closest, but the presence is phony. I’d fear for the worst if we evolved to a point in which eye contact didn’t add context or content to a conversation.
So, yes, getting out into the real world, unplugging, and working to develop incentives for others – especially younger generations – to do the same just might be a key element to not just personal — but societal, cultural, and even economic growth.
We need to take breaks, to take stock of ourselves away from the media screen. I mean, no doubt kids are already skipping out on recess to trade up on Farmville…
It sure is easier to communicate and maintain relationships from afar these days. But easier isn’t always good. And things happen fast for better and worse.
I think our newfound access to information and communication via increasingly usable devices is still so fresh and exciting that any judgment, survey, or even NYT article on the subject cannot be taken too literally.
We’re humans. Creatures of comfort bound to act irrationally in a wide open yet unfamiliar place of such inebriating possibilities as the digital world. Attention, Stimulation… we’re multitasking and we want more!
But how can we be the same if everything around us is changing?
You can break it down to the 0’s and 1’s. For business, society, government… this is a revolution. But I think it’s just a “shift” for interpersonal communication and the way we relate, react, co-create, and respond.
All of this info is ours at last and it’s still incredible to just suck it up and share it. We have instant audiences and can solicit instant feedback yet for the most part our tweets do nobody more good than ourselves. Sometimes you’ve gotta say it out loud to realize it. But for the hundreds of blogs in our RSS readers how many posts are we commenting on or better yet taking personally as invitations for feedback / collaboration.
In IMs and status updates and quick emails, much comes across out-of-context and is open to interpretation — even guessing. What does he/she mean exactly? But it’s a shift – we still “learn” each other in much the same way we might (or might not) in an extended face-to-face.
Everyday we know the future will be here tomorrow and that’s not to be taken for granted. But some things stay the same.
It’s easier than ever to make connections but it’s nothing compared to being “there” and making it all connect.
Totally. We definitely can’t be the same if everything around us is changing.
And I agree that free-flowing communication creates a “shift” in interpersonal communications. With that shift, some things are gained and others lost.
For the public sphere this is obviously an incredible thing.
For the private – maybe not so much.
We are, for the most part, talking to ourselves through hyper-aware self-presentations via blogging tools, answers to “What’s Happening?” on Twitter, and in tweaking that perfectly-crafted image of self (or, profile) on Facebook.
Is it communication? Absolutely. Is it authentic? Who knows!
in our eyes, we’re all celebrities.
The plethora of ways to communicate now is incredible. And fun! But I wonder how easy it is to become misguided as to who someone is – and on the one-to-one level of IM and e-mail, what gets lost.
Many thoughts – practical, relevant, whatever – can go missing in the big-picture context of a relationship with another person.
There are loads of people behind a screen all day and night; working, gaming, or otherwise.
If we all don’t get out into the real world and take some time to unplug, I wonder if it becomes way too easy to lose meaning with not only others but perhaps even the things our FB “interests & activities” list.
You really nailed it in the last graf.
Sure: sarcasm and nuances of our personalities seem to come across better in IM and email now than they have in the past. We evolve.
Sure: we’re communicating in public right now. Yet as public as it feels to swap comments on blog posts, in the grand scheme of things, it’s like talking and walking down the street or having a conversation over coffee. One can hope their statements are picked up by a bystander just as one may hope that what’s said aloud wasn’t heard at the next table.
It’s wishful thinking if not vanity either way you look at it. We are able to live our lives in public now, it’s our movie, and we’re both directing and starring.
But realistically, the audience — if and when there is one — isn’t paying much attention to begin with. And so what if it is?
We’re aware of these shifts in communication for both the public and private spheres.
What may be most threatened now and in the future is the personal sphere.
It’s too easy (and fun) to lose oneself in the digital wonderland be it marathon work sessions, gaming, surfing and discovery, whatever. But to a great extent, one-on-one IMs and e-mails can at times be akin to talking to a mirror.
I don’t think it’s possible to replicate nonverbal interpersonal interaction online – video chat comes closest, but the presence is phony. I’d fear for the worst if we evolved to a point in which eye contact didn’t add context or content to a conversation.
So, yes, getting out into the real world, unplugging, and working to develop incentives for others – especially younger generations – to do the same just might be a key element to not just personal — but societal, cultural, and even economic growth.
We need to take breaks, to take stock of ourselves away from the media screen. I mean, no doubt kids are already skipping out on recess to trade up on Farmville…
It sure is easier to communicate and maintain relationships from afar these days. But easier isn’t always good. And things happen fast for better and worse.
Comments are closed.