Chapter 10: Mediated Interpersonal Communication
There is no denying the increase of mediated devices in communication. Email, fax, texts, voicemail, online chat, and even automated telephone menus replace human-to-human communication with something else entirely. Which is why it is easy to forget that at the end of the line is a real human being receiving our messages. With the use of these technologies we can shrink an entire conversation to a few short-hand, abbreviated sentences and call it efficient. However, we must keep in mind what we are communicating by the way we are communicating. What does it say about our feelings or regard for a person if we only communicate with them in brief messages? Do we ever unintentionally say, "You're not important enough for me to put forth the extra effort to write to you in complete and grammatically correct sentences"? How much are we willing to lose for the sake of efficiency?
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Great thought provoking post. I hadn't thought of brief messages that way before. I can see how others may think that I am not putting as much effort into communicating with them if I briefly text or instant message them. I figure that with everyone's busy schedules, the most convenient and efficient way for me to say hi or wish them well on a test or job interview was sending a quick message. I think most of the people I am close with know me well enough to know that I will certainly spend the evening with them having dinner or drinks if they are having a bad day and that if I don't have time for a long phone conversation, that it doesn't mean I love them any less.
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