Today I had a friend text me, asking me if I was at work and if I was, if I could log on to Skype so she could send me something. My first thought was, why didn’t she just email it to me? Then I got to thinking, have we as a society become too available?
At any given time during the day, I can be immediately reached via ichat, skype, text, 3 different email accounts, facebook, myspace (although I rarely check it anymore) and over the phone. Today, I’ve decided to not log into ichat or skype because I have a lot to do and want to focus… but still, there are numerous ways in which I can be instantaneously contacted. Is this good, bad, distracting? I’m thinking it’s a mix of all three…
With technology evolving faster than I can type, we’ve opened ourselves up to new and speedier ways of communicating. For the most part, especially when I have something very important to tell someone or a critical question I need answered right away, I enjoy the fact that I can engage with another person or thousands of people in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. However, on other days, it seems as though I’ve got too much information, conversation and questions coming at me from entirely too many angles.
Responding to the text, I asked my friend to simply email me whatever it was she wanted me to look at. Sometimes, it’s nice to hide behind the walls of not-so-immediate communication. Having the option to know a message is there and look at it later is something I value in this constantly connected world. I feel this “time” luxury slowly fading as our patience (or lack thereof) for a response or need of information becomes inevitably extinct.
As I said, today I am shut off from my usual communication portals and I’ve already received numerous complaints, questions or concerns with my lack of response time and immediate availability. Don’t we all just need a little time here and there?
How do you all feel about this? Is it just me? Do you feel “too” connected some days??
Funny I posted about this dilemma a while ago too:
http://dennisdemori.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/the-death-of-voicemail/
Great minds think alike
I remember when it was good etiquette to respond to an email around 4 – 6 hours. Then Blackberry happened. Now iPhone and everyone is now accessing their emails on vacation, holidays and Sunday afternoons. Now the rule of thumb seems to be you’re lagging if you don’t respond within a couple of hours.
Good grief.
4-6 hours? If only…
Two issues at play here:
1) Instant Gratification Culture: Technology has increased the speed at which we’re able to communicate and get things done. I think this is one of the reasons smaller companies can be more effective than larger companies – they’re quicker to adapt + there is less bureaucracy to slow them down.
2) Unplugged vs. Overconnected: We can be connected all the time now, but is that better than the way things before? Not really.
Even if we can respond right away it doesn’t mean we have to – I think it’s more important to think things through instead of executing irrationally.
Second, most people are grossly inefficient in their time. They need to realize that the world will not end if so-and-so’s email isn’t responded to immediately.
My two cents
Totally agree Dennis. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve mastered the art of skimming something and then forwarding it on and have completely forgotten how to actually read something, let the information digest and then form a valuable point of view on it. What’s it like to be unplugged? I don’t remember.
This typically reminds me of :
at 2:05 to 2:21
ha! Great post, great book and great movie. It lifted the curtain into the heads of women all around the world, an amazing accomplishment! Now that our secret thoughts are out, I feel like it will be much easier to navigate my way through the dating pool… the smart men will have paid attention and taken notes, the rest will still be oblivious.
Well, I guess I’m used to being the outsider, but I’m all about being totally connected. I love that people have lots of ways to reach out to me and that I can instantly respond. I feel more a part of my micro-communities and in tune with larger conversation. And I rarely look at these touch-points as intrusions.
The key for me is prioritization. I don’t feel the need to instantly respond to a call or email if I’m busy. Or I have the freedom to choose an alternative response avenue to show the person how best to communicate with me at this time. If a touch-point becomes an intrusion (for me at least) I have only myself to blame for not holding to my own boundaries.
But then, I work from a home office so work and home are already a completely blended experience for me. Could be the defining point for why we look at this subject is such different ways. I have to admit I was a lot more stressed about interruptions when I worked in an agency.
Funny, though, that the only communication method I still find “intrusive” on a regular basis, is when someone shows up in-person unannounced and/or unplanned for. How sick is that?