Communicating In A Mobile World
It’s been a while since I last posted but I have something that I think warrants discussing. So please, please do put down your thoughts and comments at the end.
Remember the first time you made a phone call as kid? Someone probably gave you some instructions/tips on how to introduce yourself and how to begin the conversation. I remember the time my dad saw an email I’d written to a friend and told me about syntax on computers – things like putting a space after a full stop etc. Just little things that are either told to us explicitly or we pick up ourselves. Point is there some very definite guidelines on how to go about communicating using these mediums.
So I want to discuss how we ought to do this in today’s world of constant connectivity. Most of us have smart phones which make us accessible at almost any instant. But how soon can/should you expect a response? How much is too much? Is there really such a thing as ‘Instant Messaging’? So to get the ball rolling here’s my own ‘priority list’ in terms of what type of communication I will respond first to on my phone. This is in descending order of response speed.
1. Calls
This is the easy one. We all answer calls at almost any point unless it’s a very important meeting ones in, you’ve just begun eating and are famished or you’re about to seal the deal with some hot chick/guy! And if you can’t answer the call – you call back.
Of course things can get a little complicated when you think about all the rubbish sales calls you get these days. Another tricky one is international calls. It’s weird that they don’t really cost as much as we think but there’s some sort of a mind block on making too many of them unless you have a sweet int’l calling deal or are my parents and want the pleasure of speaking to me!
[Skype (if you have a good enough always on connection) and the other VoIP providers fall into the same category as calls].
2. Messages
I try to respond to text messages as soon as I see them. Here too the same minor distractions apply: CRAZY amounts of spammy messages may lead to me deleting something of substance in the process of clearing out my inbox. And for some weird reasons the pittance it costs to send a message pinches just a little bit when there are other free methods of messaging and package deals (which I’m almost always too lazy to have sorted out!).
This fantastic ‘instant messenger’ (and others like it) has many uses. ‘Ping’ to clarify an urgent question from a colleague at work, get asked about a report by your boss, or just to check on a friend’s plans for later that evening – the possibilities are endless. And that’s why things get complicated here too. Because sometimes you expect an instant response but hey, the other person may be driving or about to run across a busy road (naked) or having the worst day and in no mood to talk.
And then there’s the whole dilemma around status messages. People with Gtalk on phones (most of my friends) are automatically set to an ‘Away’ status if they’re not actively using the phone. So is it ok to ping someone when they’re ‘Away’ or ‘Busy’? How soon can one expect a response? These are all the kinds of questions that haunt me at night!
[If you’ve never used a smart phone and/or don’t believe in having a 2/3/4G connection, you wouldn’t have experienced the full extent of this one or the next one.]
4. Whatsapp
This wonderful ‘nearly-instant-messaging’ app has added a whole new dimension to mobile to mobile communications. Once it syncs with your list of contacts it provides a fantastic alternative to ‘texting’ (in the interest of clarity – that was number 2!) especially since it’s totally free. And not just that – it’s free to send pictures, videos, audio files and probably even the best way to send across contacts! But it is this latter functionality that means I’ll try and respond as soon as I can but I won’t put it over sitting down to coffee with a friend you see. So it’s cool to ‘watsapp’ anyone at most times, just don’t expect instant responses. Sorry whatsapp creators – I’m deeming it a ‘Not chat client’. So if I want to have a lengthy conversation with someone about multiple things, I think I’ll move to GTalk.
I joined FB when it was just about writing on people’s walls and sending the odd message when you had something private/controversial to tell. Now there’s a fancy timeline and the messaging shows up instantly and hence allows for a chat feature. I think everyone agrees that FB chat sucks as a chat client but the sheer number of contacts connected to it makes it an oft used messaging tool. So when you’re planning a meet up, is it cool to use FB messaging as a medium to make plans? Yes, totally. But is it fair to use it as a means to get in touch with someone urgently and figure out where they are, say? Not really. That’s what I want to point out. A thing like FB is there to visit when one has time (or not!) - it does not demand urgent replying so don’t blame me if I don’t reply to your message wondering where I am.
This is another obvious one. I’ll respond to emails within 24 hours at work and maybe a little more slowly on non-work emails. If you need a quicker response, put ‘urgent’ in the subject line. I’ll then ‘star it’ in Gmail (a highly under used feature) and will try and reply the next minute I’m not doing something amazing and life changing (which is pretty much all the time).
Do I need to clarify that these are all my humble opinions and I’m pretty open to changing them? As they’d say in the world of business and professionalism – these have been ‘thought starters’. So do you guys agree with some of it? Any of it?! I’m keen to see what people have to say and therefore classify these things properly in my mind. Of course not everyone many will read this but I do believe it’s time we, the first real internet generation, started putting in some codes on these things or society as we know it may just descend into chaos and anarchy!
