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Forms of Communication

Submitted by Evan Lovely on Sun Jan 09, 2011 - 01:48pm
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When you go from face to face communication to phone calls, we lose the deep, unconscious story that body language tells, and gain the ability to discuss with another, irrelevant of distances between.

When you go from verbal communication to written, the intonation and emphasis that the voice places upon the words chosen is lost, but the ability to respond at any time is gained.

When you go from written communications sent to a single addressee to broad social networks, the ability to tailor your message to your specific audience, the context, is lost, and the ability to loosely address a vast array of friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, and others it gained, while opening up potential for discussion between them as well.

All of these have specific advantages and disadvantages, and I believe you shouldn't get stuck using only one. Bounce between them as needed. Start a conversation on Facebook, finish it on a phone call, and follow up with a text message. Choose the form that best suites the situation.

Just a few thoughts.

Thoughts on Facebook and Other Mediums of Communication

Submitted by Evan Lovely on Sun May 09, 2010 - 08:14pm
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I'm beginning to get worried about our reliance on Facebook as our only method of communication with those close in our lives. Anybody that knows me knows that I'm a fan of the ways Social Networks, especially Facebook, allow us to revive and keep alive connections that would of atrophied away under classic circumstances, where friends afar can fade away. However, I believe that Facebook should only be an extra layer of communication added onto the ones we already have: phone conversations, texts, emails, letters, and most importantly: face to face conversation.

Facebook's wonderful for giving those broad announcements of general activity in one's life to a semi-closed circle of friends and family. It allows everyone to kinda keep up with other's lives, and this should be used as a stepping stone for the next time you communicate with someone: the phone call where you get to ask your buddy about how the rock climbing trip was that you saw pictures of on Facebook, the text where you ask your friend if they're still planning on going to that show tonight, the conversation over coffee that can skip the question: "What have you been up to for the past year?", and can get right into how they are now and can listen to some of their more personal thoughts about the last year.

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