I often hear the claim that most communication is visual and
audible. Without facial expressions,
hand gestures, vocal tones, and interjections, we’re left with something
invented solely by humans: language. In
the digital world, a great deal of communication is purely textual, and it can
cause dramatic changes in behavior.
Jones and Hafner’s discussion of transaction costs made me think of how
I use text communication in my daily life.
Most of the examples given in the chapter on online language have to do
with social life, but I’d like to explore how digital communication affects the
workplace.
When my desk phone rings, I get startled. What could possibly require hearing my
voice? Doesn’t this person know they can
instant-message me, or send an email? Actually,
it’s very understandable. Both email and
IMs provide the affordance of quickly communicating something without having to
spend the time it takes to have a full verbal conversation. But the lack of verbal cues can be a
constraint. An email or IM may not
convey the urgency of a situation as well as a tone of voice. Text-based messages are also much easier to
ignore. After all, they’re just sitting
there in my inbox or in a corner of my screen.
My phone ringing tells me that something is urgent, and I respond with
the same urgency.
With so many options to communicate with colleagues, there
are clear affordances and constraints to each.
Email provides a long format for communicating complex information, but
demands the least timely response. This also means that they can pile up quickly. It's absurd how many emails I can get in a day. I guarantee that most people would not be able to handle the equivalent of that much information verbally. Instant messaging makes low-complexity conversations quick and simple,
but can also be ignored, and lack the same cues that a verbal conversation
would carry. The constraints of these
forms give phone calls or in-person conversations greater importance. Jones and Hafner explain this exact
phenomenon in regards to romantic partners reserving phone calls for “special”
importance (77).
It’s easy to adopt a contrarian and curmudgeonly attitude to
digital communication, and wonder why we don’t all just get up and talk to
someone in person. But the very
availability of such forms of communication have changed what’s possible. I work with people across the country and
around the world. That probably wouldn’t
be true if the means didn’t exist to quickly communicate with them. It’s inevitable that we all have to come to
terms with the differences between the modes of expression available to us, and
fit each one into its appropriate context.
Jones, Rodney H.,
and Christoph A. Hafner. Understanding
Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. London: Routledge, 2012.
I agree with you about how the possibilities have changed exponentially as far as being able to communicate on a global scale. I don't know what business you are in but it makes me wonder what kind of financial impact that has had or how it has affected productivity or competition (i.e. global economy).
ReplyDeleteSomeone else made the point earlier that they found it very easy to switch modes (from texting to say, talking with friends on the phone) which I thought was actually quite profound. We do this automatically, depending on who we are communicating with; we talk to Grandma differently than how we talk to our coach, our neighbor differently than our professor, etc...). So, why would it be different in the digital realm? It seems like adaptation in the business world is, or should be, the same. And, I agree also that the number of emails I get can be daunting but, like you pointed out, can be dealt with much more quickly due to not having the cost of verbal communication. I cannot imagine how long it would take otherwise.
In my department, I am the Graduate Program Chair, which requires me to talk with Graduate Studies often. I could easily just send email for most of my questions, but I like calling one particular person because she always makes me laugh and that's a valuable skill especially if your position has a lot of stress in it. In email, she is very formal and calls me Dr. Bridgeford, which is appropriate in workplace correspondence. But talking on the phone, we can be more informal and enjoy each other company even if for a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI also receive a lot of emails here in the USA. In Germany, I only receive 2 emails maximum from my university. That probably has several reasons. For once, our culture is different. In Germany, if I do not remember to pay my fees, it is my problem and not one that has been created by the university. I need to have the idea myself. No one will remind me. Secondly, German universities do not have as much money and therefore have less staff, less people that can send out emails. German students do not have to pay any tuition fees. I am very happy about that and in that context also won't complain about the few reminders we get :)
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