This morning while I was sitting in traffic I received a phone call from my mother (don’t worry, I put her on speaker phone). Anyway, she was ringing to let me know that my sister, who is currently on holidays in Africa, had updated her Facebook status to say that she had arrived in Nairobi. I have my sister as a friend on Facebook and my mother knows that I do. So what possible reason could she have for calling to tell me this? I thanked her obviously but after the call was left shaking my head in bewilderment.
Similarly, on occasion when I arrive at the in-laws for dinner my father-in-law will hand me a sheet of paper he has printed out. On the paper is a joke that someone emailed to him. My father-in-law has my email address and knows how to send emails but still, every time he receives a funny email joke, he prints it out and hands it to me on paper. And I chuckle to myself but not necessarily at the joke.
Both my mother and my father-in-law are in the 55-65 age group so they didn’t grow up with computers the way I did. Having said that though, they both use computers regularly and are reasonably oh fey with all things internetty. They know how to surf the web, can send and receive emails and can download their digital photos, but because of the habits of a lifetime they still choose to do most of their communication offline even when the source of the communication began on-line.
Interestingly, at the other end of the spectrum, is a 25 year old friend of mine who, this morning, updated her Facebook status to say “Lauren hates making phone calls”. And another friend of hers commented saying “I agree. They’re so last century and inconvenient!!”
There are so many different ways to communicate today. I often have to choose, when I want to contact a friend, whether to email, SMS, Skype, Tweet, Facebook, phone etc etc. With all of these options I suppose it’s little wonder that people feel more comfortable with one method over another. But it does also raise the question of how long older methods of communication such as telephones remain relevant.
I can’t even imagine writing a letter to someone any more. Surely you would just send an email instead. But can all these modern communication methods completely replace the traditional letter or phone call? Another friend of mine has recently joined the Army and was sent off to basic training away from his family and friends. I received an email from his wife soon after he left which was sent to all his friends and family. In the email his wife gave his mailing address and asked us to write him letters rather than send emails. The reason? A letter can be tucked in your pocket and pulled out at your leisure to read and re-read. Whereas, an email is only accessible during the short time that you are allowed access to a computer.
What is your preferred method of communication? And is it really the most practical?
About Dean
