Monday, January 31, 2011

When More is Less

Over the years I have watched CBS “Sunday Morning.” It is a unique morning program.  Perhaps it is the interviews or the segments. Or, it has only one host, so you do not experience useless chatter. Host Charles Osgood is having a conversation with you.  If you watch the show, I think you will agree with me that the segments are longer and more interesting. 

For example, the past two weeks have featured segments on communication. The first one was two weeks ago and it was about the decline of penmanship. We do not write nearly as much as we used to and it shows. When I took my certification test 14 years ago computers were not allowed. One component was an essay exam and you had to write your response in blue books.  For several months preceding the exam I would write long letters to my family so my hand would not get tired. My family loved it.  When I passed the certification exam, the letters stopped.  Now be honest, who does not like to receive a handwritten letter in the mail? Today, we send emails and texts instead. Interesting fact later.


The second segment this week was on thank you notes (handwritten not emailed).  We send far fewer thank you notes than ever before. I remember sending thank you notes after Christmas for all the gifts I received. When I started my career a couple of decades ago I sent thank you notes when people were very helpful.  Some notes I would receive had beautiful penmanship.  Today, it is thank you emails.  That is not necessarily bad. For those who know me and have seen my hand writing, well let me say that I could be chief of staff at the Mayo Clinic.  So emails are easier.  Thank you notes come down to penmanship and time. Frankly, writing is far harder to write a note and envelope than typing emails and texts.  Besides, you can cheat with emailing.  You know what I mean, alter part of a letter or email and send it to a different family member.  You cannot do that with a handwritten letter.  Also, Word helps you clean up you spelling and prose. I welcome the day Facebook offers that service. By the way, Twitter does.

The interesting fact I alluded to earlier? We send 294 billion e-mails and nearly five billion text messages EVERY DAY.  This is from CBS “Sunday Morning.”

I find this staggering.  As a father with two teenagers I suspect I should not be.  My son lives to text.  He has sent/received as many as 27,411in one month. To a lesser degree he also uses Facebook. My daughter uses Facebook and texting as her primary means of communication.  One tally that I read a few months ago (and I posted) is 1,460,000,000,000 messages (chats & private messages) sent through Facebook each year (yes, that's trillion). I can assure you my kids certainly contributed more than their share.

I text, post updates on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blog.  But I ask you, has your communications improved? I posted the interesting fact on Facebook and one of my friends said yes. When her boys were babies, texting and emailing helped her feel less alone. Now she is a writer and a talented one at that. Most of my writer friends prefer email; it allows them to send longer messages. Besides, you can thumb for only so long.

Side note: blog is an interesting word. It is both a noun and a verb. As in I have a blog or I blog. Blog is short for web log and is defined as read, write or edit a shared on-line journal.  Since I started one it occurred to me I was not exactly sure what blog meant.  It is exactly like the word text, both a noun and a verb.  For example, text me or I just got a text.  Sometimes language is so interesting.

Tweeting and texting are unique forms of communication. You can only put in 140 characters in one post.  It sure makes you cut excess words.  If you want help editing your comments and getting right to the point, then I suggest you set up a Twitter account and try to get your thoughts or Tweet in 140 characters (and do not abbreviate words).   However, as we all know, sometimes you cannot get your thoughts in 140 characters. For that you set up a blog or send emails.

What bothers me about the new communication formats is younger people now talk like texts or Tweets. I am not sure this is good. If you have a teenager you know what I mean.  For example when I am in the car with my daughter and ask do I know so and so, her answer is IDK (or I don’t know).  That will not go over well in the professional world. Texts, tweets and emails are rather impersonal.  With texts, tweets and emails you send your response and may not get an immediate response. You may not want an immediate response. More importantly, texting, tweeting and emailing limit the conversation.  It is unlikely you will go too far off the discussion when engaged in these formats.  When you talk to people you gain the added advantage of voice inflection and body language.  If you are talking to someone via phone at least you get the advantage of voice inflection.  The conversation is longer and may go to other subjects.  That is not necessary bad.  The biggest advantages of texting, tweeting and emailing are mass distribution, speed and the ability to respond when convenient. The biggest drawbacks of texting, tweeting and emailing are mass distribution, speed and the ability to respond when convenient.  It is an additional communication mode, not an entire way of life.

As you read, you may think this blog post rambles. I can hear it now; you should have emailed it, texted or tweeted it.  Perhaps, but sometimes an (edited) stream of conscious exercise is more for the writer than the reader.  Hence, the advantage of a blog. 

In part I think it comes down to this, we are so busy telling everybody what we are doing, I am not sure anybody is reading/listening.  Texting, tweeting and emailing are speedy, so it is more efficient.  An increase in speed usually corresponds to a decrease in personal attention.  I sure could be wrong, but I do not think so.  Perhaps less is more. 

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